Earthquake: how to help and how to do it efficiently?

We are all stunned and shocked by the earthquake that struck Morocco on Friday. The outpouring of solidarity is enormous. The need to help is both :

• real solidarity, an immediate surge of empathy
• a way of reassuring ourselves, of giving ourselves the impression that we can once again take control of our world by doing something (and that’s perfectly normal)
• and for some people, unfortunately, it’s a way of making themselves look good, or even worse, getting their hands on donors’ money… we’re going to forget about them for the moment.

There are two things that everyone can do, easily and instantly: donate blood and donate money. And these actions can/should be repeated over time, because the need will continue for a long time. Blood donations in particular, because stocks are running out…. but they are also needed to treat people outside the earthquake.

Donate blood

Blood donation centres have been overwhelmed, and several provisional centres have been opened.

Here is the list of addresses known at the time of writing this post:

In Casablanca :

Casablanca Regional Blood Transfusion Centre
+212 (0)5 22 26 45 32
27 Bd Mohamed Zerktouni, Casablanca 20250

Cheikh Khalifa hospital (temporary centre)
+212 (0)5 29 00 44 77
Hay Hassani, Boulevard Mohamed Taieb Naciri, Casablanca
Cheikh Khalifa is used to deal with foreigners and has employees speaking english.

Mohammed VI hospital in Bouskoura (temporary centre)
+212 (0) 5 29 09 11 11
Road P 3011, Bouskoura

In other cities :

National Blood Transfusion Centre Rabat
+212 (0)5 37 77 49 93
Rue Al Mfaddel Cherkaoui, Madinat Al irfane, Rabat

Regional blood transfusion centre Marrakesh
+212 (0)5 24 43 89 48
Bd Al Moustachfayate
Marrakech 40000

Regional blood transfusion centre Agadir
+212 (0)5 28 21 51 42
Bd El haj Lahbib

Regional blood transfusion centre Fès
+212 (0)5 35 65 04 80
Av. Moulay Rachid (Faculty of Medicine side)

Conditions for giving blood

(there’s no point in clogging up a centre if you don’t respect them) :

• You must, of course, be in good health and not have any blood-borne illnesses such as hepatitis or tuberculosis (in which case you must be cured within five years), diabetes, hypertension or hyperthyroidism.
• No diarrhoea or fever for a fortnight
• Be aged between 18 and 60
• Weigh more than 50 kg
• Not being tattooed
• Have a blood pressure of more than 10
• Not have had any dental treatment, hijama, cupping or operation in the last six months
• You will also need to complete a questionnaire, as certain vaccinations or medicines taken in the previous three weeks are also a contraindication.

Give money

In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, collections, fund-raising campaigns and advertising for a wide variety of charities began to multiply.

From the day after the earthquake, Glovo was advertising that you could donate to the victims of the earthquake via its intermediary… while ordering, of course!

The Moroccan government’s special fund

The government has set up a special fund and, quite honestly, I would advise you, if you are in Morocco, to channel your donations into it.

You can do this directly at Bank Al Maghrib branches, Treasury agencies and all bank branches.

You can also make a bank transfer:

You find all the information here and can check the bank account number (but, as it is an image, you have to copy it from this page if you need)

The RIB in Morocco: 001-810-0078000201106203-18 (no need to copy it, all the banking apps have added it to your transfer recipients).

If you are abroad, the IBAN is made by adding “MA64” at the beginning: MA64001810007800020110620318

or you can use the Swift code: BKAMMAMR

However, a foreign transfer to Morocco is not always straightforward (many banks require you to go to a branch) and can incur significant charges. In this case, it is wiser to donate to a large NGO.

International organisations

In another post, I’ll tell you how a consular representative did a “heavy” makeover for a Catholic association in Morocco.

Once again, this is a completely personal opinion. In the short term, I would simply recommend the International Red Cross, which has a direct presence in Morocco under the name of the Red Crescent.

Here is the “Morocco emergency” donation page on the various Red Cross websites:

• Donate online for Morocco via the British Red Cross (with Paypal or Credit Card)
• The US Red Cross does not let you select a specific cause to donate to. It refers your to the Moroccan Red Crescent, which website is broken and Facebook page abandonned.
• You can also donate through Canadian Red Cross (all donations made by individuals up to 28 September will be matched by the Canadian government, up to a total of $3 million, equivalent to 23 million dirhams)

Other large associations

Many other associations in France and elsewhere have launched collections for Morocco. While large associations such as Care, Secours Populaire and Unicef are obviously organisations we can trust, the fact remains that concentrating funds on a few players simplifies coordination, and it is better for these associations to be truly international and have experience of intervening in cases such as this.

In one post (in French), for example, the head of Secours Populaire, Jean Stellittano, stated that

the association has already released €50,000 as an emergency measure, followed by €100,000 to “provide the teams with what they need: the financial resources and methodology to take emergency action”.

As for methodology, it’s a bit late, so that’s for another time… (and back to the concept of effective help).

Small associations, fund-raising and private collections

Both in Morocco and abroad, many small associations and groups of individuals were immediately mobilised, in particular to send food, blankets, tents, etc. to villages that had not yet received anything.

In reality, most of the villages that had received nothing were simply cut off from the rest of the world, or could only be reached by small mountain roads on which other things had to be given priority (rescuers, dog handlers, even diggers…).

In the short term, these initiatives have contributed to overloading the rescue services, making the roads even more congested and forcing premature sorting and routing.

Communications have now usually been re-established, and muleteers have been called in to help with the tracks. The needs are much greater than the initial emergency aid, in particular to enable the children to go back to school, but not only that.

Things being what they are here (we even saw a moqqadem asking for money to distribute aid), I can only advise you to only give to people you know. And if you’re not used to the mountains, if you don’t speak darija, this is probably not the time to go into the douars yourself.

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