The Anzar Foundation was born from a promise to uplift the communities of Morocco’s Atlas Mountains, a region where natural beauty lives alongside deep challenges. Too many villages still face unreliable access to clean water, schools in need of support, limited agricultural resources, and a lack of opportunities for community growth. Anzar was created to change that.
Registered as a nonprofit both in the United States and Morocco, the Foundation connects American resources with Moroccan communities. Funds raised abroad are directly applied to projects on the ground, ensuring that support reaches the families and villages who need it most. This dual identity allows us to bridge worlds: building trust with international donors while delivering real progress in Morocco.
High above Morocco’s plains, the Atlas Mountains shape a world of steep valleys, rocky ridges, and remote villages rooted in centuries of tradition.
Here, in the province of Azilal, beauty and hardship coexist. The landscape is breathtaking, yet life remains demanding, shaped by isolation, limited infrastructure, and economic challenges.
Covering nearly 9,500 km², Azilal Province is home to over 500,000 residents, most living in small, scattered villages accessible only by narrow mountain roads. Life here is deeply rural and multigenerational. Many young people balance school with farm work, migration, or family responsibilities, a daily reflection of resilience and shared duty.
Homes in the Atlas are built from earth, stone, and clay, using ancestral techniques that honor local craftsmanship. These thick earthen walls protect from extreme weather, yet remain fragile. The 2023 earthquake revealed this vulnerability, as many traditional homes collapsed. With modern materials costly and hard to transport, countless families continue to live in precarious conditions, especially in remote mountain villages.
Agriculture is the heart of life in the Atlas. Families cultivate wheat, barley, olives, almonds, and fruit trees, and raise livestock. But climate change and drought threaten this way of life. Fields shrink, herds decline, and water scarcity forces families to make difficult choices. Isolation also limits access to markets, credit, and agricultural tools, trapping many in cycles of low yield and uncertain income.
Education is a path to hope, yet access remains limited. Children often walk long distances to reach school; facilities lack proper infrastructure and sanitation, and teaching resources are scarce. Enrollment and literacy rates — especially among girls — remain below national averages. Still, communities hold a strong belief: education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty.
Despite these challenges, resilience runs deep. Rich cultural traditions, community solidarity, and local knowledge sustain daily life. For Anzar, Azilal represents both great need and great promise. With development rooted in respect, inclusion, and consistency, meaningful and lasting change is within reach.
We renovate schools, equip classrooms, and support teachers to give every child a safe place to learn and grow.
We build wells and clean water systems to bring safe, reliable water directly to families and farmers.
We help farmers restore fields, plant trees, and use smart irrigation to secure food and protect the land.
We expand healthcare, empower women through cooperatives, and create community spaces for learning and opportunity.
The Anzar Foundation is led by siblings Malek and Sereen Laraqui Gallichio, born to a Moroccan mother and an American father. Their dual identity has always been a bridge between two worlds: rooted in the traditions of the Atlas Mountains while connected to the opportunities and networks of the United States. That bridge is now at the heart of Anzar’s mission, linking resources abroad with communities in Morocco that too often go unheard.
Malek and Sereen grew up in Morocco, with deep family ties to the Bin El Ouidane region of the Atlas. Their childhood was marked by days spent in mountain villages; eating on the forest floor with families, sleeping in homes of mud and stone, hunting, fishing, and gathering around bonfires with villagers, after long days of herding cattle. Living so closely with these communities gave them a lasting bond and a conviction that their future work must be alongside the people of the mountains, not apart from them.
Co-Founder
Parsons graduate and Columbia master’s student, driving fundraising, partnerships, and strategy from the United States.
Co-Founder
NYU-trained engineer, on the ground with villagers and officials to scope needs, secure approvals, and deliver projects.
We are dedicated to empowering Morocco’s mountain communities to thrive by delivering projects that ensure clean water, foster sustainable farming, and strengthen quality education. Guided by Moroccan-American collaboration, local leadership, and a shared commitment to progress, we work to build solutions that endure.
By 2026, Anzar aims to complete 15 projects across 10 villages, reaching over 20,000 people. Through focused initiatives in education, clean water access, and sustainable agriculture, we’re equipping rural communities with the tools they need to thrive.
Looking ahead to 2030, our long-term vision is ambitious yet clear, 200 projects, 130 villages, and 260,000 lives transformed. We envision an Atlas region where development is driven by the communities themselves, resilience is strengthened, and no village is left behind.
Every well we build, every classroom we restore, every tree we plant begins with you. Your support turns promises into real projects that give families clean water, children the chance to learn, and farmers the tools to provide for their communities. Together, we can bring lasting progress to the Atlas Mountains, one village at a time.
