NEWS

Sahara-Roots Newsletter 2011: a year of ups and downs. Please read more....

3rd Taragalte Culture Festival 11 11 11
The world is in turmoil, economic crisis, Arabic spring, earthquakes, tsunami's, nuclear catastophy, floods, up coming elections in Morocco, in all of this Halim and Ibrahim Sbaï of the Taragalte Concept and L'Association Zaila, decided to continue organizing the 3rd Taragalte Festival with the date set for 11 11 11. They had decided to change the season from February to November because of the favorable weather in this period. 
Please read more..

Article in Moroccan newspaper "Le Matin" Moi et mon Sahara» 
Publié le : 04.11.2011 | 17h11 
A travers ce livre éducatif, l'auteur néerlandaise Wanda Hebly donne, en mots et en images, une leçon d'écologie aux enfants. Please read more...

Groasis Waterboxx's disappear under "The walking dunes" June / October 2011
So much sand had been blown around by the harsh winds and our Groasis waterboxx's had been covered by the "walking sand dunes". It was a terrible disappointment to us all to hear that only 8 of the 55 trees had managed to survive these summer sandstorms. After shoveling a major amount of sand a way the men in camp had been able to recover 25 of the 30 waterboxx's but unfortunately the trees inside them had not been able to make it. Luckily the waterboxx's were sturdy and so they started to replant 8 of the waterboxx's before we arrived in October. Please read more.....

15 October 2011: The Taragalte Eco-Lodge Project
We have recently learned that the Taragalte Eco-Lodge project of the Moroccan Architects of Bureau EAST (www.bureaueast.com) will be launched end of this year. During the past 1 ½ years this unique "pilot project" has seriously been evaluated by several parties. It has been hard work to find the necessary funding and donations needed to realize this "pilot project" in Morocco, the Netherlands and Canada. The cultural part of the Taragalte project has been underway for more than one year under the supervision of the Dutch organization Butterfly Works. (www.butterflyworks.org)

Why is this an important plan for Sahara Roots?
The project will be built in the area where we also work. Sahara Roots has been asked to help in achieving a botanical garden on the grounds of the Eco-lodge project.
We have been asked to plant trees in this area which is situated on the edge of the oasis in M'hamid to help in the fight against the desertification of the villages in the area.
Sahara-Roots held a "Fundraiser" on September 4, 2010 in Hilversum, the Netherlands, to help raise money for this project.. The donations raised will be used to help build a water reservoir, which is necessary to be able to give the planted trees a better chance of survival. The fresh stored water will be used for the planting of palm trees. However the saltine water also found in this area can be used for example for the planting of Tamarisk trees. Once the project gets the go-ahead sign, we will also begin to build the reservoir. For more information on the Taragalte Eco Lodge please visit......

The "Flearen trees" are planted in the Sahara, November 2010:
At 15:00 pm we walked back to the site for our "hot date in the desert". Nearby the village Zaouia, children were playing football and after spotting us they soon came running towards us. Everyone wanted to help during our activity and during the planting they stopped playing football.. Halim Sbaï also arrived and took the lead. Men were busy with the water and preparing the tamarisk branches that would be planted.                                           Please read more......

October 2010: 1st Groasis Waterboxx's in M'hamid
Thanks to an article in the Dutch "Financial Times" of 1 June 2010 on the "Groasis Waterboxx", we became very interested to try Peter Hoff's invention in our tree-planting area on the edge of the Sahara, in South Morocco. Using this "incubator" for young trees could maybe help the Sahara-Roots Foundation in increasing the survival rate of our newly planted trees in M'hamid. A friend had told us about this new invention earlier but it wasn't until the all media focus on the Groasis Waterboxx caught our attention that we realized that we would also like to experiment with this amazing new product. "The invention of 2010 Waterboxx and not the iPhone," according to the popular "American Scientific Magazine" has been declared "Innovation of the Year 2010"! Please read more...

Report Treeplanting Oued Mahia - M'Hamid, May 2010
In the last three years the Sahara-Roots Foundation together with L'Association Zaila from M'hamid has initiated a tree planting project at the border of the oasis and the desert, near the town of Oued Mahia in the M'hamid district. This research will look at the influence of the techniques used in the past three years on the survivability of the trees planted. Please read more..........

National Tree Planting Day  March 17, 2010:Tree Planting on Nature Reserve "the Flearen"
Early in the morning on the 17th left my husband Adrian and I headed towards villages Elahuizen and Oudega in Friesland, the Netherlands. Tineke de Vries and her husband, Jan Henk have been preparing the construction of their small nature reserve "the Flearen",  for months. Tineke and I had both won an environmental awards for the "Terre des Femmes" environmental action of 2009.
Please read more...........

1st Newsletter Sahara-Roots:
Sahara Roots would like to inform you about the development of the foundation by way of a "newsletter". We will send them by email to everyone who has so far expressed an interest in the  foundation and it's activities. We will also share paper copies of this newsletter, that we have prepared, for promotion. The plan is to make a "report" at least once a year for those who are interested, the sponsors and organizations that have awarded prizes to Sahara-Roots. Please read more.......

Taragalte Sahara Culture Festival in February 2010
After many months of preparation we were on our way to El M'Hamid Ghizlane at the end of the road where the Sahara begins in Southern Morocco to attend the second edition of the Sahara Taragalte Culture Festival. The festival took place between 25 to 27 February 2010. Please read more.....

2009 in a "nutshell"
Now there are now about  400 trees planted, 200 books were distributed to the children of the Douar Tahtani "nomad school, a Dutch school donated trees, a cleaning campaign was held in February 2009, the first Taragalte Sahara Culture Festival took place in the desert region of M'hamid, a documentary was made, awards won, we travelled with tourists and enjoyed this beautiful area, its people and the projects, plans for a Culture Center and Eco-lodge are in the making, and we as a foundation were cosely involved with all of this which was really super.
Of course there have been setbacks, to my surprise, some of our trees did not survive the hot summer of 2009.
In September 2009 I traveled with the "Noelle group" to the south of Morocco. I did not tell them about the Sahara Roots projects in until we were closer to M'hamid. They were so pleasantly surprised to hear what is being done in all the projects. By camel we rode to the village of Oued Mhia where the trees are. I heard from our "tree guy" Abda Ali that not all trees were still there.
Disappointed,  I always felt a great responsibility towards our donors and so I asked myself how this could have happen. But then when we got closer, I also saw that many trees had grown enormously. Of course it is not fair to think that every tree will continue to grow. Even in my own garden not everything succeeds and it appears that in the Netherlands it is generally known that 20% of the newly planted trees will not survive.
What we saw was on the willingness of the people here to hold on to their dreams of a "green wall" surrounding  their village. During the hot summer months(with temperatures of about 50 degrees) they had begun with the digging of an irrigation canal. In this way when it rains there is water that can reach the tree area and this is something they definitely want to use. It is a huge job because the ground is very hard and everything is done by hand. In November 2009 I arrived in Mhia Oued, along with my girlfriend Mariette Brown and the men were already a big step further with the digging of the irrigation channels. Now that winter was coming and they were hoping to lots of rain, so that the trees would have a better chance of survival. Many trees had grown bigger and the children were happy to see us again.

Femmes Finance travels to Mhamid in May 2009
Together with my girlfriend Carine we organized a travel program for the investment company Femmes Finance. They wanted something special and their eyes fell on the Sahara Roots projects. Apart from experiencing what it was like to ride camels in the Sahara to withdraw, we also visited the M'hamid treeplanting project. Each participant was able to also plant their own trees. We visited the "Douar Tahtani" nomad school where we not only gave the children's books that we had brought with us from the Netherlands for the local school small library, but also
200 children's booklets  "My Sahara and I" (in French / Arabic) were given to the school. It was a very  touching moment.
Many thanks to Carine and the ladies of FF, for joining me on this tour have gone and thanks for all your support.

Planting saplings in the Sahara with Essence College, February 2009
Abda Ali, Ismael and the other men responsible for the maintenance of our trees, stood beaming as they waited for  us. Together we planted two different types of trees planted: acacia and tamarisk. It was good to feel my hands in the earth again. Each tree was carefully planted. There was fresh water for the acacia and slightly salty water for the tamarisk. The roots were carefully prepared and each tree was placed in a hole, covered with earth and some then water. After this, the wooden label of each donor attached to the tree. Whilst planting, I heard from Abda Ali that they really needed a pump for waterwell. Currently, the water brought up manually within buckets. Now that more and more trees were being planted, it is necessary to work efficiently. I promised I would discuss this with Halim Sbai. After the planting activity, we walked in the twilight in silence and very satisfied through the desert to the camp for our last night in the desert. Everyone had made his / her contributed to this beautiful areain trying to help combat desertification. I feel a very privileged person in this way, I am able to ombine my work as a tour guide and as initiator of Sahara-Roots Foundation, to help the people here. I would also like to thank everyone of Essence College for the great support during the birth year of Sahara Roots.

Taragalte Sahara Festival Februari 2009
Unity within the world we can create the synergy to be found between different cultures. This cooperation has varied over time. Those who want to participate in this unit awareness, will meet and confront themselves. Because in every relationship it's a question of give and take.
What I  became aware during my second trip to the Moroccan Sahara and the filming the production of the festival Taragalte there on the spot,  was a glimpse of this so-called unity consciousness, or synergy of cultures. We as Westerners come to this strange place up with many ideas. We think we know how things will go, we want to control and have a plan that already exists. But the Moroccans answers: "Insha-Allah", meaning "if Allah wills." Our mentality focuses on the manufacturability, whilst the people  here surrender to life. The beauty of this finding is that these two mentalities have an interrelationship. If we can listen and with love are willing to be involved in these foreign cultures and if they have the same intention towards us, then there is unity and equality. Then there is no more we - they, or Moroccans and Westerners, but we are all people who share the same sadness and joy, singing and dancing with each other and want to learn from each other to grow. We will accept that we have an opinion about ourselves and others.
The Taragalte Festival was organised by two brothers, Halim and Ibrahim Sbaï. Halim as the entrepreneur and Ibrahim as artistic director. The festival was a great success. Especially since it was the first time. The turnout of visitors was good. The highlight of the festival was the music band Tinariwen, from Mali and an estimated over 1500 people showed up. People became literally wild with the music. Especially the local people, they seemed never to have seen such an impressive stage with lighting, sound and video show. At a distance the lit stage looked a UFO descended from heaven into the desert. The men climbed onto the stage of madness. They gave the musicians a kiss on the head, while they tried to continue play music throughout. Police had to intervene and convinced the public to remain calm.
My first idea about the success of the festival is about the cooperation between Halim and Ibrahim. Halim is clearly the male force. While the audience was going crazy, Halim was also the first who threw hinself into to the "lionsden". He received most of the blows during the heat of the moment, ended the evening with a bloody nose next to the hazy voice because of all the phone calls he made the previous week. Ibrahim served as the artistic power behind the scenes and brought beauty to the festival.
And beauty there was! I heard and filmed beautiful (trance) choirs coming from all corners of the Sahara desert. Camel Riders raced against each other against the backdrop of a setting sun and rising moon. And when the sandstorm ceased, out came women and children, standing as silhouettes against the blue sky and dancing on the sand dunes to the treble tongues were heard in response to all the festivities.
I believe that the organising of festivals such as the Taragalte festival is necessary in the world. I predict that worldwide more such festivals will be seen, where authenticity is the starting point. Different cultures must work together to achieve the ultimate climax to come from these experiences. The focus should be on quality. People are inspired to respect their ancestors, by a looking into get their history through music and other arts. They will present their interpretations and express themselves creatively. Inspiration and motivation go hand in hand and the future is born. At the same time the local economy will grow by the influx of tourists and increasing employment. These are the pictures I received during the festival Taragalte, lying on the edge of the Sahara desert of Morocco.
The documentary that I've filmed with Laurens Hebly will carry this message. And hopefully contribute to the continuation of the 2nd Taragalte version of the festival next year and other similar festivals worldwide (in collaboration www.paleo.ch) mini-documentary coming soon! - Ruben van Leer Please see more...

2nd prize Yves Rocher environmental prize Terre des Femmes in 2009!
Yves Rocher has engaged with working towards a better environment for many years and helps to contributes like a bit of in increasing environmental awareness. The Fondation Yves Rocher actively supports measures for the protection and appreciation of plants which includes the environmental price Terre de Femmes - "Women for Nature". These women are involved with projects that benefit the milieu. The National Awards ceremony for the environmental prize 2009 took place yesterday. Please read more.....
The projects of the following  "nature women" received prizes for their projects:
1st prize: Antoinette van de Water with the project "Bring the Elephant home "
2nd prize: Wanda Hebly with her Sahara Roots Foundation
3rd prize: Tineke de Vries with her nature development project "The Flearen"

January 24, 2009
Good news for the Foundation Sahara Roots!
On 24 of January 2009 we found a very pleasant surprise in account of the Sahara Roots. The donation from the children and their parents of the school "De Hoeksteen" had been donated! Enough to plant more than 200 trees on the border of the Sahara desert in southern Morocco. A super project by all concerned. It had been decided that the proceeds of the December 11th 2008, Christmas action "chores for a project" would be donated to Sahara Roots. Really super great that Sahara-Roots Foundation had been chosen!
On December 11th we gave a presentation about the projects of Sahara Roots while the children, carefully listened They were really focused and afterwards asked many questions. It was very exciting, especially for me, this is the first time that I gave a presentation for some 400 children with their teachers.
Sahara-Roots is extremely grateful for the tremendous effort of all children, parents, teachers and leadership of the Hoeksteen!
In February, the trees would be planted during the Taragalte Sahara Festival, Together with the children of the village in the Moroccan Sahara Mhamid we would participate in a large operation, which include environmental education, traditional music, dancing, as well as planting trees. My family also a part of the organization of the foundation, would be help during this festival as well as with making a documentary film, with a comprehensive report on the festival and the tree planting project as well as provide advice on sustainable development. The Taragalte festival is organized by and for people from this area, but also allows visitors to enjoy and participate in the traditional way of life and music.
For more information about the festival please visit.....

Margriets Beter World 2008-2009
Dear Wanda Hebly,
First of all, congradutations with you accomplishment!
Out of all the nominations that the magazine "Margriet" recieved in the past months, a selection of 55 women has been made. These women all work uniekly and devoted for  a charity. You have been chosen as one of these 55 women and it must be said taht this is very special. 
With this prize we also recieve a donation of 1500 euro!!!  Really super! With this money we would like to help improve the water system for the trees by the improvement of the waterwells or by aiding in the building of nieuw waterwells.

30 June 08: "Te Gast in Marokko" We are very proud of the fact that our foundation has been included in the new edition of the travel booklet "Te gast in Marokko".  A short story called "My Sahara and me" was written by Kees van Teeffelen and we are very thankful that our initiatives are supported in this way. Please see www.tegastin.nl

5-9 June 2008: "Nettoyage" Mhamid: The yearly "clean-up" in the area around M'hamid was a big success.
Around 200 people participated in this project and there was a lot of attention from the different Ministries in Morocco such as the Ministry of Tourism in Rabat, Ministries of Environment and Education in Zagora. The Zaila Foundation worked very hard to try to help motivate the people from this area in order to show them how important it is to keep your environment clean. Meetings were held with other foundations in the area in order to discuss many new ideas. A comprehensive report of the "Nettoyage 2008" will be placed on our site.

14 May 2008: Sahara-Roots Foundation becomes official! The official birth of the Sahara-Roots Fondation took place after the five members of the board signed the documents in the notary office of Ligten & van Ligten in Hilversum on the 14th of May 2008.  A champagne cork flew through the air as a sign of the enthusiasm that each board member felt with the start of this new project. The Sahara-Roots foundation is now official! Together with Adriaan, Laurens, Wendelien and Richard Hebly, we are going to work hard in order to reach the aims set by the Sahara-Roots Foundation

29 April 08: Donation from "Silverjet Elegant Resorts" On the 19th of February 08 my college Marja Keuker of Valerius Reizen nominated Sahara-Roots Foundation for an action which was presented by Silverjet Elegant Resorts. Thank you so much for nominating me! It was really great is that we also received one of the prizes! On the 29th of April a check of 1000 euro was presented to Sahara-Roots from "Silverjet". It was a pity that I was not able to be there but Marja was there in my place to receive the check. We would like to thank Silverjet Elegant Resorts for this wonderful prize

18 april 2008: Essence College donates trees:a presentation of photos about the first activities of Sahara-Roots in Mhamid, the new steps have been made for the next 45 trees to present to the inhabitants of Mhamid. A big thank you to all the students and to Cora and Jan. I will certainly give my kindest regards to the people there. See www.essencecollege.nl

14 - 18 maart 2008 : The first trees are planted in Mhamid Together with two girlfriends we travelled to the south of Morocco to the village of Mhamid where the first activities of Sahara-Roots would be taking place. The Sahara-Roots Foundation works together with the Zaila Foundation and the inhabitants of this area on different projects. We want to help in protect the Moroccan Sahara and help to provide a better future for the people that live here. After planting the first trees together with the children and the inhabitants of the village Oued Mhia, the children all shook hands with us and then received their own copy of the booklet "Me and my Sahara"  together pencils and colourful writing paper. Their own booklet was something they never received.  See Mhamid Activities

December 2007: Thank you, all of the participants and students of the Essence College in Bodegraven. We would like to thank you for donating the first 50 trees for the "Plant a Tree" project in Mhamid. See www.essencecollege.nl

December 2007: Thank you CreditMAS in Hilversum. We would like to thank CreditMAS for sponsoring 200 booklets "Me and my Sahara", that were printed during the autumn. See www.creditmas.nl

November 2007: Thank you Valeruis Reizen in Amsterdam. We would like to thank Valerius Reizen for sponsoring 200 booklets "Me and my Sahara", that were printed during the autumn. See www.valerius.nl

November 2006: Villages on the Front Line - MOROCCO  by ALI SBAI  
Today the main threat to the scarce Saharan grazing lands is not drought but tourism. With over nine million tourists per year in Morocco and Tunisia alone, and the craze for rallies brought on by the Paris - Dakar race, hundreds of thousands of vehicles travel all over the Moroccan Sahara each year. Thanks to GPS, off-road vehicle drivers have become increasingly reckless, causing severe damage to the frail desert ecosystem. It can take decades for nature to repair the damage one 4X4 vehicle can do. Yet, for the surviving nomads of southern Morocco, this is just the  most recent of a series of problems threatening their livelihood. With tensions among neighbouring countries, it has become more difficult to cross borders, so they are forced to take refuge in regions that are getting smaller every year and over-graze sparse pasture. And camel thefts are increasing. The nomads' way of life, so finely attuned to the desert, appears doomed as the desert itself becomes   ‘desertified'.  Ali Sbai was born in a tent to a nomad family.  He is making a passionate case for the creation of a network of cross- border reserves to enable the nomads to take pressure off the limited grazing ground and escape the effects of off-road vehicle damage. Zie: www.zaila.ch