At the beginning of 2010, the first training center of SOS Village d’enfants Maroc (SOS Kinderdorf Marokko)was opened in Casablanca. It was built to help single mothers and their children. The young women have been abandoned by their husbands, are divorced or widowed. In most cases they are excluded from their families. A difficult fate for a woman in Morocco who depends on the protection of the family and marriage. Mostly without training, they quickly find themselves in financial difficulties due to this situation through no fault of their own.

At the SIDI BERNOUSSI training center, they have the opportunity to learn a trade so that they can feed themselves and their children and lead an independent life. Here they find the opportunity to be trained as a seamstress, can learn how to make candles and Moroccan glass handicraft. A learning kitchen has also been set up. While the young women complete their training, the children are taken care of. They are cared for in an adjoining kindergarten. The young women are also accompanied in their new lives with help and advice.

The training bakery of “Brot gegen Not” completes the concept. After the construction phase, the foundation sent the bakery equipment to Casablanca in autumn 2010. This is followed by the training by the voluntary bakers of the foundation. The young mothers are trained in the bakery trade for nine months and, in addition to baking bread and rolls, also learn how to make “fine baked goods”.

The contact to SOS Village d’enfants as well as the idea of cooperation came about through the embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Rabat, which has already supported SOS Village d’enfants with smaller measures. The equipment in the bakery is now also being financed by the German Embassy, enabling the foundation to carry out the project.

“The funds that we as SOS Village d’enfants Maroc have approved in the past have been used carefully and conscientiously by “Brot gegen Not” “, says Ms. Niedermeier-Bennaziz, who is responsible for supporting small projects in foreign missions. “With regard to the cooperation between “Brot gegen Not” and SOS Village d’enfants, we are convinced that we have supported a project with a lasting effect.”

In addition to the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Rabat, there are numerous other sponsors of the project. For example, the building was financed by a private contractor, the energy for the oven is donated by a gas supplier and the daily flour requirement for the bakery is donated by a local grain mill. The Kuehne und Nagel forwarding agency will transport the equipment and machines from Germany to Morocco – free of charge.
“Die Brücke”, an association for intellectual exchange between Morocco and Germany, which was founded by Moroccan academics trained in Germany, supports “Brot gegen Not” on site.