Child Sponsorship Background from Agadir, Morocco

SOS Children's Village Agadir

SOS Children's Village Agadir was completed in 2008. The location for this village was chosen according to the same principles as the one for SOS Children's Village El Jadida: the aim is to aid the integration of the children in their local environment by placing the village in a central location inside the city. The construction of the village was almost completely funded from local sources (local associations, the municipality and the provincial government).

SOS Children's Village Agadir consists of four buildings with three stories each and accommodates up to 126 children. It has 14 family apartments, an administration area, the apartments of the director and his deputy, a guesthouse and storage facilities. Built on a site of 0.86 hectares, it is located in the centre of a residential area of the town with great infrastructure (various companies, a technical training school and a private school ). Thanks to this proximity, the children are able to attend the schools of the city and they easily integrate into the community. The city with its increasing amount of activity offers to the young people many possibilities of training and employment, particularly in the tourist sector.

Background to Agadir

Agadir is a in the southwest Morocco, the capital of the Agadir province.  The word Agadir means in Berber "Fortified Granary".  It has a population of over 670,000. The city is located on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean, near the foot of the Atlas Mountains, just north of the point where the Souss River flows into the ocean.

At 15 minutes to midnight on February 29, 1960, Agadir was almost totally destroyed by an earthquake that lasted 15 seconds, burying the city and killing thousands. The death toll was estimated at 15,000. The earthquake destroyed the ancient Kasbah.