Drinking water
No taxis drive to Sidi Taibi. “The village is far too remote and nobody wants to go there”, says a taxi driver. Public transport stops shortly before the village entrance. The buses turn around. And the train on the nearby railway line simply thunders past. Nobody makes a stop here.
The village is only 30 kilometres away from Morocco´s capital of Rabat and just a few kilometres from the University city of Kenitra. Yet, Sidi Taibi is an isolated spot in the midst of one of the richest regions in Morocco. Here is where the poor people live. Those who cannot afford the expensive life of the city. The people have built tiny stone huts on the brown sand, most of which have a makeshift corrugated iron roof. Waste water flows between them. Emaciated cats prowl through the village in the search for something edible.
Khawla El Guerrab is 18 years old and lives with her family in Sidi Taibi.
Sidi Taibi has a lack of almost everything. Such as electricity. Those who are fortunate can steal some from one of the few electricity cables along the main street. But there is also a lack of hospitals, police stations and schools for the 60,000 people now living in the village. That is ten times more people than 20 years ago. They are all living on the breadline.
But the most serious problem in Sidi Taibi is the water. There are various wells scattered around the village from which groundwater gushes. This is where the women collect their water in canisters on mornings and evenings. Many lug the full canisters for several kilometres until they reach their houses.
What most of them do not know: The water is heavily contaminated. “The nitrate content exceeds the maximum value of 10 per cent. We know that it is carcinogenic”; says Soufian El Ghzizel. He conducted research on the topic of water treatment at the university in Kenitra. The fertilisers from agriculture in the region are to blame for the pollution.
