I first visited Imlil in 2011 with a Rayburn Tours group and had been back many times since then. I didn’t know what to expect this time as we drove into Imlil, a mountain village that I had visited several times before. It was a peaceful place nestled in the Atlas Mountains, known to trekkers and Rayburn students, who spend a day experiencing life in the high Atlas Mountains. I remember wonderful encounters with local people, struggling to cope with the trials of life in an area where the impact of ‘climate change’ had impacted local life and years of drought followed by flooding. But what I found this time was something else entirely. The September 2023 earthquake had shaken more than just the earth; it had torn through homes, families, and a way of life. Yet even in that devastation, I witnessed something I had not really anticipated: resilience, generosity, and the quiet power of human connection.
The refugee camp outside Imlil was a sea of white tents and ‘shanty’ style huts spread across dusty ground still cracked from the tremor. It had only been a few weeks since the earthquake, and the area was buzzing with aid workers, volunteers, and survivors trying to piece together the next chapter of the lives of locals. I felt like an outsider at first. I was unsure of my role, aware of my privilege, carrying more questions than answers. I had a guilty feeling wondering whether I should have been there… gawking at human misery.
