LCM Stories Malika St. Moral CompassNL

Ijn this Story I am introducing another Local Changemaker Ambassador Malika Azammad from Stichting MoralCompassNL 

I met Malika during the Diaspora Masterclasses I have been doing with Rachida Boukriss Wilde Ganzen. Malika stud out to me because she was very ambitious and eager to learn! She only put the NGO up a few years ago and she already has been very successful. I was inspired and could see she is a good role model and deserves to be a Local Changemakers Ambassador.

Time to introduce Malika:

Malika, can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Malika: “ I was born and raised in The Netherlands but my roots are from Morocco. I work for myself and local governments can hire me to support citizens with participation and integration. Next to this I am putting up a new company focused on personal care products in collaboration with a women's cooperative. This past year I became a foster mother. So I'm involved in social work every day, both personally and professionally.”

What kind of foundation (NGO)  did you set up and why?

Malika: “I founded Stichting Moral Compass in Marocco during the COVID pandemic,  because I noticed that the local villagers were being hit hard, especially the elderly, the chronically ill, and single mothers. I focused on the village (Hassi al Bagar) where my father was born. My cousin, who lives there, supports me and we started putting up private projects together that are funded by private donations and Dutch funds.”

What does the collaboration with the local community look like?

Malika: “We started collaborating with the local women and they established their own foundation. They were giving sewing lessons, tutoring, language courses, and cookie baking. Then, the women's cooperative was established to expand their business. They started with couscous peanut butter and crochet. Now they are also making bags that we try to sell in Europe.”

Where do you see yourself and your NGO in three years?

Malika: “I hope the women’s coop will be running independently by that time and the community centre will be built. In this way the community can create more income and better living facilities. And it would be wonderful if the women will also be able to sell their products in Europe and bring a part of the money back into the community.”

We will keep following up to see how Malika is progressing. You can find more infotrmation about het and the projects on https://www.moralcompassnl.com/