This feature is part of our Slow Fund Series: projects and stories that highlight the communities we visit and how we give back. We established The Slow Fund to support innovative projects that are reflective of the regions that inspire them.
Whether through educational, cultural, or conservation and preservation initiatives, the Fund helps protect various forms of heritage and promotes the health of vibrant living cultures and the eco-systems that support them.
EFA is a foundation that helps young women from the Imlil Valley in Morocco pursue their studies up through high school and go on to study at University.
In the High Atlas region of Morocco, more than 70% of young women have no access to education due to the vast distance to the closest school, high cost for transportation and the likelihood that family funds are often allocated to their male siblings instead.
EFA has established five houses that provide lodging, meals and education to support nearby communities. Butterfield & Robinson sponsored three young women, allowing them to live at these houses, receive education and nurture their spirit of togetherness and learning.
In getting to know these women, they have shared their aspirations with us. They include becoming an engineer to build schools and hospitals, studying architecture abroad, and studying medicine to become a surgeon.
Their stories inspire us, as they speak of representing females in male-dominated industries, as well as the importance of supporting each other and the communities that they come from.