Morocco Villa
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
We have our own sustainable water supply as, along with the other five houses in the complex, we obtain our water from an Artesian well which is dug on the property. This provides enough water for the whole complex and the water for the well is derived from an underground river which comes from rain water. We have installed an irrigation system for the garden which uses water from the well and also uses the water intelligently and sparingly, thus minimising waste. This system uses a lot less water than a hand held hose.
There are showers in all the bathrooms which use far less water than a bath. We encourage our guests to have a shower rather than a bath. We also encourage our guests to drink the tap water from the well, rather than bottle water. We also use Solar energy. We have installed solar panels to heat the hot water and plan to extend this, in time, so that we can use solar energy to heat the Villa in winter. Air conditioning is necessary in the summer but we ask the staff and guests to turn off the air conditioning either when not in the villa or when it is unnecessary. We also have installed low energy light bulbs throughout the villa and ensure that any unnecessary lights are turned off at night.
Community
From the outset we have sourced all our furnishings from the local community and from Marrakech. We have had several tables and light fittings made by local craftsmen and also recently had a metal Pergola made by local blacksmiths. We have also had a lot of henna work done on the walls by local artists. We employ two local people in the house to look after the guests, cook meals and keep the house tidy. The lady who cooks has been sent off to a cookery course, at our expense, in Marrakech.
We have also put a lot of effort into supplementing that cooking training and developed her skills enormously. Our employees are paid a fair wage which we have steadily increased. We also employ a local gardener who, at present, is also undergoing training by a local gardening firm. Local people are used as guides for our guests, when they go off to the Atlas Mountains or elsewhere. We also have a network of contacts to provide guests with hire cars or to drive guests off to visit local places. We also recommend many local restaurants and we source all our fresh fruit, vegetables and meat from the local village. We have a guide book in the Villa, which we have written, and this details all the areas of interest which guests can visit. This includes restaurants, leisure facilities and shopping ideas. All of this encourages guests to get out into the local community, and Marrakech, which boosts the Moroccan economy.
We have several olive trees in our garden and the olives are collected each year by a local Co-operative. The olives are pressed into olive oil and we take half of the oil and the other half goes back to the Co-operative.
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