The Moroccan earthquake claimed thousands of lives. But survivors who celebrate Ramadan say that has not shaken their faith

AMIZMEZ, Morocco – An earthquake months ago left parts of her home cracked and dilapidated, but Fatima Berri felt wrong spending the holy month of Ramadan in a tent.

Grateful to have survived the 6.8-magnitude earthquake that claimed thousands of lives around her in Morocco's Atlas Mountains, she stood in her destroyed home and prepared traditional meals for the daily breakfast. She said she felt safe enough, until a 3.3 magnitude earthquake occurred two weeks ago.

She was afraid, but she stayed.

“It's my home. I have nowhere else to go,” the 57-year-old mother of three said, shrugging her shoulders.

Like many of her neighbors, she is tired of waiting for normal life to resume. For months after the earthquake that killed nearly 3,000 Moroccans in September, Berri stayed in a hot, stifling tent provided by the government.

During Ramadan, she and others honored their traditions amid the ruins, cooking tagines in clay pots and making bread and tea on their stoves. On Wednesday, with the beginning of Eid al-Fitr, the holiday atmosphere for many Moroccans oscillated between celebration and despair.

During the month of reflection, Barry appreciated family and community gatherings as well as small pleasures like mint and verbena that she replanted in buckets near the rubble on her roof.

Her community in Amizmiz is one of the largest cities shaken by the earthquake. Since then, many people who promised to stay and rebuild these communities have moved to larger cities.

For Morocco, the task of rebuilding is daunting. The government estimates that more than 300,000 people were affected by the earthquake that struck Marrakesh and the five most affected mountainous provinces, where more than 4.2 million people reside. There are plans to rebuild schools, roads and hospitals and help farmers who have lost their herds.

The government said it was committed to returning people to their homes and hoped that the reconstruction process would provide new development opportunities for a region that has long lacked the infrastructure for Morocco's tourist centers and coastal cities.

But on the ground, there is frustration.

Construction crews working to restore multi-storey buildings for community associations are angry that they have not received more guidance from the government on how to build for future earthquakes. They are untrained, and they pile bricks and plaster on the ruins of multi-storey buildings.

A month after the disaster, demonstrators angry at local authorities and suspected of corruption marched through the town demanding promised government aid.

At the end of January, the government Reconstruction Committee said that nearly 58,000 families had received monthly stipends of 2,500 dirhams — or $250 — and that more than 20,000 families had received an initial batch of reconstruction aid.

The aid was announced in September, but after distribution problems were reported, the Interior Ministry opened a registry for residents to request it two and a half months later.

Officials said the rebuilding would cost a total of 120 billion dirhams ($12 billion) and would take about five years. International aid has been offered, including a $1.3 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.

In Amizmiz, there are signs of resilience, economic activity, and life returning to normal. There are also signs that the road to recovery will be long. Vendors sell honey, flour and sprinkles used in baking Ramadan sweets. Men watch Turkish soap operas on television; Women displaced from their homes wash clothes in community fountains.

In plastic tents – which amplify the sun's heat – some residents said they were living on monthly salaries and waiting for a larger sum they were promised for reconstruction. Many told the Associated Press they received nothing at all.

Last month, the Moroccan Institute for Policy Analysis published data from a survey conducted from October to December, in which only 11% of people directly affected by the earthquake said they received support from the government.

Hard-to-reach areas faced more challenges.

In some villages, the government used sheet metal and concrete to build temporary barracks-style homes. In Amizmiz there are only tents.

The community takes pride in coming together to help each other. The Yatim Community Association hosted nightly dinners serving up to 250 people as they fasted during Ramadan.

“Help only comes from associations. There is no help from the government,” said Abdelaziz Samina, a 50-year-old blacksmith.

Smena said local authorities told him his cracked concrete house — currently held upright by wooden stilts — had not sustained enough damage to qualify for assistance. His neighbors have not yet received aid money to allow them to buy metal doors from him to rebuild their homes.

But Samina and his family see Ramadan as an opportunity to reaffirm their faith in the face of disaster.

“It's all in God's hands,” he said.

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