7 years ago

Morocco orphanage helps kids face tough road ahead

Many of the children living at the Al Najd orphanage are now able to attend school having been rescued from a life on the streets or from violence at home.

TRTWorld

Morocco has thousands of orphaned children abandoned by their relatives and often neglected by society.

An orphanage in Morocco is trying to help the young children in its care to lead as normal a life as possible.

Many of them are now able to attend school having been rescued from a life on the streets or from violence at home.

The Al Najd Centre for the Care of Children in Precarious Situations, was opened in December 1998.

Abandoned by their family or driven away because of domestic violence, every child lives in the centre for a different reason.

Morocco's adoption laws are strict and children find themselves living in the orphanage for years.

According to The High Commission for Planning, there are some 30,000 orphans in Morocco.

In the majority of cases, orphans or abandoned children are left behind or marginalised in society.

The law defines an abandoned child as anyone under 18 who is born of unknown parents or an unknown father and a known mother who abandoned him of their own free will.

TRT World's Yasin Eken reports.