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The Committee

Birgit Bihler and Mark Ferris

Mark and myself moved to Marrakech in August 2005 following a job offer. Both our professional backgrounds are hotel management and currently we are working for Prince Bandar bin Sultan as his Moroccan estate managers. Mark is a native Yorkshireman and I come from lovely Bavaria, and both of us have held similar positons before both in Jordan and the Caribbean. Prior to this we were living and working in London for a number of years.

Cees van den Berg
Born in 1956
Dutch nationality

Currently running Riad Azzar with my wife Marijke, and busy working on the renovation of another riad in Marrakech.

Before coming to Marrakech in January 2004, I was working as Finance Director for Pillsbury (subsidiary of Diageo). After the acquisition of Pillsbury by General Mills, I worked for General Mills as Finance Director and Controller Europe.

During my work for Pillsbury and General Mills, I was asked to do two jobs for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), one in Zambia and one in Ethiopia, which was basicly enhancing local government in financial reporting, budgeting and tax collection.

Marijke Stroosnijder
Born in 1960
Dutch nationality

Since January 2004, I have been running Riad Azzar (maison d’hôtes in the Medina of Marrakech) with my husband Cees van den Berg. Before coming to Marrakech, I worked for 5½ years as project manager for the International Project Unit of the Association of Netherlands Municipalities on projects to strengthen local authorities, e.g. Association of Palestinian Local Authorities (APLA) in Palestine.

For the last 2 years, I have worked as a Human Resources Manager before coming to Marrakech.

Mike McHugo

I first visited Morocco in 1973 and started running educational adventure holidays in Morocco in 1978 with a small company called Discover Limited. In 1990 Discover Limited purchased the ruined Kasbah du Toubkal which opened its doors in 1995. The restoration and operation of the Kasbah has been carried out by my friend and business partner Hajj Maurice from Imlil. We are committed to running the Kasbah in a sustainable way that gives benefits to the local community.

Selouane Berrada

A Local Marrakchi and accountant…

Anthony Layden
Honorary President

British Ambassador to Morocco 1999–2002 and lifelong friend of Morocco.

Why help educate girls?

It was very apparent to us all that educational opportunities particularly for girls from rural Morocco is an area that needed as much help as it could get. All of us have come from countries where we have been fortunate enough to take the life long gift of education almost for granted. Despite the Moroccan Government’s support of education policy and women’s rights, half of the country is not literate, and in rural areas, up to 83% of women are illiterate. An educated girl ends up educating her family. We may not be able to change the world but we can make a difference to a few lives and indirectly many more.

What is our vision?