Berkane is the city of oranges, clementines and watermelons, agriculture is very important. Zeist has almost 63,000 inhabitants, Berkane about 120,000, so twice as many. Berkane has been Zeist’s partner city for twenty years, last year a delegation from Morocco came to visit Zeist, and now the municipality went that way with a number of people. “I saw small improvements in the country, but a lot still needs to be done,” says Mohammed. “They also need support from us, they can learn how we do things in the Netherlands. The Netherlands has a lot of experience with foundations and public organizations, for example. And we are going to send at least five laptops from school to one of the schools, because they have still not enough of it. Their future prospects there are a bit bleak, they really want a European diploma because then they can also find better work in Morocco.”
What Zeist can learn from Berkane and vice versa: ‘I am now planning a school trip to Morocco’
