The phone rang at midnight in Oujda, Morocco on Friday, July 27th. The voice at the other end announced that his majesty Mohammed VI, the King of Morocco, would be sending me a letter on the occasion of the grand opening of our new home and that I must be ready to receive it the following morning. Between disbelief and excitement, I found it rather difficult to sleep that night. I kept thinking about how amazing and full of mercy our Lord is – He continuously blesses me and my GiveLight family in our effort to build yet another beautiful home.
The road to the finish line has been long and arduous. In 2013, we received a beautiful land donation in Casablanca. Sadly, after spending a lot of time and effort while getting all the paperwork/permit done, we lost it due to a dispute amongst family members who shared the inheritance. For almost a year, we searched for a new location until a gentleman decided to donate a large piece of land in Oujda. This new land was on a foothill overlooking an expansive green field and the Algerian mountains.
We began construction in early 2016 with the goal of finishing by early 2018. A dear friend and architect, Wafaa Sabil, designed the original blueprint. She later introduced me to Sech Wachtel, who is the director of the department of architecture at USF. Sech along with twenty of his students further developed the design. We then took that design to a local architect firm and asked them to build a home reflecting the beauty of Moroccan architecture and, more importantly, a home that would be filled with light. The outcome is what you are about to see here.
Everything about our Moroccan home is awe-inspiring – from the front facade, lobby, kitchen, prayer room, Moroccan Salon, and library to the garden. Everyone who enters immediately feels at home.
