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Two weeks ago today a powerful earthquake devastated southern Morocco. It is known to have killed nearly three thousand people, most near the epicentre in the High Atlas mountain range. That part of the country was underdeveloped even before the earthquake, and it will take years to rebuild villages and towns there.

Last week Newsday reported from some of those affected areas and spoke to the English teacher Abdelali Mahfodi who spoke about the catastrophe that had fallen on them. Newsday returned to him today to see what has changed since then. He said everyone was ''still living in tents, children were still in shock'' and because of this haven't returned to school. Many '' have not taken a shower since the 8th September and their clothes and belongings are buried under the rubble; he himself '' has not changed his clothes for the last four days.'' There's no furniture and equipment for school including whiteboards or blackboards and the temperature in them is very high. There is ''a need for psychological and social help'' for everyone.

Photo shows English teacher Abdelali Mahfodi sitting in a chair in Amizmiz, Morocco, on September 15 2023.