After a little while a bloke turned up who spoke very good english and he introduced himself as Lahyani Mohammed one of the two local school teachers. He had been dragged out of his classroom to help show me around, but he seemed happy to do so in the lovely muslim tradition of hospitality.

We had a quick tour of his school and a walk around Iche escorted by one of the military guys. Iche is basically a small village of what seemed like less than one hundred people. It's perched next to a river, and equally perched right next to the border with Algeria. This means about fifty percent of the scenery that you can see from within the village is actually in Algeria, and hence off limits.

The Moroccans view the Algerians with a great deal of suspicion for various reasons, but as the Algerian army had its border post a few km's inland it gave the place a slightly surreal feel.

After touring Iche I was invited back to Mohammed's house (see video above) before he had to return to his classroom. We had a good chat about our lives and dreams. Mohammed is from the big city of Oujda, about 500km north near the med coast.

Like many young teachers he can only find his first teaching job in a small town a long way from his parents. Iche must seem like it is a very long way from his family. It is very cut off from the rest of Morocco and has a very forgotten feel to it. There is no electricity, only a generator that is turned on for two hours each night. It is a very tranquil place and the people are extremely friendly, but there is a slightly desperate edge, like they sense they are excluded from all of the 'progress' that is happening in other parts of Morocco.

Mohammed asked if their was any way that I could help the kids in the school. For many families in the area sending their kids to school is a very expensive option, especially as they are needed to help with tending the goats and other similar tasks instead. The cost of textbooks in Morocco is extremely high. It's not uncommon for one book to be 400 dirhams (40 euros) and each kid typically needs about 1000 dirhams of books each year. That's 100 euros for each kid each year for a family that may well live in tents tending goats.

If you feel able to help the kids of Iche then please contact Lahyani Mohammed at Lot Benkirane B6 NO6, Oujda, Morocco. He is a very earnest and trusty worthy guy.

The village would like to setup a Municipal campsite to attract tourists but because of the extreme closeness of the Algerian border they are not able to get permission from the military etc.