(4 Jan 2017) LEAD IN:
Residents of a village close to the eastern city of Oujda say they are struggling with a lack of sanitation.
People in Naima have no water supply in their homes and have to travel several kilometres to collect what they need from a tank.
STORY-LINE:
It's early morning and Zara Belhaj is already on the road with her donkey.
She is travelling from her home in the village of Naima to a water tank seven kilometres (4.3 miles) away.
It's the only place she can get water for the family to drink, cook and wash.
But it's not always possible to make the journey.
"We can only come here when the weather is okay because if it rains too much the road is too muddy," Belhaj explains.
Her home - like all those in Naima - does not have plumbing.
So villagers must regularly collect water and bring it back here.
It means conditions are basic - water is heated in pots over an open fire.
And Belhaj must ration water consumption according to the weather - she doesn't want to run out when she's not able to travel to the water tank.
"When it rains for 10 or 15 days we try not to use a lot of water. We just use it to cook and drink, not to wash ourselves. When the weather is bad we cannot clean our clothes or take showers," she explains.
Belhaj's home doesn't have a proper bathroom or toilet, but that is not unusual in Morocco.
Around 16 percent of villages here don't have access to toilets or washing facilities, according to a study by international charity Water Aid.
But without the ability to clean up and get rid of germs and bacteria, diseases can spread.
Hepatitis A, digestive diseases, skin and genital infections are the everyday troubles for villagers.
"The lack of proper sanitation brings serious diseases that can be transmitted between habitants of the village," says Mohamed El Boukili, President of local association Reform and Development.
"Several doctors have alerted us to the fact that disease can be spread to other villages too. They are treating people but it's complicated here."
The forty families of Naima village say they feel abandoned by authorities.
"We just wish that our situation will stop. We are trying to take care of our children. This situation has to stop," says another resident, Omar Leghzali.
In 2011, King Mohammed VI asked local mayors to help people living in impoverished areas improve their homes.
But the people of Naima are still waiting for that assistance.
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