ABURY from the beginning until today

Andrea is confronted in Marrakech with the challenges of the country, such as the high illiteracy rate and unemployment rate among women, as well as the cheap imports that lead to a drop in the prices of handicrafts. With the aim of strengthening the role of women, she founded the ABURY Foundation gGmbH and the ABURY Collection GmbH.

A self-conducted study shows: 80 percent of the women in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains are illiterate. The ABURY Foundation is establishing a literacy program for them in the village of Douar Anzal. With the help of the LABDOO project, which provides education in this important area to people without access to computers, the women can practice what they have learned on the computer and connect with new technologies.

Growing mountains of plastic waste and a lack of disposal systems are a real problem in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains. The ABURY Foundation launches the environmental initiative “Keep your village clean!” to create awareness for the topics of environmental protection and sustainability already among children: both in the classroom and during joint waste collection activities.

Due to the low water table and the difficult drinking water supply, women and children in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains sometimes walk up to five kilometers a day to the nearest drinking water source. In cooperation with INGENIEURE OHNE GRENZEN, the ABURY Foundation is building a well with an environmentally friendly solar pump in the village of Douar Anzal.

Together with the famous advertising photographer Thomas Rusch, the ABURY Foundation launches the art charity project PortrAID. The idea: A well-known photographer takes a portrait of a person in need, the ABURY Foundation sells the unique piece and uses the proceeds to help the portrayed person directly solve his or her problem. Proceeds from the first edition will provide free surgeries to artisans suffering from cataracts.

Morocco’s cultural heritage, of which every handmade Berber bag is a symbol, is threatened by consumerism. Andrea collaborates with MB6 STREET ARTISTS and Vestalia Chilton, founder of Kensington + Chelsea Art Week, for the art project “Pass on the Flame”: six street artists each work on a Berberbag on the theme of cultural identity. The unique pieces will be exhibited at the Marrakech Biennale and then auctioned off to benefit the ABURY Foundation. The artists also transform the school in Douar Anzal into a work of art

Marcus Lehman, a Berlin-based sports therapist, rides his bicycle to Douar Anzal and collects donations for the village’s children along the way. It enables the construction of a sports field and brings sports equipment and clothing. With the goal of incorporating physical education classes into the curriculum, he even teaches the school’s teacher.

The development of artistic talent is unfortunately denied to many children in Morocco. Together with Namika, a well-known German rapper with Moroccan roots, the ABURY Foundation is founding a music school. Namika visits the village, the children are beside themselves and sing and dance with her. In her video ALLES WAS ZÄHLT – BONUSFOLGE – GUTES TUN Namika reports from her visit.

Morocco is in a “sanitary state of emergency”. In order to protect the children of the ABURY school in Douar Anzal from COVID-19 at the beginning of the global CORONA pandemic, ABURY ensures the implementation of Moroccan hygiene rules: Masks are distributed, donated fever monitors are used at the entrance of the school, as well as a disinfection column.

2022 Petra Hoffmann joins Andrea Bury as a partner in the ABURY Foundation and the ABURY Impact Lab. Petra has left her mark on the hotel industry for many years and has been involved in the establishment and development of the 25hours hotels, among others. On the side, Petra was active in refugee aid, most recently for a Ukrainian women’s and children’s shelter in Berlin/Bernau. Petra and Andrea have known each other through the hotel business for 15 years.

In 2024, Samoa’s Seepferdchen and Beachfront Sylt host a Summer Garden Party in support of the ABURY Foundation. Together, they raise over €9,000 for the new ABURY Hospitality Academy in Marrakesh.

In 2025, ABURY Foundation and Girls Gearing Up join forces to build a global leadership program for young women. That same year, the first ABURY Girls Gearing Up Academies take place in Germany, India, and Malawi with more than 100 participants, with the goal of reaching 50,000 young women worldwide by 2030.