KEEP 100 MOROCCAN CHILDREN AWAY FROM ABANDONMENT

Dear global giving supporter,

September is a busy month: all Moroccan families are preparing to celebrate Aid El Kebir, one of the most important celebration of the muslim year, and all children and youths in the program are preparing to go back to school.

As you know, access to education is one of the cornerstones of our program. We believe the only way for vulnerable mother-headed families to break the circle of poverty is to keep children at school, encourage youths to study longer and get diplomas, and help them find a job. Reaching this independence represents a challenge, in particular for girls in the Rif region.

Siham is the perfect example of this long road towards autonomy (her name has been changed). Let  me tell you her story.

Siham is a 20-years-old young woman, the only girl of 4 siblings. When her father died, she could not imagine the consequences it would have on her life.

Her mother was a very conservative housewife: she was illiterate and she rarely went out of her house. After the father’s death, it was decided that all decisions were to be made by the enlarged family (Siham’s paternal grandmother and uncles), leaving the widow helpless. The enlarged family could not afford to support Siham’s family financially, but they would also refuse that Siham’s mother go outside the house to look for a job. Somedays, food was missing on the table. 

Fortunately, Siham and her family entered the Family Strenghtening Program. They received material support with food, hygiene, and healthcare. The 4 siblings benefitted from school supplies, tutoring lessons, and advices regarding academic choices. The program also provided for Siham’s big brother vocational training fees. One of the first challenge was to convince the enlarged family to let Siham’s mother attend litteracy classes, training and coaching sessions, but the biggest challenge is about Siham. 

Indeed, after Siham successfully passed her Baccalaureate exam, her enlarged family wanted her to stop studying and find a husband. Even though Siham does want to marry one day and start a family, her main concern is to avoid finding herself in the same vulnerable position as her mother, without qualification, without professional experience and depending too much on a husband.

Thanks to the coaching sessions they have followed and to the self-confidence they have regained, Siham and her mother found the strength to confront their family, to discuss thoroughly with the paternal grandmother and uncles and to, eventually, do as they had decided. Siham’s brother also helped a lot: he is now working as an electrician and partly supporting the family with his earnings.

I am happy to announce you that Siham is now preparing to enter her second year in accounting studies, she is working hard to succeed, and I hope you can read in her eyes her determination to become an independent woman. We wish her good luck for the coming year, to get her diploma, find a job and fulfil her dreams!

I hope this story will help you understand the impact you have on the lives of families participating in the program. Your support enables us to overcome many obstacles and bring entire families towards autonomies. On behalf of Siham, her brothers and all the other youths we are supporting in Imzouren, I thank you for your precious help !

 I also take this opportunity to wish you a nice celebration of the Aid : Aid Mubarak Said !