By Edith Rocher | Corporate Partnership Executive
While the holy month of Ramadan is starting here in Morocco, allow me to share with you a story of love, courage and devotion. It is the story of Mouna*, one of the many extraordinary mums of our Family Strengthening Program in Imzouren.
Fate was hard on Mouna but owing to your amazing support, she received the help she needed to make it and Yes, she has accomplished miracles!
With her husband dying a few years ago, Mouna was unemployed and living in a box room with her two young children, Mehdi and Ali* (names were changed). She had no other choice than to take charge of her situation.
When Mouna entered our Family Strengthening Program in Imzouren, she showed exceptional will to overcome the hurdles that life had put in her way. The mother of two immediately started looking for a job despite the fact that she was suffering from a physical handicap that bothered her when walking. Although Mouna could not read or write, she was following her children’s education very closely, she would often ask the next-door neighbor to help them with their homework. Mouna never failed to accompany them to school every morning.
The program assisted her with submitting a request to get the ‘Bereavement Allowance’; it has also helped her to find a job as an office cleaner in Imzouren. Due to the nature of her job, Mouna was working, initially, with no formal documentation. However, after consistent hard work, determination and resilience, she succeeded in obtaining legal documentation allowing her to obtain additional aid benefits. Today, Mouna earns a stable living and a monthly Bereavement Allowance that allows her to provide for the whole family.
It seems that fate has finally turned in favor of Mouna: she met generous people who helped her improve the daily life of her family. She received a little plot of money as a gift from a wealthy family in Al Hoceima. Gradually with her savings and bereavement allowance, she managed to build her own house in Imzouren! Mouna and her sons now live in a little house that includes two rooms, kitchen, toilets and a terrace.
Ali, the eldest, is now 10 years old and is in the 4th grade. Mehdi is 8 years old and is in the second grade. The boys have rather good results - Mouna still oversees their performance at school, and continues to walk them to school every morning.
The program continues on supporting Mouna with school supplies, health expenses, and after-school classes for Ali and Mehdi. We are confident that the family will reach autonomy and exit our program in 2017: as the mother now owns her house, she plans to open a little grocery shop that could sustain long-term revenue for the family.
I want to take this opportunity to thank you and appreciate all the love and support you have shown thus far. Thanks to you, we can keep on providing for single mothers as Mouna the necessary means to take care of their children and find the strength and confidence to soldier forward with her daily challenges.
Ramadan kareem!
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
