By Tess Dunn | Program Manager
Dear Friends,
We are sending you so much gratitude for the support you give Project Soar!
In honor of International Women's Day, we sat with one of the most crucial and longstanding members of the Project Soar staff, Touria. Touria is a woman of many talents, however her main role at Project Soar is to ensure the Project Soar facilities are clean and tidy so that Empowerment Facilitators can deliver Empowerment Workshops without distraction and Girls have a safe, clean space to learn and grow. She also ensures that the Project Soar staff receives one well rounded meal a day, fueling much needed brain power so that programs flourish and the 700+ current Soar Girls across Morocco remain well supported. What's more is that Touria is the mother of 14 year old Soar Girl Najoua, who is a member of one of the three Douar Laadam Soar squads hosted at Project Soar Headquarters.
Given how important this amazing woman is to the success of the Project Soar programs, we wanted to share with you, our supporters, a little more about Touria's life as a Moroccan woman and Project Soar team member...
Touria was born in 1979 in a small village close to Kelaa des Sraghna, about 2 hours Northeast of Marrakech. When she was 10, she moved to a village close to Marrakech, where she stayed until she got married at age 26. It was at this time that she moved with her husband to Douar Laadam, where she has lived ever since. She has four children, three girls and one boy, including her eldest daughter and current Soar Girl Najoua. When asked what Touria likes most about her daughter being a Soar Girl, she says "I like that the facilitators and girls collaborate to help each girl learn how to speak up for themselves, develop their personalities, determine their path, and that [Soar] Girls end up stronger and more empowered than before." Though Touria's other daughters have a few years before they are old enough to be Soar Girls, Touria says that "god willing," they will be some day.
Touria has worked at Project Soar almost since it's inception and has been like a mother to all that have entered the Project Soar doors over the past 5 years. This is reflected in the way she talks about her job: “I love that the Soar Coordinators and all Project Soar employees respect me and value me and also that I respect and value each of them. I care about them like they are family. I truly believe that Project Soar is doing a great job for the community.”
In line with International Women's Day and this year's theme of "Break the Bias", we asked Touria what makes her proud to be a Moroccan woman. "Our culture is so beautiful - I am proud to be born a Moroccan woman! I love everything about it..." She went on to talk about what makes her unique: "I am proud of myself specifically because I am the bread winner in my family. Because of my job [at Project Soar], I have the ability to support my children without anyone’s help." As it is not very common for women to act as the main income generator in rural Morocco, Touria really is a walking example of someone breaking the bias in her country, showing her daughters as well as all Soar Girls they can improve their agency no matter their background.
Thanks to your support of the Sponsor Empowerment for a Teen Girl project and others like it, Project Soar funds wonderful staff like Touria as well Soar Girls like her daughter Najoua.
Stay tuned for more news from Project Soar and never doubt you are making a difference!
Best Wishes,
The Project Soar Team
By Lela Macaire | Special Programs Assistant
By Tess Dunn | Program Manager
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