Meeting with Zahira, heroine of the film "On the way to school", now a student in France, and Wafa, president of the association Relais Education Instruction Maroc (RIM).
During the school holidays at the end of 2017, when she was able to take a short break from her studies, Zahira BADI agreed to meet Aide et Action and talk about her incredible journey after the success of Pascal Plisson's documentary film " On the way to school "César for best documentary in 2014.
Wafa SKALLI, President of the RIM Association (Relais Education Instruction Morocco), accompanied her. RIM, which has been a partner of Aide et Action in Morocco since 2007, works in the Imlil valley, not far from Marrakech, both for early childhood and to promote girls' education in this rural area. For example, RIM created the girls' hostel where Zahira was studying when the film was shot. Since Zahira's arrival in France last summer, RIM volunteers have been helping her with her administrative and integration procedures, and the RIM association is providing her with a grant to finance her studies.
Zahira was 12 years old when she met Pascal Plisson. She is now 18. Zahira obtained her baccalaureate last summer, with a very good average of 14/20, but not enough to start, in Morocco, the medical studies of her dreams. RIM therefore undertook long and uncertain steps in Morocco and France, which finally came to fruition a few days before the start of the school year in September 2017. Since then, Zahira has been enrolled at the University of Paris 13.
Wafa remembers: "Zahira's baccalaureate was a sad moment, as she had a good enough average for nursing school, but was only two points short of passing the medical entrance exam. So RIM decided to give her a helping hand.
She continues: "When she was in the 1st grade, she saideraWe met with Isabelle DELMAS, from the association The project was born in the wake of the film "On the way to school". Isabelle asked us how she could help Zahira, support her. When we asked Zahira directly, she didn't ask for anything, not for herself, not for her family, not for her friends; just that a 2ème Girls' hostels should be established so that more girls in the valley can study in good conditions. Indeed, hostels with boarding facilities are a prerequisite for the parents of children living in the most remote areas to let them pursue their education in a safe environment. Thus, Zahira's older sisters stopped after primary school, while her younger sisters were also able to go to secondary school thanks to the hostel where they stayed during the week. Before the first hostel in Asni existed, only one girl from the douar (village) of Tineghrine had been able to attend secondary school. She lived with her sister in Asni and therefore did not have to travel more than two hours each day in the mountains to attend school.
Last June, like Zahira, seven girls from the Asni home passed their baccalaureate. For RIM, it was necessary to continue to support them and help them plan for the future. "We looked for alternative solutions throughout the summer," adds Wafa. On several occasions, the RIM team met with the parents of Fadma, Zahira's friend, to convince them to let her continue her studies. Fadma, who had obtained a 16 average in her baccalaureate, is now studying at the engineering school in Fes (Insa group in Lyon). Zahira remembers with humour that the difficulties began as soon as she obtained her baccalaureate: applying for a visa, redoing her passport a week before departure, obtaining a scholarship and finding a host university at the same time. But since the film's international success, Zahira has become a symbol, both in Morocco and in France, and many doors have opened to the will of the young girl who has moved 1.6 million French viewers. Today, Zahira understands and writes French well. Her last difficulties in expressing herself orally will quickly disappear thanks to the French conversation classes she is taking, in parallel with her studies. Speaking is not a problem in itself for the young girl. Zahira has always been able to find the words and the strength of conviction needed when she went to meet parents in the douars to explain to them the need to send their children to school.
"After primary school, we were all thinking of staying at home," explains Zahira, "but one summer, our parents met Baadia, a community animator from the Aide et Action/RIM project, who told them about the home. My father encouraged me to continue my studies. Today, my youngest sister is in the second year of secondary school, so the question no longer arises, it has become normal for everyone to go to college." "Morocco is a country of contrasts," adds Wafa. "On the one hand, Marrakech is the seat of the international jet set; on the other, the country's education deficit is very high." She continues: "Today, thanks to the joint action of RIM and Aide et Action, and the film, Tineghrine, Zahira's village, is on the map. And, who knows, in a few years, maybe there will be a hospital, a doctor named Zahira Badi? We can dream. But for a dream to come true, you must first have the capacity to dream... and perseverance.
Zahira receives a grant of 650 euros per month from RIM, co-financed by the association Sur le Chemin de l'école. But the rent for her university room is already 425 euros. To help her pay for her food, school supplies, etc. and to ensure the coming years, the association "Sur le chemin de l'école" has launched a kitty on HelloAsso so that all those who admired the courage of Zahira and her two friends in crossing the Atlas Mountains to study in Asni can continue to support her in her medical studies in France. Aide et Action is happy to relay this appeal for donations to support the one who, in her own way, has definitely changed the educational landscape of the Moroccan valley of Imlil.
