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I visited the United States for the first time at the age of seven.
Even though I had heard stories about life in America, I was blown away.
I had grown up in a village in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco of no more than two thousand people. Most people could find some family relationship with each villager. Everyone was either my cousin, uncle, or aunt. We dressed in a similar fashion (hand me downs), ate the same food (often shared with several families), prayed to the same god and spoke one language, Amazigh (Berber).
I grew up in Morocco and from a young age, identified as Arab. That is…. until I received my 23 andMe test results. My results showed that my bloodline is pure North African. It surprised me to learn that none of my ancestors had mixed with people of Arab descent as Arabs have lived in Northern Africa for so many centuries. The people of my culture even speak Arabic and use their alphabet, yet I am 100% North African.
This newfound knowledge peaked my curiosity, so I dug deeper into the history of North Africa and its original people. I want to share with you what I learned.
Many girls in rural Morocco don’t get to continue their education after 6th grade. In my village in the High Atlas Mountains, the closest high school is 12 miles away. Most parents do not want to send their daughters away from home because they believe it’s unsafe, and they also do not have easy access to transportation. Education For All Morocco offers safe boarding houses where girls can stay through their high school journey.
My mother, Pier, and my biological parents in Morocco taught me that education is one of the most important things in life, and the only way to change the world… A good day for me is when I learn something new. I adore learning and I want every girl to experience higher education, an opportunity that was not available for me until I moved to the United States.