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Among the women that the 2023 International Women’s Day commemorates is Fatima Zahra El-Maliani. Her heroic benevolent act of helping homeless women and supporting children with their homework is truly commendable.
At the age of two, El-Maliani landed in Turin, north of Italy, with her mother. After school, she and her sister attended sessions at a young missionary service, Sermig, an NGO that provides social and educational assistance to immigrants and the poor to help them integrate into society.
In addition, the center “was not only a place where volunteers provided assistance with homework, but also a space for play, understanding, friendship, and equality,” El-Maliani told the newspaper La Stampa.
The 22-year-old woman added: “I have always been grateful to all the volunteers that helped us, and to my mother who knew how much studying was important for my sister and me. She always sacrificed herself for us to have a better future. […] I have decided to give back to other children all the love I received as a child by becoming an after-school volunteer.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, El-Maliani volunteered and managed to help around 30 primary school children at the UNICEF after-school center.
Following her efforts, Italian President Sergio Mattarella recently awarded El-Maliani Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic “for her efforts to return the good she received through her commitment to the UNICEF after-school care in Turin and for helping homeless women,” according to Arab News.
Despite her time in Italy and dedication to helping others, she has still not managed to gain Italian citizenship. Some Italian news outlets have condemned the fact that El-Maliani has not been granted legal documentation. Some sources even entitled their articles about El-Maliani as a “Knight without Citizenship.”
Unfortunately for women like El-Maliani, it is becoming increasingly difficult to legally call Italy home, since the election of far-right leader Giorgia Meloni, who has received great amounts of criticism for anti-immigration rhetoric.
However, despite the many challenges Moroccan women strive to create their professional careers on their terms. El-Maliani’s profile triggers stories of other Moroccan women who achieved success overseas. For instance, Fatiha Jermoumi, Bouchra Karboubi, and Soukaina Hamdi are Moroccan referees who will officiate the women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in summer 2023.
The list does not stop there, other Moroccan women are representing stories like El-Maliani’s winning awards on their way, such as Rim Machhour and Safae Bennouna who both won the Awa Entrepreneurship Prize for women entrepreneurs in Brussels, Belgium.
Read also: How to establish a culture of volunteer work in Morocco
