As a young girl growing up in Morocco, I would often wake up in the middle of the night to find my mother still sitting behind a sewing machine, making clothes to be sold at wholesale in the local market. I often questioned why life was so difficult for her…

“If I had an education, I wouldn’t have to work so hard,” she would say.

My father passed away when I was 9 months old, leaving my mother, who was 19 years old at the time, with three children to raise. Realizing that she needed money to survive, my mother learned an income-generating skill from another woman and began producing traditional Moroccan clothing. It wasn’t an easy job, but it was steady work that enabled her to support her family and ensure that my two brothers and I received the education that she missed out on.

Today, many single mothers in Morocco face a similar struggle, raising children alone without an education or income-generating skill. All too often, this leads to children being pushed to the streets to alleviate the financial burden of the family, perpetuating the cycle of poverty across generations and leading to traumatic consequences.

Inspired by the woman who trained my mother, Crafting Love and Hope supports mothers to become artisans and businesswomen. But, as my mother knew:

Making ends meet is only the beginning; true empowerment lies in education.

For that, Crafting Love and Hope offers education services to Moroccan youth living in orphanages, helping them to gain valuable English and technology skills to find sustainable employment.  This organization has been inspired by the craft work that my mother used to support her family, the love that she gave us, and the hope that through education, her children could have a brighter tomorrow.