Moroccan Khadija Al Alawi established an association to support children with cerebral palsy after her daughter was born.

Instead of helplessly watching the struggle of her little girl, born with cerebral palsy, Moroccan Khadija Al Alawi decided to lift up other families with similar circumstances and be their source of hope.

With no prior experience or knowledge about her daughter’s condition, Al Alawi spent three years thoroughly researching and educating herself about cerebral palsy until she felt the need to do more to help others.

With limited financial capabilities, she founded an association for children with cerebral palsy to bring hope to families, training women to become its managers.

Besides the financial challenges the association faced with its growth, Al Alawi was left broken when her daughter suddenly passed away at the age of six.

The painful loss of her daughter became an even bigger motivator to continue her journey of supporting other families.

Open to all children in the town of Azrou, the association grew from six to 28 children, which made it require further social and financial support from individuals and organizations. Al Alawi worked harder to expand the association through opening a nursery for children under six and a hall dedicated to skills development and behavior management, besides providing weekly motor training sessions for children.

After a long challenging path, Al Alawi had to temporarily suspend the association due to the lack of funding. The suspension left many parents, coming from less fortunate areas, in fear about their children’s future since the association was their only hope.

Al Alawi said she decided to reach out to Arab Hope Makers initiative in hopes to receive support to save the association and continue her journey of hope.

Will hope knock on Al Alawi’s door again? Will she be able to provide a safe haven to powerless children waiting to see the light?