Morocco

The women in my family are strong women. 
On the terrace, lit by the warm afternoon light, my mother, my grandmother, and I share mint tea and kaab el ghazal. We laugh and talk about what has happened in our lives over the past few months, as if my mother and I didn’t regularly update each other about everything. I wait for the henna on my hands to dry while I listen to my grandmother’s words and my mother’s sweet laugh. We are three generations of women in my family, and I couldn’t be prouder. 
I look at my mother, who has tirelessly taken care of our family for as long as I can remember. I notice her wrinkles are a little deeper now, and her hair a little grayer. Time is passing. Next to her is my Lalla, who is thrilled that the three of us are together. This is a precious moment, and the things we’ve gone through in our lives are marked on our skin and in our eyes — and they make us even more beautiful. 
When my grandmother was young, she was forbidden from studying because women were expected to take care of the home and family. Now she is so proud of me for being at university and pursuing my dream of working in fashion. My mother, on the other hand, had to fight hard to make her way in the working world, overcoming many obstacles. Then, just when things seemed to be finally going well, instead of enjoying her life and family, she had to gather even more strength to find the courage to leave my father, who had become increasingly violent. 
So we moved — the three of us — and started over. Then I grew up. Unfortunately, one night while walking home with a friend, we were approached by a group of men who didn’t hesitate to assault and rape us, leaving us there, shattered. The path to healing from that horror hasn’t been easy, but my family’s support has been fundamental. 
Despite all the struggles we’ve faced — which at times seemed impossible to overcome — the three of us are happy now.  But I think about the baby girl I carry in my belly, and I feel a growing rage in the pit of my stomach. I don’t want her to have to experience what we went through — or at the very least, I’m determined to do everything in my power to make her life a little easier.