International Women’s Day 8th March 2024
This women’s day I wanted to highlight two incredible women who are doing incredible work and have a connection to Mellulah.
Firstly, a retreat guest of mine Gowree Hampapur is taking her passion for women’s rights to Mysore in India to support Yoga Stops Traffick with 108 Sun Salutations, please support Gowree by making a donation to her Just Giving page here
Secondly, as Mellulah has had a connection with Morocco and I am about to head out to Morocco to check a yoga retreat venue that I’ll be running in November 2024, I wanted to highlight an award won by an incredible Moroccan mother, Rabha El Mayhar fighting for the rights of her child and recognised by the International Women of Courage Award
My dear friend Amanda McGregor, who will be wit me on the November retreat nr Tagazhout in Morocco edited the film made about Rabha called ‘Bastards’ and available to view via this link
The charity working with families with children of unmarried mothers, completely unrecognised by Moroccan family laws and ostracised by society, is based just a few miles from our retreat in Agadir, so with all these connections it feels only right to remember the privilege of being a single mother here in the UK and the rights we take for granted.
Supporting other women is dear to my heart as many of you know, so please do take a moment to help raise awareness of Moroccan women and forward this on to others thank you.
Rabha El Haymar – Morocco
“Rabha El Haymar is a courageous Moroccan woman who successfully navigated her country’s legal system and fought to obtain, through a recourse provided by Morocco’s family code reform of 2004, recognition of her traditional marriage to spare her daughter a life of marginalization and discrimination as an undocumented child. Ms. Haymar’s story became more than a personal triumph when she crossed paths with British film-maker Deborah Perkin and agreed for her story to be told in a documentary entitled “Bastards.” Shown on Moroccan national television and film festivals around the world, “Bastards” raises awareness about the plight of mothers of undocumented children, and the Moroccan family laws allowing women like Ms. Haymar to seek justice. Despite the heavy reputational cost of publicly sharing her story, Ms. Haymar believes doing so can encourage other women and lead to change. As King Mohammed VI calls for a new review of Morocco’s family code, Ms. Haymar’s case is now more relevant than ever. She hopes that new reforms “will protect the rights of all women and children and empower them as full and equal citizens.”
Finally, I was grateful to be featured in Dorset Magazine’s yearly round up of Leading Ladies again this year and hope to continue sharing healing and love to you all again throughout 2024
Much love, Saira xx
