Mohamed Hammouda, 19, Taza

Behind a successful man a woman, she could be a mother, a sister, a wife, a daughter, a friend. For me she is a second mother who showed up like an angel in my life and changed it, from hopeless to hopeful life. She is a flower which gives its nectar to the bee for free. She can help the others as much as she can, an exceptional woman, she did a lot of things for her friends.

Anne came to Morocco in 2016. At that moment I was in the high school and my English was not good enough to start a conversation with her. But after I joined her extra classes at “Dar Atakapha” in a small village called Matmata, my English got better and better. However, she woke up Mohamed the writer inside me, He was going to die but she saved him and helped him to start again until he becomes an active person and a good writer. Thanks to the competitions which Anne used to suggest to me to participate in, I become a good short storyteller and short story writer. I thought becoming a writer in Morocco is like being a dentist in a town where everybody has false teeth but she changed and killed that idea from my mind totally.

Although we are from two different cultures, Moroccan culture and American culture, and two different religions, Christianity and Islam, we became close friend like son and mom. I liked her humorous spirit and her straightforwardness. Until now I still remember her advice “a good reader is a good writer”, also I cannot forget the books which she gave me to read for example: ALCHIMIST, THE EMPERORS’S CHILDREN, BALTHASAR’S ODESSEY, THE HOUSE OF UNEXPECTED SISTERS, and IN ARABIAN NIGHTS…

I enjoyed reading all of them and that encouraged me to write my first short story “FORBIDDEN LOVE”

And get familiar with the storytelling and other literature versions like narration and description.

I cannot imagine if that woman does not showed up in my life, I would become like I am now with all these skills and power. Saying the word “thanks” to the women like Anne is

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an underestimation, I have to thank her every day for everything she did for me; we need more days or months to celebrate women because the 8th March is not enough. We need all March.

This powerful woman is an incredible teacher, best mother, good friend, and a rose like the other women. She is the light of my darkness. I gave her a character in my childhood story which I am still working on it. It is an honor for me to write about her and all the roses all over the world. That woman is my idol, I consider her as my mother.

She left her family in the U.S and came here to be a volunteer teacher, it is something no one can do it except good people with a beautiful heart. I started too teaching voluntarily the others, from inside my house to outside it. I admired her respect to my religion, she never says bad things about my religion; the same thing for me. Anne and I know that religion is a personal thing and every one of us must respect the other believes. Our relationship is very strong could not be destroy by no one because it based on respect and confidence. Moreover, we know each other clearly, I know that she is BLACK COFFEE LOVER. And she knows I am SHORT STORY LOVER. Anne is one of my friend I will never forget her. Also I will never regret that I joined her to my close friends because it is easy to have millions of friends but it is hard to have millions of “Annes”. All in all Anne is a perfect rose.

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