Moroccan Student’s Inspiring Journey: From 22km Mountain Trek to Paris Medical School

31 December 2020 – byGinette · 2 min read

A few years ago, Moroccan viewers were moved by the courage of Zahira, the heroine of the documentary film "On the Way to School". She who should have walked 22 km to get to her school located in the mountains of Imlil, in the Middle Atlas, is now a medical student in Paris.

Last Sunday, a photo of Zahira Badi was posted on social media showing her in front of the medical school in Paris, an image that illustrates her strength of character, her will and her perseverance. By agreeing in 2017, during the school holidays, to meet the managers of the French site "Aide et Action", she did not know that she was tracing another life trajectory, far from the 22 km on foot she had to walk every morning.

The documentary film by Pascal Plisson "On the Way to School", in which the young Berber girl recounts her will to live, her unwavering determination, received the César for best documentary in 2014. She was 12 years old when she met Pascal Plisson. At 18, she obtained her baccalaureate with an average of 14/20, but unfortunately insufficient to start, in Morocco, the medical studies of which she dreams.

The association "Relais Éducation Instruction Maroc" (RIM) then undertook long and uncertain steps in Morocco and France which finally resulted in 2017 in the enrollment of the young Moroccan at the University of Paris 13. According to the site france.aide-et-action.org, Zahira Badi benefits from a scholarship of 650 euros per month, allocated by Relais Éducation Instructions Maroc and the association "On the Way to School" in addition to additional financial assistance from the latter. This allows Zahira to hold on and bring her dream of becoming a doctor to life.