Moroccan Woman Overcomes Rare Disability, Shares Journey After 17 Surgeries

The viewers of "Ça commence aujourd’hui" discovered a woman who calmly and serenely assumes her disability. But before reaching this state of mind, she had to overcome many embarrassing situations. Raja was born with "an excess of fat on the face, back, left foot and abdomen". At the age of 4, she had to leave Morocco to settle in France. The only alternative to have access to education and quality care. She underwent a total of seventeen surgical interventions.

In her testimony, the young Moroccan recounted having faced insults, the most sordid prejudices in Morocco. "There, every time I went to a nursery, I was denied access. On the pretext that I have a malformation, for some people, a disability necessarily also means a mental disability. They told my parents that they had to take me to a specialized institute." She remembers every word, every gesture that made her feel different from children her age, Femme Actuelle reports.

She thought that in France, she would be spared from insults and discrimination. But she was greatly disappointed when, as a teenager, she became the target of the most atrocious mockery. She confides that her photos ended up on the internet without her consent, exposing her to unnamed harassment. But she faced all of this with strength and dignity. "When you are born with a malformation that is visible and you know that people are looking at you, in fact, I had no other choice but to assume myself. It’s not a choice we make, we are forced to," she said.

Today she assumes her difference and thinks that she should not break for a situation she did not choose. "I know that a person who sees me will remember me for the rest of their life," she added. Very active on social networks, Raja now has a Youtube channel that already has 25,000 subscribers. The goal is to assume herself and encourage people in her case, that they should not bow their heads in the face of gratuitous meanness and disconcerting discrimination. "I’m a lot into self-deprecation, that is to say that I can laugh at myself. It doesn’t bother me and that’s what people like, it’s the good mood and that’s what I try to bring them."

For her, there is no question of self-flagellating in the face of a situation that escapes human understanding. "It’s either you lock yourself between four walls and you die like that, or you live your life and you don’t care what people think." Between languishing under the weight of mockery and prejudice or living her life as if nothing had happened, Raja has made her choice and assumes it with all her might, the same source specifies.