The 2019 Ambassadors are currently completing the training component of their 6 months with the Africa Matters team. They have completed 3 of their 4 modules (Basic Skills Development, African Leadership and Africa Feminisms), and upon finishing the Social Entrepreneurship module will begin working toward establishing Africa Matters hubs in Angola, Ghana and Tunisia.
The following piece was contributed by Tunisian Ambassador Malek Abidi as part of her engagement with the African Feminism module.
Feminism is my favourite topic , due to the impact of the incredible woman around me who are trying to reach their goals / Ambitions everyday , knowing their worth and working on getting it is AMAZING .
This time i’ll talk about someone who made me believe that I’m WORTHY , and learn SELF-LOVE on a daily basis. Every girl says that their mom is their superhero, best friend, or role model.
Moms do everything for us from the day we are born until we can do it ourselves, and sometimes even then. I see articles all the time about mothers and how amazing they are. Everyone thinks they have the best mom in the world , I mean who doesn’t , which is unbelievable to me; because I do.
But my mom isn't just my superhero, best friend, role model and my rock. She is my inspiration. My mom has taught me so much throughout my life, I couldn't even begin to explain it because it’s just incredible . She never really taught me lessons, but showed me by examples , many examples to be honest .
Some lessons have stuck more than others due to their powerful impact . With every decision I make, I think to myself, "what would Mom do?" I know that she makes the wise choices, so if I can aim to think the way she does, I'll be okay. My mom taught me my worth as a person. I've learned not to waste my time on people that don't treat me right which means MOVING ON .
“Inspiration means to be inspired by someone to do something unique and valuable.
It doesn't mean to do the same the others do, but to take lessons from the life of great
peoples."
She doesn't let people walk all over her, and I've taken that lesson to heart. She has shown me resilience and strength. I have seen her go through hard times, from seeing her children through an unthinkable amount of problems to dealing with her own personal struggles.
Her strength through life has been remarkable. She is a fighter who never gives up by finishing her PhD at 40 years old , believing in the power of Education, working in many fields like Marketing , Commercials etc , no matter how hard it gets. If I can ever be half the mother she is, my children will be fortunate.
My mom did not only influenced me , also her friends by supporting them through tough moments such as Failures / Victories , supporting kids by launching summer courses for kids in Rural Regions in Kasserine, her hometown for 2 years , collecting their school elements every year.
Because of her i’m involved now in Community Projects / NGOs that works on Human Rights and most importantly Women Rights . It may seem very cliché to say that my biggest influence is my mother, but I would be lying if I said she wasn’t. There are so many things that I don’t think I would ever be able to do if it wasn’t for my mother’s words and for here constant push for me to do better and to dream larger.
