Opus Prize Winner helps Muslim women attain self-suffiency

Here’s a great article about $1 million Opus Prize winner Aicha Ech Channa, founder of the Association for Women’s Solidarity in Casablanca, Morocco, to help unwed mothers become self-sufficient. She is the first Muslim to win the Opus award, an annual humanitarian award which goes to “unsung heroes for their faith-based acts of compassion….”

In the 1980s, she was working for the Moroccan Ministry of Social Affairs, where unwed mothers came seeking help, even though little help was available. Under [local] law, the women were considered prostitutes, and many had their babies taken away over their objections.

Considering that unacceptable, Ech Channa launched her program in 1985. It offers women legal counseling, job training and medical and psychological support with a goal of making them self-sufficient so they can raise their children….

Despite criticism from Muslim clerics, she is committed to her faith, which she approaches from a humanist standpoint.

Humanism is about individuals and the love they have for one another,” she said. “Every human being has a flame [of love] inside them that must be fanned.”

Found this article via Muslimah Media Watch, a terrific blog worth checking out further….