Mother Courage
Ghizlane
Terkemani’s daughter was born in 2005, on February 14, that is to say on Valentine’s
Day. Aida appeals to people with her beautiful eyes and her irresistible smile. Yet she suffers from a neurological disease, the
Rett syndrome, a rare and heavy pathology that is characterized by severe
intellectual disability and almost exclusively affects girls. "Having a disabled child is very hard. The disease has caused a number of side effects:
scoliosis, epilepsy, circulatory and gastric problems, as well as respiratory
and cardiovascular problems”, explains this mother whose daughter has become
her reason for living. Ghizlane
Terkemani is fortunately helped by her mother Latifa, but also by Khadija, the
nanny, who both do everything to make Aida’s life as bearable as possible, not
to mention Rim, born in 2009, who makes her sister laugh a lot. Ghizlane Terkemani has long worked as a TV
producer but has discovered, through the disease, an entirely different
universe, that of these destitute mothers who must fight so that their child,
mostly with multiple disabilities, can benefit from physiotherapy sessions in a
specialized center. "The
mothers leave early in the morning, with their children on their backs, and
only come home late at night. Some of them are lucky enough to be able to go to the Noor center where the
sessions are partially taken care of by the “Amicale des handicapés” (“Disabled
Persons Association”), "says this devoted mother who concludes:
" Aida’s disease made me
meet these formidable mothers who became role models for me. "