Love was the key to everything

It’s with total humility that I want to share my experience with Monique, a fifteen-year-old girl with moderate intellectual disability.

When I first started working with her three years ago, during the COVID crisis, I had no idea where this journey would lead us.

Monique had experienced deep social rejection throughout her childhood. She had changed schools multiple times, and no one seemed to be able to unlock the key to getting her out of the distress she—and her parents—were living in.

People would say things to her mother like, “Monique is a hopeless case,” and her father had to leave work many times because the school would call, asking him to come and get her.

I didn’t know any of this when I started walking this path with her—a path full of challenges. But I truly wanted to help this teenager and support a family that was clearly going through a lot.

In order to improve Monique’s situation and her school performance, several measures have been put in place to support her and her family. For the past three years, psychological support has been provided to strengthen the young girl’s self-awareness and help her move beyond her mental disability. At the same time, a program of remedial lessons has been organized to improve her school performance and allow her talents to flourish.

Now, she’s able to communicate through WhatsApp, convert dollars into Lebanese lira, has discovered her culinary talents, and is able to establish relationships with others.

Three years into this journey, Monique has gained much more self-confidence—and the most beautiful part is that her family now sees her in a completely different light!

With time, patience, persistence, and—above all—love, we were able to help Monique become a fully integrated, social human being—not someone pushed aside by society.

The relationship I developed with her family grew deeper and deeper. Her mother even started asking me for help with other challenges she was facing.

To sum it all up: it wasn’t just about personal skills. It was love that made the miracle happen.