Announcing Our Essay Contest Winners

The U.S. Embassy and The Olive Writers Program are proud to announce the winners of our Women in Our Lives Essay Contest.

On the occasion of the International Women's Day, and in partnership with the U.S. Embassy's Moonshot Morocco program, The Olive Writers launched a call for essays paying tribute to the inspirational women in our lives.

The response to this call was massive and yielded a wealth of powerful and moving essays. We relished reading these stories of the aunts, sisters, grandmothers, neighbors and friends who inspired our writers to break barriers and believe in themselves.

Congratulations to our three winners:

First prize: Chamss Eddouha El Gouirti, 17, Taounat

Second Prize: Rania Chellah, 15, Meknes

Third Prize: Ahmed Baqqal, 19, Fes

Thank you to our judges, Hodna Nuernberg (The Olive Writers), Julia Mckeown (Peace Corps Morocco), Stephen Weeks (U.S. Embassy, Rabat) and Zineb Laadioui (Between the Lines alumnae) for their efforts.

And a special thank you to Loubna Arrach (U.S. Embassy, Rabat) for her unflagging support and encouragement.