SUPER HEROS PART 1 - Takwa Kheriji

Real Superheros come in all forms and shapes. Unlike the Hollywood versions. Those super powered cape wearing types just don't really exist or have a place in society. Instead we have the everyday super heros...the normal folk just struggling in life to make it bearable...these superheros who never acknowledge their actions or achievements or perhaps are not even aware of how much they have actually achieved.

These super heros cannot be defined or categorised...they simply exist, they are us. They are the image staring back from the mirror. They are our smiles, our frowns and even our tears. They face the same barriers and struggles as we do..but they over come and persevere.....an example to us that it's not what life throws at us but how we deal with what it throws at us that really matters. So with this beautiful idea  formed in my head I set about a way to encapsulate all the strength and amazingness I see in the every day grey around me...that flash of colour that signals humanity with its strengths and fallibility's.
So what other way then to pay tribute to all the unique souls that cross my path but to shine a light on their humanity and let it shine let it shine let it shine.  

TAKWA KHERIJI

Oh dear I can hear her in my head as I commence to type "Oh Mon Dieu Anika but why?"
That just sums up why Takwa has to be on my list of super heros...she is truly a woman who possess a quite but over whelming strength that is as subtle as it is strong.
So why did I pick Takwa...first she is a friend, a sister and a house mate and I love her as if the blood that courses through my veins is the same as hers.

Takwa at 25 seems both vulnerable and determined..but never mistake the tiny frame and cute smile for someone who needs your protection or empathy for her strength shadows her tiny frame.
3 years ago she made the life changing decision to follow a dream. A dream that led her to leave her family, her country and her friends.  It wasn't a dream of Fame or Glory or riches but a simple dream..a dream to teach and nurture the future generation. But why would one so young have to leave behind all that she knew and to follow a dream that seems to most attainable.
Well what I didn't mention is Takwa is from France...the country that has not only banned the veil but made it impossible for French Muslim women wearing the Hijab to enter work within the Public sector.
So if you want to work in public services which includes teaching you must sacrifice your religious beliefs and morals first.
You must shed the symbol of your belief and leave it at the door.

Yet Takwas dream to teach was so strong that she knew she could not leave it behind and yet also her personal desire to practise her religion was stronger....choosing one over the other was not a question...the question is what would she have to sacrifice in order to be the woman inside.

And sacrifice she did leaving behind loved ones and familiar places to pursue her need to be whole....
it's been 3 hard years and in that time Takwas has achieved so much.
Beginning with a nannying job to learn English Takwa followed through by working as a teaching assistant.
And now her dream is even closer as she is in the process of completing her PGCE to teach French Arabic and German within our school system.
I know it's been a hard road for my dear friend and sometimes I see how fragile she feels  and how she struggles and wants to give up but for me that makes her even more of a superwoman...her conviction to follow through on her dreams means so much more when I see her fallibilities and weaknesses.
The day of her graduation will be a moment not only for Takwa but all those other beautiful women out there told that they must be something different from what their heart yearns...it will be a victory against all those that repress us and hold us in chains.

So I say to Sarkozy and other Fascist's like him...you may place these barriers in front of our sister...destroy their souls...try to mould them into what you want and desire but they will take their burden and they will fight you and they will succeed (Inshallah).
For you are no match for my super hero's.

as a added note I would like to mention that takwa will be modeling for my project : )