Help Mounia Stay With Her Children and Avoid Prison

Hi, my name is Anne Marthe and I help fund raising for one of the girls I work with in Morocco. Mounia risks 8 months in prison because she asked for a divorce from a revengeful husband.

Here is her story:

My name is Mounia, and I am reaching out to you during the most devastating time of my life. I never imagined I would be in a situation where I had to ask for help—especially just to protect my children and our future.

I have been married for 12 years and have two wonderful children, ages 8 and 9. I have always been the primary provider for my family, working tirelessly to cover all our expenses, including my children’s school fees. My husband has not been working and has never managed our finances, so I have carried this responsibility alone.

A few months ago, I traveled to Istanbul for work. It was an incredible opportunity to grow my career and create a more secure future for my children. When I returned home, I made the difficult decision to ask for a divorce. Unfortunately, this is when my husband decided to retaliate against me, fearing he would lose the only breadwinner in the family.

Shortly after, he asked me to sign a check to pay for the children’s school fees, as I had done many times before. Trusting that it was a routine payment, I signed it and left the amount blank. I never imagined he would betray that trust.

When the bank called me, my world collapsed. I learned that he had filled in the check for 800,000 MAD (approximately €80,000)—an amount I never authorized. Although I immediately contacted the bank to stop the payment, it was too late.

In Morocco, issuing a check without sufficient funds is a serious criminal offense. Because my signature was on the check, I faced severe legal consequences and the possibility of spending up to eight months in prison.

After months of negotiations and legal proceedings, I have managed to reduce the amount to a much smaller—but still overwhelming—sum. To close this case and avoid imprisonment, I must now pay 200,000 MAD in court and legal fees, plus 70,000 MAD directly to my husband as part of the settlement. This leaves me with a total of 270,000 MAD that I urgently need to raise.

If I am unable to pay this amount in time, I will be sentenced to eight months in prison, separated from my children, who rely on me for everything. This is my greatest fear.

This crisis began with a personal betrayal by someone I trusted most—an act of revenge because I chose to leave an unhealthy marriage. His actions have put my children and me in a nightmare I never imagined.

Warm regards from Mounia