The Power of Resilience : Zahra Gomari

Hi everyone, my name is Federica Gangai and today I would like to share with you a story of courage and resilience.

A story that touched my heart from the very first moment and that I think the world needs to hear.

Zahra Gomari is a beautiful and courageous Iranian woman born with a severe congenital limb deficency.

Zahra was born and raised in Iran until a few months ago when she decided to give herself a second chance and try to have a life free from oppression. The regime has deprived Iranian women not only of their present rights, but also of their history and past.

Zahra traveled alone with a backpack through Turkey, America to finally reach Canada.

She has been mocked, marginalized and denigrated her entire life. There in Iran where she was born, she said that there is no place for someone who is “different” like her.

Zahra is a wonderful woman, she doesn't like asking for help and she is trying to do everything in complete autonomy.

She has learned English by watching American films and would like to learn French.

She has been living in a shelter in Montreal for about four months.

Zahra has lost her father and her brother and her dream is to be able to hug her mother, sister and niece whom she left behind in Iran.

My mission in life is to give voice to the voiceless and Zhara has never asked for anything other than the chance to voice her wonderful story.

I decided to take this initiative because I believe that life has already been hard enough for her, and now our time has come as a community to show her that together we can realize her dream of living a better life than the one she lives now.

Zahra is a warrior, her mission in her life is to show us all that if she did it, everyone can.

She is the example of the power of resilience. She knows that the option to quit was never an option for her and never will be.

We need to remind her that she is not alone.

We need your support to allow her to have more comfortable accommodations, allow her to have the assistance she needs in daily chores and allow her to have the foundation to create the life she has always dreamed of having here in Canada.

Thank you in advance for your support.

Special Thanks to Andrea Cloutier for the beautiful pictures and Nick from PBNJ Productions for such an emotional video.