In Belgium, being a solo mom is something that is seen with a bad eye by society. It is even worse when it is a woman of Moroccan origin. To the label of Maman solo we sometimes add “foreign”. “But I am Belgian, born in Belgium. My children have never known Morocco, they are also Belgian. All my family works and pays taxes in Belgium, ”Lubna was offended by The last hour In the basement of the Maison des cultures de Molenbeek with other solos mothers, all Molenbeekoises. These women all participate in a project entitled Cosmolis, a Thursday meeting, which brings an “oxygen bubble” to those who needed it.
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“It is always complicated to offer this to often isolated women. I explain that it is a group without obligation of presence that will organize activities for them, ”specifies Alexander, educator and initiator of the project. “At the beginning, you could be skeptical, shy. For example, I was quite isolated, I was not talking too much. But quickly, the walls fell, recalls Loubna, who is one of the oldest in the group created just before the Covid. This group is carrying out several activities: trying to riding or enjoying a hot air balloon flight.
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These solo mothers suffer more on a daily basis. “In support organizations, there is no longer time to really do social. We constantly change a reference person, we must constantly redjustify to spare a month later and the files do not advance. It is each time a new charge. And, in addition, there is this tenacious image: a solo dad is a hero but a solo mom is a failure. This is the image of society. Already taking care of a couple as a couple is very complicated, so imagine a child to manage alone, ”depicts Marushka. And to add: “Imagine several children to manage alone. We are fighters. We play the role of the mother and the father at the same time by taking the remarks that a child must grow with a paternal figure, no help. And despite that, the solo mother is automatically perceived as a profit and assistant. »»
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Invisibility is an evil from which these solo mothers suffer. They also suffer from the reputation of their commune. “To find accommodation is already impossible. When you say ‘Maman solo’, it’s niet of office. But when you call, even just for a library for example, and that you say that you come from Molenbeek then there … you take a: ‘Ah okay,’ mix of pity and repulsion “. Faced with these problems, the group A, in partnership with photographer Johanna de Tessières, initiated a photo and audio exhibition “to bring all their journeys and all their realities in the field of vision of society”. In addition to this exhibition which continues until October 12, the neoartists planned will also organize guided tours of the exhibition, baptized Dreams, “to tell themselves their stories. »»
