Roses for the editorial staff of Le Monde

"Sunny Salima brings flowers and cheer to Le Monde"
  (Photo and caption by Ginny Power)

I had put on my new Héroines dress which I bought at the Jewish rue des Rosiers and headed to the flower shop. I chose yellow roses which originate from the Middle East and are known to symbolise friendship. I added graines, that symbolise abundance. Together they symbolized an abundance of friendship!

I arrived at the door of the News agency and saw some people going out. One of them gave me a huge smile which touched me a lot. Most of the people that came out of the building seemed in themselves and often in a rush. She was different. I went to her and offered her a rose. A gift as a reward of her generous smile! Ginny was a photo editor at Le Monde and offered to bring the flowers to the editorial staff for me. There was a strict security at Le Monde, they wouldn't let me go inside. This would be the best solution. I gave her the flowers. She returned one flower, because it looked so beautiful with the dress!

We gave each other a hug, Ginny enterde the heavily guarded building with the flowers and I headed to my next adventure: a meeting with the begging ladies of the mosque of Paris.

Me and the ladies were planning to set up an organisation which we wanted to call: Les Dames du Grand Mosquée de Paris (The ladies of the Great Mosque of Paris). Ideas like creating a quarterly journal came to mind. We could publish poetry or interviews inside it. The ladies would sell the journal at the entrance. Or photo cards of the Mosque etc. The ladies were enthousiastic about the possibilities of our collaboration. My time in Paris was limited, but we promised to stay in touch.

 Inside the mosque I met Faiza, an Arab POWERLADY who has become a good friend of mine and gave me a lot of new ideas and insights about the Arab Feminist movement in France. What I learned from her is that feminism is not a lot of empty words, but a collection of actions over many years in which help is provided to (poor) women to emancipate themselves through education and a lot of hard work.

Just outside Le Monde: a window with the text: L'amour divin a toujours répondu à tout besoin humain et y répondra toujours / Divine love has always answered every human need and will always answer it.

With Faiza, a wonderful Arab lady I had dinner with in the restaurant of the Grande Mosquée de Paris.