From village to village : UMass Magazine

Soumya Boutin ’27 traveled from Morocco to Massachusetts to get an education, but she’s never forgotten her roots. Now a UMass undergraduate, she is already making a difference for the village where she was born, helping her community build (and rebuild) a better future. Here, in her own words, is her story.

A journey beyond boundaries

When I was two-and-a-half years old, my mother gave birth to my brother, Mohammed, whom we also refer to as Little Mo. Mohammed was born with clubfoot in both feet, which led me to care for him deeply and become protective of him. One morning in 2010, my mother planned to deep clean the house, so she sent us outside to play in our village of Aremd in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Despite his disability, Little Mo was a fast runner, though not always stable. As he ran around, I was playing house nearby when I saw him fall. I rushed to him, removed his signature pink boots, and began playing doctor with some red medical syrup that I now recognize as mercurochrome. Suddenly, we heard a voice speaking a language we didn’t understand: “Hi.” 

Later we learned that the speaker was a woman named Pier Boutin, and she was an American tourist climbing Toubkal Mountain nearby. She had witnessed my brother’s fall, and after an hour of translation from English to my native language, Tamazight, we discovered that she was an orthopedic surgeon who was concerned that Little Mo’s feet hadn’t been corrected at birth. She returned the next day and offered to take Little Mo to the United States to fix his feet. Although my parents weren’t sure if they would ever see him again, they agreed to let him go so he could get treatment. 

Little Mo left for the first time in 2011 when he was three years old, and he stayed in the States for a little over a year. Since my village did not have access to the internet, we were only able to talk to him once a month. When he first went to the States, he did not speak a word of English; however, due to his age, he quickly picked up the language. After he came back from his first year there, his Tamazight was almost gone. We could not really talk to him. I remember my mother in Morocco having to use gestures to tell him that it was mealtime, but after a few months, he was able to speak Tamazight again. Mo traveled back and forth for a couple of years, but in the end, Pier fulfilled her promise—my brother’s feet were fixed, and he could walk normally.

I began to see a future beyond what I had known—a future where I could attend school

I didn’t know at the time how important Pier would end up becoming in my own life. Growing up, I never imagined my future to be any different from other girls in the village. I knew that after sixth grade I would leave school and a couple of years later get married. That was the norm until I encountered Pier. She was my first glimpse of the world outside the village and my first encounter with the United States. Before, I had heard of some guy named Obama, but I didn’t know anything about the country. As the five-year-old me who had originally met Pier grew older, I began to see a future beyond what I had known—a future where I could attend school and maybe even become a “foot doctor” and help people just like Pier helped Little Mo—but it was unclear how I would get there.

I decided that I would focus on school and pursue higher education. After completing sixth grade, I refused to leave school, so my parents packed their things and moved with me to the closest place where I could attend seventh grade. That didn’t really go to plan; my grades were terrible, and I thought I wasn’t smart enough. There wasn’t much support for girls in school, as many teachers believed that we would drop out and get married, which often happened. But I wasn’t going to let that stop me. When my parents suggested I quit school and get married, I threw tantrums, went on hunger strikes, and refused to do chores. After my parents understood that there was no way I would give up, they emailed Pier and asked her if it would be possible to bring me to the States to finish high school. She responded with a “yes” and welcomed me in. Whenever I talk to Pier (who is now my adoptive mother) about how I ended up in the United States, she always says something along the lines of “Everything just came together so perfectly; what a coincidence.” We joke about it now and I tell her that none of it was a coincidence; it was all planned out by 10-year-old me.

A brand-new world

When I moved to the United States in 2017, I was overwhelmed and overstimulated. I didn’t understand English, and the only person I seemed to be able to connect with was Pier. And the food was different; in my village, if you wanted to eat, you needed to wait a couple of hours for it to cook, but here, there was always food, and there was so much of it. The way people dressed, especially women, really surprised me. Growing up, women wore hijabs and niqabs, and men wore the traditional Moroccan djellaba, a long, loose-fitting robe. Seeing people wear shorts took me a while to get used to. I was so surprised to see how many cars there were on the roads. Growing up, I had never been in a car until I had to apply for my passport 50 miles away from my hometown, and I had never put on a seatbelt until I got to the States. A big change that took me no time to adjust to was the internet. Growing up I had no access to the internet, so when I got here and found out about it, my brain was blown away. I still haven’t found the proper words to describe how it felt. 

There are so many things that I miss about my village, but the one I think about the most is community. Growing up in a village of 2,000 people who have lived there all their lives means that you know everyone by name. You know who your neighbors are, and everyone leaves their doors open so you can come by whenever you wish. This form of community is something that must be experienced to be understood. The phrase “It takes a village to raise a child” describes how I grew up. Everyone in the village feels like family, and that means 1,999 people are looking out for you.

On the other hand, I love the diversity in the United States. I have met so many different people from various cultures and backgrounds, and that has changed the way I view the world. I think it’s something that many people born here take for granted. I enjoy the endless possibilities and opportunities available to me, opportunities I wouldn’t have access to in my home country. Most importantly, I love that I gained a second family. 

The moment I toured UMass, I knew I could see myself here. One thing that stood out to me was the size. I loved the idea of being able to meet new people every day if I wanted to. I also enjoy the academic environment fostered here. There are always talks and events happening on campus. And of course, the food is amazing. I am currently double majoring in political science and journalism. I plan on attending law school after completing my undergraduate degree. I am unsure what else will come after that, but I am really interested in human rights law and politics. I would love to someday work for the United Nations or the United States Congress.

Building a foundation

In 2022, I heard news from home about my cousin Mouna, whom I greatly admired. She was 18 and just about to graduate from high school—potentially becoming the first in our village to do so. However, she ended up getting married instead. When I heard the news, it devastated me, and when I discussed it with my mom, Pier, she said, “So do something about it.”  

I had been contemplating starting an organization to help my native village since my freshman year of high school, but hearing about Mouna was the spark that finally made it happen. I founded my nonprofit foundation, Soumya’s Journey, with a mission to empower the women and girls of the Atlas Mountains. We envision a future in which girls receive the education and support they need to achieve their full potential. Our ultimate goal is to build a school. However, at present, there is little incentive for education for girls. Having a high school degree does not guarantee a job. Historically, women do not work, and they solely rely on male relatives for their basic needs. This puts them in a vulnerable position because, in the event of divorce or the death of a husband, these women are left with mouths to feed and no means of employment. As a result, we decided to create opportunities for the women in the community, leading to the establishment of a local economy in which women are actively involved.

Our flagship project at the moment is a cooperative founded and run by women. The Sisters of the Mountain Women’s Cooperative focuses on agricultural products such as apple cider vinegar, herbs, and walnut oil. Most of the women working in the cooperative are either divorced or widowed. This past spring, the women started making baked goods like chebakia and Moroccan halwa for Ramadan and the upcoming Eids, selling them to both tourists and locals. During my winter break, I returned to Morocco and assisted the women with governmental paperwork and planning the next steps. Our next goal is to gather funds to secure a permanent location for the cooperative. Soumya’s Journey will continue to provide financial support to the cooperative until it becomes self-sustaining. 

Mouna has now moved back to the village with her son and is in the process of getting a divorce. She has been very supportive of me. She is currently working on obtaining her GED, and afterward, we hope to have her join our team.

Helping hands

The Friday night after my first week of classes in early September 2023, I went to a movie, and when I came out, I saw a text from my stepfather asking whether the earthquake had hit my village. I was confused because I hadn’t heard anything about an earthquake. I quickly searched online, and my heart sank; a magnitude 6.8 earthquake had struck Morocco, and the epicenter was just a few miles away from my village. Frantically, I tried to call family and friends on WhatsApp, but I noticed that everyone who had been active went offline at exactly the same time, 11:16 p.m. I tried calling Mom Pier, but she was asleep and hadn’t heard about the earthquake. I couldn’t sleep all night, fearing the worst for my family. 

The next day, Mom Pier called me back at 7 a.m. She had been one of the first responders to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, so she was familiar with these kinds of situations. We decided to go to Morocco, but before leaving, we reached out to people online for clothes, food, monetary donations, and medical supplies. My UMass and adoptive hometown communities came together to support us, and I am forever grateful. Within days, we raised $50,000 and collected 500 pounds of donated clothing, and Fairview Hospital in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, donated thousands of dollars’ worth of medical supplies. I reached out to my professors about the situation, and they were all very understanding, assuring me that they would accommodate my needs upon my return.

My UMass and adoptive hometown communities came together to support us, and I am forever grateful.

When we arrived in Morocco, I was relieved to see my whole family, and thankfully, nobody had died in my village. It was surprising, considering that every house had been destroyed or made uninhabitable, and a village just a couple of miles away had 40 people dead. We slept in tents and set up a medical clinic. During our week there, we saw over 200 patients, mostly women. I translated between English and Tamazight, and Mom Pier examined and treated the patients. This experience was life-changing. It made me realize the importance of family and made me aware of how many incredible people there are in my life and how many people want to do good and help during these difficult times. 

Helping my village after the earthquake allowed me to connect with my community on a deeper level, and most importantly, to better understand their needs. After the earthquake, the village women expressed a strong interest in starting a women’s cooperative, and we successfully established it. Over 30 women are now registered in the cooperative, with many already working. I feel incredibly honored to have the opportunity to continue my education at UMass, which has helped and will continue to help me build the skills needed to advocate for my community. With the support of my family and board members, Soumya’s Journey will continue as a lifelong project. My goal is to give girls in the Atlas Mountains the same opportunities that I had, and I’m excited to see what the future brings.

See the progress of Soumya’s organization at the Soumya’s Journey website.

From village to village

A journey beyond boundaries

A brand-new world

Building a foundation

Helping hands

We’re on the lookout