Imagine your dream is to wear shoes. This is the reality of children born with clubfoot—children like three-year-old Marouane who lives in a small village in rural Morocco, about 348 miles from Rabat.

When Chance Comes Knocking

Malaab-Goulmima is quiet in the early morning – a white cat slinking across the town square is the only movement. As the sun—and temperature—rise, the village begins to come alive. Marouane bursts out the front door of his stucco house wearing a Batman shirt and grey shorts, his right foot visibly bent at the ankle and wrapped in a cloth bandage. His twin sister and three older siblings emerge a few seconds later and the group runs to play in the alleyway beside their house. Marouane tries to keep up, but soon falls behind as his bandage starts to unravel.  

Marouane and his twin sister were born at home with the help of a traditional midwife – who is also their grandmother and the only midwife in their village. When Marouane’s mother, Fatima, began to dress her two newborns for the first time, she noticed Marouane’s twisted foot. With no idea what to think or do, she turned to prayer. 

“We just prayed to God that he would get better.”

While Marouane’s foot didn’t miraculously transform, a different kind of miracle was in the works. Against all odds and through a series of fortunate coincidences, the solution his mother fervently prayed for appeared at their doorstep.

The story continues in part two of Marouane’s journey: Dreams are coming true this World Clubfoot Day