Goodbye to Our “Beloved” Habiba

We lost our beloved Habiba, the “Genesis Girl” of our Strawberry Girls Project on March 16, 2025. She battled metastasized cancer for six years, and the cancer finally won. She is now healthy and whole—freed from all disease, trauma, pain, and suffering. She is now in a place where there are no more tears.

Did you know that “Habiba” in Arabic means “Beloved”? Habiba was our dearly beloved. Habiba will forever be our dearly beloved.

Habiba is now laid to rest back in her homeland, in her village in southern Morocco. She is at peace, and so is her family.

Along with our partner, Diaconía, we are now preparing Habiba's celebration of life here in Spain. It will be held on Wednesday, June 4, 2025.

I don’t know if you have read Habiba’s story, “Our Journey to El Dorado” or the poem book, “The Strawberry Girls.” If you haven’t heard or read her story, please do! You will be forever changed by her story, just like I was. Here are a few of my poems that I will share at the memorial in honor of Habiba.

A Person or a Project?

Her name is Habiba.
She has a name. She has a face, a body, a heart, a mind. She has a soul.
She is a person. She is a woman.
Her name is Habiba.
She has feelings and emotions. She has thoughts.
Her name is Habiba.
Somehow, somewhere in the work, in the service, she may lose her name.
Somehow, somewhere in the mix of things, she may lose her identity.
Habiba may become a number, a statistic.
Habiba may become an object, an issue.
Habiba—a person—may become a project.
Oh, the danger!
How do I intentionally keep her name, her face, her identity ever before me?
How do I intentionally remember that she is a person—100% person?
How do I guard and protect her from wearing a number, from being stamped by a statistic?
Habiba, oh Habiba!
I am sorry that we have stolen your name. I am sorry that we have stripped you of your identity.
I am sorry that we have erased your face. I am sorry that we have torn out your heart.
I am sorry.
Please forgive us.
You are not a project. You are a person.
You have a name.
Your name is Habiba.
I will keep your name on my lips. I will keep your face in my mind. I will keep your heart next to
mine. I will keep your eyes in my sight. I will keep your thoughts in my mind.
You are not a project. You are a person.
You have a name.
Your name is Habiba.
Your name means, “My Beloved.”
May we never forget that Habiba is not a fictitious character. She is not a nameless, faceless
immigrant fleeing the brokenness of her homeland. She is not a statistic, a number, one more
refugee, one more dreamer, about to drown in the boat off the European coastline . . . on her
way to El Dorado.
May we never forget that she is a person.
She has a name.
Her name is Habiba.
Please don’t forget her name. I beg you. Please don’t forget her name.
Her name is Habiba.

The Genesis Girl

Habiba.
She is the first one.
Habiba.
She is the first Strawberry Girl.
Habiba.
She is the first one to tell her story.
Habiba.
She is the first courageous woman.
Habiba.
She is the first one to risk it all.
Habiba.
She is the first to journey from slavery to freedom.
Habiba.
She is the first to move from darkness to light.
Habiba.
She is the first to walk from death to life.
Habiba.
She is the one we dedicate this to.
Habiba.
She is the one we honor.
Habiba.
She is the first one.
Habiba.
She is the first Strawberry Girl.