“This woman is sitting here with her child not just to ask for money. She’s calling out for someone to notice how deep her despair really is,” Nicole explains as we pass another mother wrapped in shame and a colorful melhfa.

Nicole cannot walk past that cry for help. In Mauritania, where a child’s disability is still sometimes seen as punishment for sins and a source of shame, she has become a voice for those pushed to the margins. She understood that these families need more than charity—they need their dignity restored.

That’s why, on the outskirts of Nouakchott, she created Foyer de l’Enfance. It is the first and only place in the country that truly serves as a home for children with disabilities and their mothers. Nicole personally ensures that each of over 200 children in their care receives professional rehabilitation, medication, and a warm meal. For her, helping is like “open-heart surgery”—removing the heavy stone of guilt and stigma from parents’ chests. Thanks to Nicole, mothers who once hid their children at home are now learning a trade, smiling again, and rediscovering the belief that they are not alone.