January 28th, 2011

Lamiae El Oubeidi in her taxi

Lamiae El Oubeidi, 36-years-old is the first female taxi driver in the city of Fez and the second ever female taxi driver in the country of Morocco. It has not been an easy road for her. It took her 8 years to get her permit from the government. They were reluctant to let a woman drive a taxi but her persistence paid off.

Her journey started when she lost her job teaching and she needed to support her two kids while also wanting flexible hours to spend time with them. Her family and her husband, who is also a taxi driver, were skeptical at first but eventually supported her goal. El Oubeidi not only fought to become a taxi driver to support her family she also did it to inspire other women that they can do and be whatever they want.

“I want to see women taking all possible jobs and encourage women to challenge themselves. That’s what I’m aiming to achieve, and that’s why I took this job, to set an example to young women and show them that anything is possible.”