A Bridge Between Worlds

Fatima Al-Rashid, 45, operates the last manual ferry across the Garonne near Cadillac. Her story bridges Morocco and France, tradition and change.

"I married a French man and moved here from Casablanca twenty years ago. His family had operated this ferry for five generations. When he died in an accident, everyone expected me to sell. A Moroccan woman running a French river ferry? Impossible, they said.

"But I'm stubborn. Also, I loved the river. In Casablanca, I lived by the Atlantic. Water calls to water. The Garonne felt familiar, like meeting a cousin of the ocean I knew.

"Learning the ferry was hard. It's all manual—cables and pulleys, reading current and wind. My husband's uncle taught me grudgingly. 'A woman's hands are too weak,' he said. I proved him wrong. Now my hands are stronger than most men's.

"The ferry connects two communities that rarely mix. On one bank, old French families who've been here forever. On the other, new housing with many immigrant families. My ferry forces encounter. For five minutes, they share the same boat. I make sure they talk. 'Beautiful day,' I say in French. 'Yes, beautiful,' someone replies in accented French. Small connections, but they matter.

"My daughter helps me now. She's sixteen, born here, fully French but proud of her Moroccan heritage. She wants to study engineering, make the ferry electric, modernize everything. I tell her yes, improve it, but don't lose its soul. Some things shouldn't be too easy. The effort of crossing makes you appreciate the other shore.

"Rivers divide but also connect. That's what I've learned on the Garonne. Every crossing is a choice to reach the other side. In twenty years, I've carried thousands across—farmers and teachers, children and elders, natives and newcomers. The river doesn't judge. Neither do I. We just help people cross."