When life becomes too predictable, some people pick up a new hobby or interest to re-ignite a zest for life. Maybe an adventure to whisk them away to a new country faced with challenges never faced before.

One local signed up to the Rallye des Gazelles du Maroc for some adventure. Because it is expensive to participate she hopes to raise enough money to attend in 2024.

Monique Deiber who is originally from France came to live in Litchfield with her husband in 1997 where they started a little hobby farm. She worked at the Pontiac hospital in Human Resources until the merger happened in 2016. Later she took a new job at the Centre de Sante Tulattavik de l’ Ungava in Kuujjuaq.

Deiber always had an appetite for adventure, and the first one she planned was with her husband. They prepared to do a round trip by kayak around South America, but six months in the couple got malaria and had to return to France and never got to finish the tour. A few years later they moved to Quebec and since then haven’t gone on a trip like that, which has left Deiber craving one.

As years went by and the routine of life set in, it became harder to plan anything grand, but after stumbling on the Rallye des Gazelles du Maroc on Facebook, it ignited something inside her.

“It was always in my mind to do something exciting, an adventure, something nice and just have adrenaline,” she said.

The Rallye des Gazelles du Maroc is a 15-day expedition set in the desert of Morocco and is the only rally with all female participants. It accepts people ages 18 to 71 and sees about 400 participants every year. It is an automobile competition, the goal is to travel as few kilometres as possible without the use of electronic navigation. The participants must finish the adventure in a minimum amount of kilometres and not in a minimum of time, choosing between options such as going around the mountain or crossing it, going through the dunes or avoiding them.

What appealed to her was that it was set in the desert, it was off-road, multicultural and a challenge because participants are only given a map and a compass to find their way and complete the rally.

“You can follow each team and you can see how they prepare themselves. So it’s really interesting. And I always wanted to participate but it’s very expensive,” said Deiber.

After deciding she wanted to take the leap and participate, she now had to find a partner to do this with. In the past that had been the biggest challenge for her. Scrolling through Facebook Deiber came across Nycolina Melano, who lives in Montreal, on a group called Toi+Moi des gazelles when she saw that she too was looking for a partner. From there they connected and now are planning to go on this adventure together, Deiber explained.

Their team name is Dam’Baroudeuses.

Although they don’t live in the same city, Melano spoke to THE EQUITY and mentioned the thing that connected them was their love of adventure. “We manage to chat regularly via video, we got to know each other. We became friends with the same ambition, and challenge. The taste of adventure is what brought us closer,” she said.

Originally from Normandy, France, Melano is fairly new to Quebec but when an opportunity to move across the ocean came up she decided to take it. She has been living in the province since 2018.

Doing the rally for Melano is about reminding herself to do things she loves no matter how crazy and not let life get in the way of adventure. “I hope to find the strong woman in me. I hope to inspire other people, women to surpass themselves. We are sometimes too stuck in our dreams and our hopes to set them in motion. When anything is possible,” she said.

For Deiber going on this adventure is about proving to herself that she can do anything she sets her mind to. No matter how old she is, even at the age of 56, anyone can have big ambitions. With perseverance and confidence in yourself you can actualize your dreams, she stated. “For me to say that by myself without help I’m able to prepare to organize and to arrive at my goal.”

In her spare time, she loves snowshoeing, riding her ATV and doing outdoorsy things but life was getting too stagnant for her and she wanted something to challenge her to give her a rush of adrenaline. “Something was missing and I was feeling more and more that I have to do something,” she said.

What brought Melano and Deiber closer was that they had a shared experience with moving to Canada, and their passion and desire to go on this trip, explained Melano. “One day, I woke up, my need for adventure resurfaced, I wanted it to be my priority, and I relaunched the adventure,” she said.

Not only is Deiber hoping to do this and feel proud of accomplishing her dream adventure but to be able to come back and share it with people, go to schools and hold conferences and share her experience with the community. “ To tell them when you have determination, when you have confidence in yourself and when you want to accomplish something to know that you are able to do it and to be proud after,” she said.

The current challenge is planning this trip remotely as they both live in different cities while trying to fundraise. Their goal is to raise at least half the amount, which is about $20,000 by the end of 2023.

A few ways Deiber hopes to raise money is with the help of the community in the Pontiac. In one of the Council of Mayors meetings, she gave a presentation to spark interest for funding from the council to help her make her dream a reality. She hopes to be able to represent the Pontiac. “I would be really proud to have my Pontiac flag on the four-by-four and present my flag every time in a different place in Morocco.”

Apart from that, she plans to go to markets, look for sponsors, hold events and participate in the community to fundraise money for the trip and gain public interest.

In January Deiber plans to travel to Morocco to talk to organizers and get a feel for the place and the climate to prepare herself for what she could expect. In the coming year, a few things they need to do to qualify for the rally include taking a navigation course and training on a four-by-four.

“I hope that I will be able to have people in the next year willing to listen to me to ask me questions and be interested in my project in my adventure,” said Deiber.

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