LEWISTON – Two area women who are attending college while raising families were honored Friday for outstanding achievement.

Zamzam Mohamed of Lewiston and Jill Bouchard of Sabattus, both students at Central Maine Community College, were cited during the College for ME Androscoggin’s “most inspiring people you’ve never heard of” annual awards Friday at Bates College.

Other honors Friday went to Mechanic Savings Bank and Peter Geiger of Lewiston. who won corporate leadership awards for promoting higher education to their workers and the community.

Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, and Anne Kemper of the Lewiston Adult Education, were given student advocate awards for helping thousands in the community achieve.

Winning a surprise special award was Mary LaFontaine of Auburn, a CareerCenter personal manager. LaFontaine was named a student advocate, a leader who reaches out to businesses and students, and someone instrumental in career education.

ZamZam Mohamed came to Lewiston as a refugee from Somalia, a country ruled by warlords where there is no government, instructor Alicia Harding said.

She met Mohamed in a class Mohamed took to improve her English. Harding said she was struck by what an exceptional student Mohamed was, and she continued to progress. She’s been an honor student every semester, despite a heavy load at home.

Her husband was unable to come to America and stayed behind in Africa. Until he joins her, she’s raising five children on her own, Harding said. “In one week she had to take care of her sick mother who had a heart attack, care for her daughter who had a serious ear infection, and make sure another daughter got to see the movie, ‘Twilight.'” That’s not counting other routine tasks of any single parent, Harding said.

“I’ve never heard ZamZam complain about hard work, pressure, about loneliness of separation,” Harding said. “She’s taken care of her family, become an American citizen, dealt with family sufferings, been a top student,” and kept working toward her goal of becoming a nurse, Harding said.

Nominating Jill Bouchard for the student award was Betsy Libby, acting dean of student services at CMCC.

Bouchard is a medical assistant student with a 3.4 grade point average. “She’s a wife, a mother, president of the honor society, vice president of the Women in Technology Student Organization,” Libby said.

“She’s in the hallway of every sign-up and volunteer table.” Getting involved to help others, Bouchard has enough CMCC shirts to wear one a day for a month without repeating, Libby said. “She has school spirit.”

Bouchard was raised by her grandparents. Higher education was not talked about at home. “She did not think they had the money to send her to college, and she did not think she was smart enough to go,” Libby said of Bouchard.

As a young woman she found herself expecting twins, and planned to give them up for adoption to a couple. After discovering one had special needs and was not wanted by the couple, “she decided to care for that child alone,” Libby said. “She has. He is nonverbal, in a wheelchair,” and has endured many medical procedures. When he was born she was told he’d live to six months. “He just turned 11.”

Bouchard later married. She wanted a better job. Her husband encouraged her to go to college. After getting her medical assistant degree, Bouchard plans to pursue nursing.