Through Her Eyes in Bloomington, MN

Safe. That's what you feel when you are around your parents. When we come into this world and open our eyes, we know that there is unconditional love, waiting for us. The last thing that crosses our minds is to worry about our parents. Yet, it was never that way for me. I never got to experience that love. While my childhood was a blur – full of hardships and difficulties since the day I learned to talk and walk, my fears were about something different, altogether. For a better part of my life, I was not worried about losing my family. Instead, I was scared of what they might do to me next. Thanks to poverty, I was traded by my parents at the tender age of nine, robbing me of my innocence and childhood. Confused, I kept waiting on a miracle and it finally came – three years later. My parents returned for me! Only, this time, I was taken to another place – a place that stripped all that I held near and dear to me. As my life began to crumble apart at my feet, so did my country. I went from one hell, working in the fields, to another hell where I sold my body off. Things changed continuously in my life, but apart from the horror that was my life, only one thing stayed constant: running. First, I was running from my parents. And then, I was running for my life. Thankfully, I learned to fight back. I realized that my body will continue to fight back, as long as my soul took the lead. It is the spirit and the courage that lets you march on; despite everything you go through. This book is about the many lessons that I have learned, and I hope that it will serve as a reminder and inspiration for you – that you, too, have what it takes to fight back.