Retell:
It has been a few hours since Nujood has left the courthouse and while walking outside she has never been so happy. To celebrate the victory, Shada gave Nujood some new clothing and since she was no longer married, Nujood was able to take off her black veil that covered up her beautiful smile. Now it was time for Shada to bring Nujood to the Yemen Times building, because there was a very important person waiting to meet her. Once in front of the doors, Nujood was amazed by the building. The building had three stories, which was something pretty impressive in her neighbourhood. Nujood was surprised to find out that she was going to be meeting the editor and chief of the Yemen Times, Nadia, and she was even more surprised that the editor and chief of the Yemen Times was a women! Once inside, Nujood was dumbfounded to discover that most of the journalists were women! She realized that the women spoke with a strange accent, so she figured that they were from different countries and not originally from Yemen. After she met all the journalists, Nujood received plenty more gifts. She absolutely loved it!
June 2008,
Since the divorce, Nujood’s nightmares started to go away and she’s starting to feel better and better. Since the return home, random women in the streets would yell out “Mabrouk!”, which was once a work that brought back evil memories.
Now a days, Nujood and her family live in a new neighbourhood called Dares. That neighbourhood is along the road heading towards the airport. She’s happy there because she knows she can protect her little sister Haïfa. Every week, new journalists come knocking on Nujood’s door to hear her story. Some have come from Italy, France, The United States of America and many more places.
One day, Nujood, Mona and her little sister, Haïfa, were invited to the amusement park by Eman. While on the way there, the car passed through Al-Qa, and suddenly Mona yelled out “Stop!”. There she sees her daughter Monira, begging for money on the street in front of the Mosque. Since her husband went to prison, Mona’s kids were forced to live with their Grandma. Mona’s husband was force to go to prison with Jamila, Nujood’s older sister, because both of them were found in a room together committing adultery. In Yemen, adultery is a crime punished by death, so Jamila and Mona’s husband were both in prison waiting for their fate to be decided. Mona then explains to Nujood the story of why she got married. It turns out that one day when their family was still living in Khardji, then Nujood was only a child, an older man came bursting into Nujood’s home while her parents weren’t there and he rapped Mona. When their father found out, he did not want to bring shame on their family so he forced Mona to marry that man. A few days later a huge fight broke about between Nujood’s family and other families in Khardji, which forced Nujood’s family to leave the village and move somewhere else. That’s how and why Mona got married to that pig, and later on in their marriage she gave birth to Monira. Nujood couldn’t believe her ears; Mona went through the same as her. Nujood learned that later on, both Jamila and Mona’s now ex-husband were released from prison. She was happy that Jamila was safe again, but she knew that Jamila and Mona would never be the same again. That is why Mona was always against Nujood getting married off to the monster of a man her ex-husband was.
Once at the park, Nujood and Mona let go of their past and decided to just have fun and to be free.
August 2008,
One night while eating dinner, there was a knock at the door. Mohammad, Nujood’s older brother, went to go answer it, and suddenly he cries out “Fares!”. It was Nujood’s older brother who went missing four years ago. The whole family rushed to the door to greet him. Once inside, he explains that one day he decided to run away because he was upset. When it was nightfall, Fares snuck across the borders of Saudi Arabia. And for the past few years that’s where he’s been trying to make some money, but after no success he finally came back home.
September 16, 2008,
Today was Nujood’s first day back to school. Since they moved, Nujood now goes to a different school. She was very excited, her nightmares had stopped and she was able to sleep peacefully. When she woke up that morning, her heart was beating rapidly. She also woke up Haïfa, because she was also going to go to school. The International Humanitarian Association was paying for their school fees, so both she and her sister were able to go to school. While driving to school, they could hear the cheers from young girls getting louder and louder. When she looked out the window, Nujood saw a huge black gate guarding a gravelled courtyard surrounded by three gray-brick two-story buildings containing a dozen classrooms each. Once at the doors, Shada was there to greet them. Nujood and Haïfa were both very nervous. Once in settled in class, Nujood was a little more relaxed. After the national anthem, Nujood’s teacher asked the class if anyone could recite the Fatiha, the first Sura of the Koran, and Nujood was the first to raise her hand. Once she was done everyone applauded, and for the first time in a long time, Nujood felt like a normal little girl. She felt like herself.
Ever since the courtroom battle, lots have happened. Since then, Nujood has learned that her story is unique, what she had been through had happen to lots of other little girls and that it was still happening. Shada explained to Nujood that because of her two little girls named Arwa and Rym had built up the confidence to leave their husbands. At the age of nine, Arwa was married off to a man twenty-five years older, when she heard Nujood’s story on TV, she escaped to the nearest hospital and got some help. Rym was a twelve when her parents divorced and in revenge her father forced her to marry her thirty-one year old cousin. After several attempts of suicide, Rym found the courage to go to the courthouse and asked for a divorce after hearing Nujood’s story.
November 10, 2008,
Today was a very special day for Nujood. On the tenth of November, 2008, in New York, Nujood was named one of the women of the year by Glamour magazine. She was among Nicole Kidman, Condoleezza Rice, Hillary Clinton and many more women who have also been chosen for women of the year by Glamour magazine. At the age of ten, Nujood has accomplished and changed so much. Nujood won and she was proud!
After going through that terrible experience, Nujood had decided on two very important things for her future. She had decided to become a lawyer to help other young girls and that she will never get married again.
Relate:
How can I relate to Nujood? That is the hardest question for me to answer, mainly because a typical Canadian Teenager has never had to go through a situation like that. And I am glad to say that I have never been through something like that, because I don’t know if I could have been that strong. Throughout my previous blog posts, I’ve explained on how I think I have few qualities in common with Nujood. For example, some qualities are determination, hardworking, strong and intelligence. But when I compare myself to Nujood, I don’t find it right to say that I have those qualities, because she has done so much more, and she is much more determined, much stronger, much more hardworking and a lot smarter than I am. I just hope that I can do those qualities justice.
Reflect:
Wow! After finishing this book I am speechless. Wow! That is the best word I have to describe what I have read. I am amazed and inspired by Nujood. I am happy that Nujood has decided to become lawyer like Shada when she’s older. I am one hundred percent sure that she’ll change even more peoples’ lives. The only thing I wish Nujood would give another chance is marriage. I understand that after going through what she has, it must be really tough to even thing about marriage again. I just feel bad, because there are so many great men out there that she could be happy with, but because of one horrible monster, she’s afraid. One man, one man has ruined so many good possibilities for her. After reading this biography, I am left sitting here with one question… What would Nujood say if she ever saw her ex-husband again? Would she simply blow him off? Would she tell him thank you, because he’s the reason why she is who she is and that she was able to make a difference and help others? Would she scream and yell at him? Would she forgive him? Honestly, I wouldn’t blame her for doing any of those things. It’s time for her to live her life and not have others live her life for her. It is the beginning of her new life. I congratulate Nujood for all she has done and wish her good luck in the future! Even though I know she’ll be fine without it. :)
