Hidden Girl

Hidden Girl

YA/Adult nonfiction
"Everyone has a defining moment in his or her life. For some it
is a day they get married or have a child. For others it comes when
they reach a long sought after goal. My life, however, changed course
the day my parents sold me into slavery. I was eight years old."
Hidden Girl is the memoir of Shyima Hall. She was the seventh
of eleven children born into a poor Egyptian family. She was unable
to go to school, needed to tend to younger siblings and do chores so
her mother could work.
When Shyima was eight her life took a turn for the much worse.
An older sister, Zahra, had been a slave for a wealthy, abusive
couple. A few years into her contract Zahra had been fired for
stealing money. Shyima went with her mother to talk to the wife who
laid down a cruel ultimatum. Provide another child or they would call
the police. Shyima was left there. She felt betrayed and abandoned.
"Why did my mother not say no? Why did she not fight for me? I
was eight! Did my mother think my prospects were better living with
this woman and her family as their slave than they would be if I lived
at home? Was our family 'honor' that much more important than I was?
Had my parents been told the truth about what my position in the home
would be? Did my father even care for me? Why did he allow this?"
Basically Shyima's position was like something out of a Charles
Dickens novel. The couple she came to know as The Mom and The Dad
made her work from daybreak until well into the night even if she was
sick. Her captors were physically and psychologically abusive.
Eating only one meal a day, she was always hungry.
At some point The Dad seemed to be in trouble with the law. He
and The Mom fled to the United States, taking Shyima with them with
her parents' consent. She slept (the few hours she could sleep) in an
unheated, windowless storage room in her captors' garage. She had to
keep two houses up as well as doing child care. Often she worked well
past midnight.
However, child slavery was more noticeable in America than in
Egypt. Someone made a phone call. One day there was a pounding on
the door.
Even rescued, Shyima's struggles were far from over. At nearly
thirteen, she had to start with the absolute basics education wise.
She was also way behind in social skills. And foster placements were
far from ideal.
Still Shyima persevered and her story is truly inspirational.
It's also a call to action. According to her statistics there are
over 43,000 slaves in America, many of them children. They can be in
any community including yours. Shyima gives readers red flags to
watch for and advice on what to do if you suspect someone is being
held in captivity.
On a personal note, yesterday's storm certainly did live up to the
hype. All day we had heavy snow, mixing sometimes with sleet, and
gusting winds. Eugene plowed 21 hours, coming home at 4 in the
morning and having to shovel the porch because I was snowed in. If he
hadn't come back I would have had to climb out a window to get to my
work today. I'm working supper shift. Tomorrow classes start.
A great big shout out goes out to people who rescue slaves and fight
for their rights.
jules hathaway


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