Instead of seeing what I’ve lost, what was taken away from me, and all the injustices that were done to me, I can see the power of what I’ve received. And I’ve created it myself.  Throughout my life I have made the choice to never see myself as a victim. As I stand here at this yellow gate, which I have associated with pain for years, I realize my life really hasn’t been about finding myself, but about creating myself.

My first book for Women in Translation Month was an eye-opener. Never Stop Walking, written by Christina Rickardsson and translated by Tara F. Chance, is a memoir of Christina’s turbulent childhood in São Paulo, Brazil. Her earliest memories are of living with her mother in the forest and caves outside Diamantia, Brazil with very little contact with the outside world. Later, they moved to the faevlas of São Paulo so her mother could look for work. This story is about her early life, her friends, the daily life of a street child in the slums of a large city. It tells of what she experienced on the streets, the extreme poverty and extreme danger, and how she survived. As I said, it’s a real eye-opener. Later, through a series of events, Christina and her little brother end up in an orphanage and are adopted by a Swedish couple. I don’t want to give away too many details because I hope you’ll read this book. I think from now on whenever I complain about some aspect of my life, I’ll think of Christina, and all the children like her, and thank my lucky stars for my life.

Never Stop Walking is available on Amazon.