photo story produced by Joya Dass with Sakhi for South Asian Women
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" I've taken my past, put it in a box and closed the lid. When I open it, it just makes me cry so I keep it shut. "
Sadika was already divorced with two children when she met the man who would become her second husband. After marrying, he began to go out drinking and gambling at all hours of the night. Sometimes when he would come home, he would throw Sadika out of the house at 3am. She would go to her brother's but then he would smash her brother's car windows. She got work at a nearby restaurant during the day. She would come home to discover that her husband had thrown out all of her belongings. When her children came to visit, her husband would come home from a night of drinking and bang on the door. He harassed Sadika and her daughter. When he started to show up at her place of work, her boss took her aside and told her there was a lawyer in the building. She should go and seek counsel. She went to the lawyer and then to court, got an order of protection and filed a police report. The interpreter then suggested that Sadika seek help at Sakhi, who showed her the right doors to open when all she could see at the time was confusion. She got a social security card, a driver's license and learned how to speak English. At the time of these portraits, Sadika was studying for her GED and applying for her green card. Her daughter had gone to college and volunteered with Sakhi on her own. Sadika started taking private lessons to become a makeup artist and enter the world of fashion.
" Sakhi has been like my guardian angel. They cover me like the shade of a tree. I don't walk around with fear in my heart anymore. "
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words based on an interview with Sadika