Because I am you, and you are me.



At 13 years old, I came to see the ugly truth that we all hurt each other. Women hurt men, men hurt women; women scar women. This realization dawned on me then as I walked the corridors of my school, steps careful, head bowed, unspeaking, fearful.



My story is the story of a million other girls, who at one point in time, was made to feel alone because they are not perfect - in my case, it's because I wasn't fair-skinned, my socks were not of the same length, my father does not have a car, and because I was named Purple. Being different then was a curse.



At a young age, I learned that words cut, and they could cut deep. I also learned however, that they save souls.



I started writing because it shatters silence. It allows oneself to be honest about what they think and feel. It lessens the pangs of solitude and helps see the promise of change by going on for one more day.



As years passed, after writing healed me, I started to write for others. I pursued journalism because giving breath into the pain and struggle of others heightens the need for changes in mindset, culture and perceptions.



And eventually, as I strip the layers of bigger, worse forms of division, apathy and inequality, I challenged the public through my pen, so to speak, to question structures, institutions, policies, in the hopes that people would mold reforms within the framework of humanity.



Our personal pains are a catalyst for changing the world. We take steps to make things better because while we share similar stories of hopelessness and tragedy, we believe that these would and could be eventually turned into stories of redemption and hope.



World Pulse gives us a platform for these stories. And more than just a platform, it is a force that pushes us to see how our connections, intertwined experiences and similar strengths could change lives.

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