the repair work

No one said a word, though--not strangers, not the people I knew. I was shocked.Nobody treated me differently.For 20 years, I had been expecting a reaction that never came. And I soon realized that having the secret out was liberating. Not until then could I begin the repair work on my spirit for the sexual abuse and damage done to me as a young girl.

I realized that all those years, I had been blaming myself. What I learned for sure was that holding the shame was the greatest burden of all. That, even more than the betrayal, is what had kept me in bed from Friday to Monday.

I've since been betrayed by others, most often by disgruntled rings trying to gain an extra buck. But although it's a kick in the gut, it doesn't make me cry or take to my bed anymore. What I learned from that first betrayal is that when you have nothing to be ashamed of, when you know who you are and what you stand for, you stand in wisdom. Insight. Strength and protection. You stand in peace.

HYDERABAD, Pakistan, Jun. 20 (IPS/GIN) -- Hunched over the flame, a bangle in one hand tiffany jewellery a long, thin glass stick in the other, Shumaila works on the floor of a back room in a small, two-room house. With the doors and windows closed, the heat is stifling, but the 15-year-old girl concentrates on etching floral patterns on the glass bangles.

"I'm not very good with 'murai' (decorating the bangles), not like my sisters who have been at it for much longer," she told IPS. Shumaila decorates six dozen bangles a day, which fetches her about 16 rupees (30 U.S. cents).

It adds to the family kitty, and an elder sister said they are able to earn just under $13 a week. The effort has already taken a toll of young Shumaila, who has been part of the bangle-making trade for four years now.

"The work is fine, although I get tired after tiffany necklaces sale in one position for too long, but it's the heat that makes me dizzy. It burns my eyes." Pointing to burn marks on her fingers, she said: "For these I put 'mehndi' (henna) and that eases the pain."