"Compared to dreams, reality can be truly cruel. But it can also come up with beautiful surprises."

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Source: Nujood Ali, Delphine Minoui (2010). “I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced”, p.126, Broadway Books

About the author

Nujood Ali

Activist

Nujood Ali is a Yemeni women's rights advocate known for her groundbreaking fight against child marriage, sparked by her own experiences as a child bride.

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"My divorce has changed my life. I don’t cry anymore. My bad dreams are starting to go away. I feel stronger, as if all these ordeals have toughened me. When I go out in the street, sometimes women in the neighborhood call to me, congratulating me and shouting ‘Mabrouk!’ – a word once tainted by evil memories, but which I know like to hear again. And shouted by women I don’t even know! I blush, but deep down I’m so proud."

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"I'm a simple village girl who has always obeyed the orders of my father and brothers. Since forever, I have learned to say yes to everything. Today I have decided to say no."

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