by Shama Shams
Shama Shams
REST Director of Philanthropy & Marketing
I read it somewhere that most of our lives consist of omission, lies, stories, and truth. My childhood mostly consisted of omission. It was the omission of love, the omission of safety, and most importantly, the omission of my parents that made my journey painful.
Years have passed since my ride through the dirt roads, where rickshaws, cow-carts, bicycles and masses of people made it impossible to drive with speed. The cars would find themselves slowly pushing through the crowds in a failed attempt to be noticed. There were no rules. No road maps. No one was directing the traffic. The force of the masses pushed through the streets as they tried to dictate our destination. We just kept moving. In many ways, the sheer act of moving was our destination. It gave us a purpose, a reason to endure the unpaved, undeveloped roads of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
After living in America for the past 40 years, it is hard for me to imagine such roads still exist as it is difficult for me to identify with the little girl who feared for her life. I am not ashamed of that girl or that I come from Bangladesh. I am just amazed that I survived since so few of us do.
I always thought that in order to create a new roadmap here in America and venture in a new journey, I needed to detach myself from that little girl. I tried my best, unsuccessfully I may add, to forget. All roads keep leading me back to my childhood when I was sexually exploited for two years, starting at the age of five by a man who was also my source for food, shelter, and ironically, safety.
At the age of 10, my family immigrated to America. It wasn’t until many years later that I confronted my past and learned that my childhood “normal” wasn’t really normal. I was in my mid 20s, consumed with despair and hopelessness when I tried to end my life. At that time I was in Austin, Texas working as a paralegal for a law firm.
After being released from the hospital, I went back to work and my employers called me into the conference room. I was certain that I was about to get fired. Instead they sat me down and said, “we decided to make an investment and that investment is you” followed by, “we will pay for all your therapy, whatever you need. You are not alone, Shama”.
From that day, I have been trying to make good on their investment by serving God through my service to our community. Everyone deserves our investment and it comes in so many forms. The investment of time, resources, and especially the investment of one’s belief in us and our potential. It has been a long road and at times very rocky, but one thing that remained constant is God’s love and my need to serve.
I joined REST on May 3rd as the Director of Philanthropy and Marketing.
I am grateful that my journey from Bangladesh has led me to REST. I look forward to partnering with you to spread love, safety, and hope. I can’t guarantee that the road will always be smooth, but I can guarantee that I will not stop walking alongside of victims and survivors of the sex trade and sex trafficking. I invite you to join me on this road.
To find out how you too can invest in someone, please visit—or contact me directly at shama@iwantrest.com
Shama Shams