I was once sold: How I turned my scars into my strength | Al-Amin Noyon

I grew up in a small village. I was raised with a lot of affection – and restrictions. Even after completing secondary school, my parents would not let me go anywhere by myself.

I always dreamt of travelling for work. I saw a TV camera for the first time during a flood in 1998, and followed the journalists for three miles to watch how they worked. They were like magicians to me – their work was what I watched on TV! I wanted to be like them.

After graduating from university, I started to look for a job. The Malaysian job market had just opened for Bangladesh, after a long break. I saw an advertisement on TV and then a man from my village said he could get me there – and I could earn BDT 40,000 a month working in a multinational company. I knew that even if I got a good job in Rajshahi, I would be lucky to get half of that. He was familiar, so I trusted him.

              

  I grew up in a small village. I was raised with a lot of affection – and restrictions. Even after completing secondary school, my parents would not let me go anywhere by myself.

I always dreamt of travelling for work. I saw a TV camera for the first time during a flood in 1998, and followed the journalists for three miles to watch how they worked. They were like magicians to me – their work was what I watched on TV! I wanted to be like them.

After graduating from university, I started to look for a job. The Malaysian job market had just opened for Bangladesh, after a long break. I saw an advertisement on TV and then a man from my village said he could get me there – and I could earn BDT 40,000 a month working in a multinational company. I knew that even if I got a good job in Rajshahi, I would be lucky to get half of that. He was familiar, so I trusted him.