“When my daughter got kidnapped I knew I had to go public with my story in order to find help. I was anxious but when I shared my story here it went internationally viral. I received thousands of heart warming messages from men and women from all over the world. When you go through a situation like this, life becomes a nightmare but that love and support becomes a light in the dark. When my story got picked up by the Indian media my phone was constantly ringing and finally people in India were aware that a 2-year-old Dutch child had been kidnapped and smuggled out of the European Union to Mumbai. Every day I talked to various reporters and I provided them with official documents, contact details of the Dutch Police so they could verify the story. I hoped that this media attention in India would lead to a response from the Indian government. Again and again I reached out to Shushma Swaraj, India’s minister of foreign affairs but until this day I have not gotten any response from her or her Government.”

“On the 12th of January 2017 there was the first court hearing. It was also the first time I saw one of the kidnappers in real life. A few days before the kidnap he had been flown in from the US by my ex-husband. It was a surreal experience to sit only a few meters away from a man who ruthlessly had participated in the kidnap of my own daughter. During the trial I found out that the kidnap took 10 months of preparation and that my ex-husband had hired a team of 7 men to carry out ’‘Operation Barney”. They even gave it a name..“

’’It has been 5 months ago since I have seen or heard from Insiya. She is an apartment in Mumbai and as far as I know she has not been outside once. My ex-husband has hired one of the best lawyers of The Netherlands and he has presented me with the conditions in which I am allowed to see my own daughter. He has demanded me to take back my police complaint, stop the criminal prosecution of the kidnapper and that I cancel the Interpol Arrest Warrant that has been filed against him. He also demanded full custody of Insiya. To me this is not a proposal but blackmail and extortion. I as a mother have a responsibility to act in the best interest and wellbeing of my child. ”

“There are days when there is some progress in terms of criminal prosecution. This weekend has been a true rollercoaster of emotions. Yesterday I heard that the 7th kidnapper has been arrested in Iran. Those are the days I have hope in our system of justice. There are also days when people who live in the same building as Insiya hear her Insiya cry for hours at night. That is when I feel as if the world is collapsing and I feel hopeless. I wish I could tell her I love her and that everything will be all right. The thing is that it doesn’t matter if I have a good or bad day. What is important is that I keep fighting for her..”
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In order for Nadia to get her daughter back, The Indian Ministry of External Affairs has to collaborate with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Despite of Nadia’s countless efforts this has not happened yet. That is why we helped Nadia to set up her own campaign which requests these two ministries to work together to bring Insiya back home to her mother. Your autograph can make a huge difference.
https://www.change.org/p/bringinsiyaback

“In the 70’s I hitchhiked from Amsterdam to India. I was advised to travel with a knife but I never did. I figured if I would I’d be the one getting stabbed.”

“Great.. now they think they are getting a cookie!”

‘’I also I managed to make things right with my mother. I’m still grateful that she decided to kick me out of the house when I was 17. If I had stayed in old neighborhood I don’t think I would have changed. Things were going better until I found out she was diagnosed with cancer. She received treatment but the medication caused her to have several psychoses. Even though the cancer got removed the medication damaged her entire mental health. Whenever she would have an mental attack she would threaten family members or buy really expensive things which got her in financial trouble. She was no longer who she used to be. Every time she would mess up I was there to fix it. During that time, I picked up my love for fantasy books but this time I started writing stories myself. Again it became a sort of escape. I created a saga which contains out of seven books and it’s about a post apocalyptic world, where the rich people live with the last remaining wealth, several humans have evolved. This evolution enables them to gain animal abilities, without losing their human shape. These so called humanimals, humans and cybernetic enhanced people will fight for the fate of the world. Whenever I write I feel free. After 6 years my mother’s mental health was getting better until we heard that her tumor wasn’t removed properly. The cancer had spread and there was nothing they could do for her. On the 9th of may 2015 she passed away and I still miss her every day.
Over the years I have learned to accept each emotion that comes along. In our society we are not ashamed to smile but it feels like a taboo to cry. I believe that the feeling of happiness is not superior to the feeling of sadness. All emotions have the right to exist within me and I am at peace with all of them.“

When I would use XTC I experienced a certain calmness and things made sense. I was addicted but still I managed to keep my job as an administrative assistant. By the time I turned 21 I realized something had to change. In the meantime, I got in touch with a cousin who I could talk with about my situation. We sometimes talked for hours and he would listen to me. He is a spiritual and peaceful soul and I saw how his attitude impacted people around him in a positive way. It was inspiring and appealing to me. During this period, my drug use decreased and slowly I started to feel a little better. I was working as an administrative assistant and during lunch time I would talk to colleagues in other job positions. Any change I had to ask them for advice I would use. Almost all of them told me to go back to school so I did. I decided to study and become a social worker. I wanted to become the person I so desperately needed when I was growing up with an addicted father. I was doing really well in school and ended up getting my bachelor degree in Pedagogy. Initially I did have to go and see a psychiatrist because my own passed was preventing me from doing my job right. I needed to heal myself first in order to really help other people. Getting help from a professional led me to accept myself for who I am.

(1/3) ‘’I remember he promised to come over for my birthday one time but he never showed up. My father was addicted to drugs and sometimes we wouldn’t hear from him for months. My mother raised my brother, sister and me all by herself. Since I was the eldest, I felt really responsible for my siblings. As a child I would often go to the library. There I discovered fantasy and black magic books which became my escape from reality. I was a smart kid but once puberty came along I became rebellious. I felt misunderstood by the adults around me and I remember being angry all the time. When I turned seventeen my mother was no longer able to handle me. I was doing drugs, I would skip classes and I would fight with my siblings a lot. One day after a huge fight with my little brother my mother said enough and she kicked me out. From that moment l was pretty much on my own..“