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Home » Stop Waiting for Tomorrow. Be a Leader of Today: Andre Damian at TEDxYouth@Brabantlaan (Transcript)

Stop Waiting for Tomorrow. Be a Leader of Today: Andre Damian at TEDxYouth@Brabantlaan (Transcript)

Andre Damian

Here is the full transcript of Andre Damian’s TEDx Talk: Stop Waiting for Tomorrow. Be a Leader of Today at TEDxYouth@Brabantlaan conference.

TRANSCRIPT: 

Have you ever had that feeling that you wanted to say something so bad, but you didn’t know how to say it? That brings a lump in your throat and you feel you have the weight of the world on your shoulders because you’re walking around with a secret. That’s how I felt eight years ago.

This is how I looked like. Imagine you’re sitting next to me in my house in Kesteren, a small village where I just moved to. You’d see it’s still dark outside. It’s 6 o’clock in the morning, and I’m getting up for school. Like the village, the living room feels empty.

We received most of the furniture from friends. I sit on the couch, and I stare blankly into the space. But at school, I was the happy boy you see in the photo there. I had good grades, and had a lot of friends around me. No one would’ve guessed why I moved away.

But my home we fled from home from the man I called my father. A strict man with a strong posture. His looks could kill and his words hurt. But his hands hurt even more. I could’ve never known when he’d explode. But one night was the worst of all. I’ll never forget how he threw me against the couch.

How my mother wrapped her arms around me to protect me. How he, nevertheless, drove us into a corner, with his fists, and how we rushed to the hospital when he realized he had gone too far. That night changed everything. I am Andre Damian. I am not just a child abuse victim. I am the victor of my own story.

The past is behind me.