A couple of days ago I completed my first year at Steemit, a platform to which I thank you in my soul. Maybe for some I will be exaggerated when I say "in my soul" but it is the truth, everything has its purpose and reason, and the fact that I am so grateful is because there is a sad, bitter history, full of loneliness, anguish but in the end of much gratitude behind that profound word for knowing Steemit.

I had not planned at some point to dare to tell these personal things, but a couple of days ago when @acidyo made a post about an Exchange that is doing something promotional in support of the Venezuelans, it was interesting and I made a comment . To my surprise, he was well received with several votes, among which was the user @canadian-coconut whom I have been following for several weeks. Since joining her profile I admire her work as co-founder of @familyprotection; I admire it even more when I remember that there are users that when they look at a publication of "charity" the first thing they say is that Steemit is not for that, is for fun, or make other comments a little derogatory. I have always thought that the Steemit does not make us who we are, we are the ones who have the power of change in Steemit, and personally in my beginnings in the platform, I made many donations and original writings to help the cause of people in need. That's where my positive appreciation for the work of @canadian-coconut comes from and the receptivity to the comment I made about this post

But this post is not to inquire or talk about it, but has a connection. That same day after my first year at Steemit I was thoroughly reviewing the shared posts of @canadian-coconut and @familyprotection, and the truth is that I ended up crying for so many things that I read, among so many sad reports, I noticed the abuse towards children, the truth is that I could not ignore remember the thousands of abuse that I had to go through at an early age.

When I was just a child I was abused by my own family, my uncles and cousins made fun of me because my voice was similar to my mother's, whom I love, and also feminine gestures. I remember that I could not sleep alone at night because of that and many other things. I also remember hearing my mother cry when I asked my father to talk to my grandfather and stop making jokes about me.

At the age of maybe 11 or 13 years old I was raped by an acquaintance of the family, until a few months ago it was a secret, so take the courage to make this publication where you can appreciate what happened. I met someone here in Steemit who helped me choose to be brave and stop safeguarding that secret, although it was already late, people had to know that they are not alone, that not only do they suffer this type of abuse, and more importantly, that they should not be silent as I did, we should protect ourselves and with our voice to others.

In high school was that I suffered more from teasing, I do not remember the amount of things they said, derogatory nicknames, to the extent that I suffered from eating disorders, and even then I kept quiet, so as not to worry my parents. But what struck me the most was when I thought I had fallen in love for the first time at that time, because it was a very dark time, the parents of the person I liked threatened me with death, so much so that for a month they harassed me when they were in high school where he studied, and they lowered the glass of his truck to intimidate me much more. That is still a secret for those who know me and my family.

I could extend to tell many things about my past and current life about abuses, but it would become boring perhaps this publication or very dramatic. What I must emphasize is that Steemit changed my life completely, I met very valuable people who give me their time, their love, friendship and support; I must confess that also economically, they have offered honestly to help me.

Returning to the fact that there are people who think that all of us who have a goal of humanitarian aid or who have a project to expand the evaluation of the post is just to take advantage, I think they have a bad thinking, we can not all be judged with the same coin (an old phrase from my city).

I take this opportunity to mention again that I have already completed my first year at Steemit (with almost 500 sp, sorry I could not do much more, lol), and that has led me to know and know a little about the need that users have. They do a great job but they are unpaid. Much more is the case of my Venezuelan friends, unfortunately it is impossible to look at Steemit just for fun. I think that in Steemit there is space for everyone and for anything, I have seen porn, memes, contests, games, art, literature, recipes, people who want to make more money ... and a myriad of things. I think there is also room for humility and respect, for those who want to express their ailments as I have done today and other times before. There is space for the creative and the slow steps but sure is doing things better and better. Space for those who want to "take advantage" of others, and for those who really seek help because they need it or because they want to help others as well.

Anyway, that day that I completed a year in Steemit, I am full of memories, thoughts, thanks and many other emotions. My final message, which may not be important to many, is that those who are supporting the Hispanic community feel proud of what they do, and those who do not, do not just ignore my words, but take a minute of your valuable time to reason and put in the shoe of the other, not the one who does things wrong, but the one who must improve but has a positive goal that involves many others under a strong conviction.