Which events and people at the Families for Children Orphanage gave her the most strength, pride, and courage?

During the author's time at the Families for Children Orphanage, she experienced a lot of hardships, but she also had many moments of joy. Which events and people at FFC gave her the most strength, pride, and courage?

The strongest alliance at Families for Children Orphanage were the true friends she made their who stood up to the bullies and the circle of friends even had a leader Sabad among themselves. The one person who brought her joy was one her “parents” Nicholas who disciplined the girls but they learned from these actions by watching Nicholas interact with other students. Another person who they never learned her name was the old blind women who constantly watched over them and seemed to never move from spot on the porch and I say Salh memories of her is important part of her life. As the author reflects on her young years in the orphanage one can see how hardships endured there were important to life but more important were the alliances made.

I was amazed to learn that Sahl has been able to find some of the friends she lived with in the orphanage! That she invested the time in doing so- -that she even remembered their names after such a long time speaks of their importance to her. I think the people were what brought the most joy to her during the time of her life. She also liked being able to test her strength and bravery by "escaping" over the wall and wandering around. In the desert, Sahl valued the wide open spaces. She found a way to create a little bit of this space and movement for herself even though there was a barrier in place to stop her. I think her telling of the plan to stop the bully reinforced that throughout her life, Sahl stood up for herself when she needed to. She was not afraid to demand respect for herself or take control of her environment in order to ensure her safety and the well being of those she cared about. Being able to care for herself in this way was important to her. She did not allow herself to be a victim of anyone.

The events that instilled strength, pride and courage are the ones where Shugri bested others generally by physical action. Her escapes from the compound, taking up for others who were not physically able to help themselves, and fighting off the bully with deviousness are examples. Certainly these were all skills she learned as a nomad.

As is true in many cases no matter what one's position in life is, friendships often provide strength and courage. This in turn strengthened her to go up against the bully. Fortunately, author Salh had physical strength as well as mental, and her ability to go into the desert certainly gave her pride.

Shugri's relationship with Saynab, Bisharo, and Amina along with their twilight chanting gave her a sense of belonging. It was also important for her to have a group of friends to rely on and trust.

One of my favorite moments in the book was when they are at the orphanage (crying incessantly every day) and eventually Shugri looks around and sees all the children playing. In that moment, she recalls her resilience and bravery and makes a choice to at least give it a try.
Also, the teachers and the structure of the program as well as the clean clothes/bathing were things she could rely on; giving her a feeling of security.