At age eight, Agnes* had never attend school and she felt hopeless about the future which is such a sad situation for someone so young. One day her parents had a serious fight and separated and left Agnes home alone. She waited for them to return but no one did. Therefore Agnes was left to manage her own life under the care of her grandma who was elderly and infirm.
Growing up too fast
In order to survive, her grandma sent Agnes to another district to work as a maid. However her boss was cruel and heartless so she left to begin a life on the streets. She felt alone, scared, and tearful with no one to help her and no alternative but to collect scrap metal to make money for survival. At such a young age Agnes says she had to learn how to look after herself with no support and this caused her much grief and heartache. She was so scared what her future would be.
Meeting S.A.L.V.E.
One day during a Street Outreach walk S.A.L.V.E International staff approached Agnes and she was encouraged to attend the Drop in Centre for more support and so we could build trust with her. She was referred to our Halfway Homes to have a safe place to stay, since she was at high risk of being kidnapped or raped while on the streets at such a young age as a girl child.
At S.A.L.V.E she had various counselling sessions and Agnes remembered a maternal grandmother and the village she lived in. Through home tracing the S.A.L.V.E. staff managed to locate her grandmother and she was happy and prepared to take Agnes in.
S.A.L.V.E. provided counselling and support to help with the reintegration and Agnes is now happy knowing she will soon be returned to family who care for her and it has restored her hope for the future. She has attended lessons while at S.A.L.V.E. and she is too excited that her maternal grandmother wants to send her to school. She now has a bright future ahead of her.
*Name changed in line with our Child Protection Policy
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