This is the story of a 14-year-old girl called Faith*.
Faith’s father sent her, her mother and two brothers away and they had to live on the streets, in the cold with no help from friends or relatives.
Wanting to feel like a child again
Life became hard so Faith had to look for food because she was the oldest in the family and her mother was too sick to take care of them.
Faith slept on the streets, toiled with work just to survive and to put food on the table for her and her family.
Life was hard enough but people looked down on Faith, discriminating against and scaring her. They should’ve been the people helping her and her family, but instead they made life a misery to the extent where she wished to take her own life.
As she was still thinking of that, team members from S.A.L.V.E. International were moving in the streets on a street walk and came across Faith. They talked to her, gave her time to listen to her, gave her advice and care, educated her and made her feel like a child, not a mother.
Always smiling
Faith is now living in a home with her dear family, going to school. There is no doubt that she has suffered a lifetime of hardship in her childhood, yet she always has an incredible smile and energy in pursuing her dreams.
Her mother, who was living in extreme poverty, is now well and running her own business. She can take care of her family, thanks to the support of S.A.L.V.E. and our friends who have changed a sad past into a smiley future for the whole family.
Many times in life changes come – positively or negatively, but your character and the potential inside you remains. People are just like fountains, but you can make the best of every situation you are faced with and keep smiling and hoping like Faith did.
However, enormous efforts still need to be made in order to set a legal framework to efficiently protect these children not to need to be resilient like this. Providing concrete support for the most vulnerable children on a local and regional level is an important element of creating a healthy civil society.
*names of children are changed in line with our child protection policy
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