“I explained to my children how Safe Haven Halfway Home is allowing us to grow stronger before one day, we move out into a house of our own.”

I had a difficult childhood. My mother was the sole breadwinner and had to do everything on her own. My siblings and I did not attend kindergarten. When we went to primary school, my mother could not afford school supplies. I had to drop out of school when I was around 12 years old to work in several jobs and earn money for my family. My siblings and I had to learn to be independent from a young age because my mother regularly came back home late from work. Thankfully, I had learnt the basics of cooking and sewing in college. Today I have some regrets about not knowing how to read. I must call on my daughter whenever I need to read something. When I see others sitting and reading a book, it makes me sad. I would like to learn to read so that I, too, can enjoy a book.

My father was an alcoholic and was violent towards my mother. When I started working, my father asked me to give him money. When I turned 18 years old, I moved out, got married and had two children. At first everything was going well in my married life. Then my husband started to take synthetic drugs. He did not allow me to work, and he was not providing enough for me and my children. I started to work in secret. When he found out about it, he started stealing money from me, so I left him and went back to my parents’ house. I lived there for four years. As my father’s drinking habits were affecting my daily life, I decided to move out again. I lived with my sister’s in-laws for two years and they helped me to find a house for me and my children.

I worked as a maid for a wealthy family and was responsible for taking care of two disabled boys, cooking and cleaning the house. I was renting a house and gradually began to purchase my own furniture and utensils with my own earnings. After some time, I met someone, and we decided to build a relationship together. My new partner was verbally and physically violent from the beginning, but he kept promising to change, and I blindly trusted him.

Once, we were riding a scooter together and he suddenly pushed me off the vehicle. I suffered from severe injuries. For some reason, I found strength inside myself to forgive him. When he found out I was pregnant, he got even more violent and started destroying things in the house. I ran away to hide, but my partner kept looking for me, threatening to hurt me with a knife. When he could not find me, he tried to hit my son. My partner’s mother witnessed the scene but later told me that she would not file a case against her own child. I called the police, and they got us out of harm’s way, but they did not ask me if I wanted to file a case against my partner.

My friend took my children and I at her place for some days as we had nowhere else to live. With the help of the police, I was directed to Safe Haven Halfway Home (SHHH), where we are currently living. Now I feel more secure and comfortable, and my children are continuing their studies. My son is in Grade 8 and has some learning difficulties, but the after-school activities provided at SHHH are helping him. My daughter is in Grade 5 and is waiting to have a major eye surgery. My children struggled at first to adapt to our new environment as they had never lived in a shelter before. They were used for me to provide everything for them, but now, being pregnant and living in the shelter, I am unable to work. Fortunately, my mother lives in the surroundings of the shelter and visits us every day.

My partner failed to appear in court four times. The judge told me that it was pointless to issue me a Protection Order if he did not show up nor contacted me. The day after my last hearing, he called me from an unknown number and said that he knew I was in a shelter and began to threaten and verbally abuse me, claiming that the child I am carrying is not his. I reported this harassment to the police. They called him, and they sent me back to court the next day, but he still did not show up. I will have another hearing soon. My greatest concern right now is obtaining my Protection Order as he is extremely violent. He stole most of the things I purchased with my hard-earned money.

Today, I cannot even go to my previous house to get my belongings because the transportation cost is too expensive. Once my baby is born, I would like to get a job in housekeeping. I explained to my children how Safe Haven Halfway Home is allowing us to grow stronger before one day, we move out into a house of our own. My goal is for my children to receive a good education and achieve what they want to do in life.