Representing Children First Organization in Kisumu, Kenya
Brain had been attending the Children First Pre-school Program and the teachers started to notice that he was starting to come to school with dirty clothes and very tired. When Joyce Odongo, the Founder and Director of Children First investigated his current situation she found a troubling story.
Brian's caretakers had abandoned him and he had been sleeping in the streets returning each day to school where he received his only care and nourishment. Steps were taken and he is now one of Children First’s resident orphans and has a sponsor.
His health and emotional state has visibly improved and he is a delightful new member of our family.
Lianna, No More Victims Program, Houston,TX:
I have never met my father. We have had a few phone conversations over my 18 years of life. He has been incarcerated and so has a step-father that was in my life. I experienced sexual abuse at a very young age and over the years grew to be a very angry and raging young girl.
Growing up feeling abandoned and unwanted by my father has greatly impacted my life. My mother has been a stable force and I am grateful for her.
Dancing has created ways for me to express my feelings and has assisted distracting me from the inner pain and turmoil that I felt for so long.
It is so amazing to have a program offered at your high school that actually helped to save your life along with so many other children who are coping with the trauma of parental incarceration. No More Victims taught me that I wasn't alone and that I was precious. I learned through the program that the behavior of our parents is not the fault of the child. Today, I am confident, I am achieving and I am graduating. The No More Victims Program teaches me and all of the children in the program that because we exist makes us priceless. Today, I know that I belong on this earth and in this universe and that I have great things to offer to my family, my community and my country. Most importantly,
today, I have learned from No More Victims, that I am precious and for most of my 18 years of life, I didn't know that. We are all precious, we always were and we always will be. Today, I dance with the passion that healing has brought to my life.
