Vio (Romania)
My Own Words
“I had a family up until I was ten years old. My mom didn’t like me and she beat me all the time, sometimes with a hot iron rod. She put me in a coma once. I ran away to the police many times. I would tell them that I don’t want to stay with that family and I want to go somewhere else. But they would always take me back.
During the day I would just work. We had a lot of animals, so I would clean, feed and give water to them. I just had to work around the house. I don’t want to talk about my mom. She hurt me. I had to eat like the animals.
When I was about 11 years old, my mom slit my throat. I ran away again to the police. Then they finally did the paperwork and took me to an orphanage. My new mom, Anca came to see me at the orphanage. She would tell me that I’m a good girl and she took me to my new home with her. She put me in a school and it was very hard for me so I went to a different school in another town that helped me. I had never been to school before. I didn’t know numbers or letters. Now I have a family to love me and send me to school. I like everything about school. I have a lot of friends.
I have two biological brothers - one older and one younger. A few years ago my older brother knew that I got into a good family and he ran away from my parents to find me here. It took a lot of hours and he walked the whole way. He was going down the street calling my name because he didn’t know which house I was in. My new mom took him inside and then brought him to the orphanage. He’s still there. I don’t know where my younger brother is now.”
Vio (13)
Cisnadie, Romania
Finding Hope Ministries
By Vincent
The biggest challenge that I’ve seen with young people is the lack of motivation. Most students go to school because they are told that they should. What do they want to achieve by going to school?