《Warmth of a Little Night Light》- Connie
Due to drug abuse and negligence, Connie’s (alias) family failed to take good care of her. She had to move into a small group home at the age of 4, where regular caretakers (including a couple) worked on shifts to provide her a stable childhood. Soon after adolescence, girls of similar age left one by one, leaving behind the younger children who were incompatible with her. Even worse, this situation triggered her hidden sense of loneliness and helplessness. She threw temper tantrum at those who cared about her.
For Connie’s emotional issues, her SWD caseworker assisted with referral to a clinical psychologist (CP) and helped her move to a new environment. At the age of 16, she moved into a girl’s hostel for high school students. There she met new friends and had a little more freedom but the rules still need to be followed. For example, she used to sleep with the lights on. Now she could only use a little night light instead.
Good Character and Academic Performances still not enough?
Without support of the original family, Connie’s relatives and friends urged her to succeed in her studies so she could transit to independent living smoothly. Throughout the years, she set high standards for herself. Living up to all expectations, she is excellent in both her character and academic performances. She is good in literature and sports, and has a solid foundation in art. She is sportive and a member of the school running team. She knows Judo, table tennis, swimming, canoeing and other outdoor sports. She is tanned, and should be displaying limitless youthful vitality… However, in front of us is a petite and a bit hunched young figure. She lacks the brightness and positive energy that is anticipated at this age. It turned out that when everything seemed fine, her sense of inadequacy and inferiority lingered. This time, she was concerned about her appearance and considered her body shape sub-standard. Indeed, she is not fat at all but she used extreme methods to help herself “lose weight”.
Right Care Right Time for Priceless Health
After the summer holiday, SWD CP diagnosed Connie with anorexia (a form of eating disorder). The Hostel in Charge referred her to Project 3R* which is supported by The Hongkong Bank Foundation through The Community Chest of Hong Kong and provides medical and counseling services for assessment and follow-up. Shortly after, 3R family doctor referred her to 3R psychiatrist and nutritionist for evaluation. 3R specialist doctor gave her medication and conducted blood test immediately. She was grateful for the timely help which made her feel more relaxed. Various professionals also gave her valuable advices. While her condition was stabilizing, out of everyone’s expectation, she continued to participate in the running competition and fainted during the 800-meter run on the School Sports Day. Ambulance was called for immediate treatment. In the hospital, SWD caseworker asked for referral to public medical services so as to ease everyone’s concern. However, Connie did not seem to learn from the experience and continued to participate in the dragon boat training afterward. As a result, she fainted again and was sent to the hospital for recovery.
Lay Solid Foundation for the Future
Connie considers herself as a bit stubborn and likes keeping her own opinions. On one hand, she is self-demanding and always pursues excellence. On the other hand, she has low self-image and always thinks she is not good enough. She also has sleep problems. Perhaps the little night light beside her bed could give her a bit of warmth, comfort and companionship. Pray that Connie will recover with the help of various social welfare services. So she could lay a good foundation of health, persevere for the things she loves with unparalleled sportsmanship, no longer live under the eyes of others, cherish priceless physical and mental health, and welcome a bright future.
*Right Care, Right Time & Right Team (3R) Project is jointly organized by Evangel Children’s Home, Precious Blood Children’s Village and Sisters of the Good Shepherd, to provide comprehensive care plan for the admitted children.
《I Believe – Brighter Days are Ahead》– Chloe
Came from a broken family, Chloe (alias) was arranged to stay in children’s home due to domestic violence. In her childhood, she was often resentful but did not know how to express. At one time, she was so depressed she lingered on the street and became a “street kid”. She was then referred to Evangel Children’s Home and her second life began for a brighter future.
Scars of Childhood Trauma
Chloe’s father passed away when she was in P.4 or P.5, thus becoming a single-parent family. Her family was quite patriarchal and the mental state of a family member was unstable, making it difficult to live together. Then she rather lingered on the street and became a “street kid”. She was alienated from her original family but was closer to her maternal half-siblings. In one family dispute, domestic violence sparked off. Fortunately, her teacher and school social worker intervened and she was urgently arranged to live in a small group home. Yet the unpleasant experience there led her lose faith in others. After that, she was referred to Evangel Children’s Home (ECH) and a new chapter began.
A New Home Full of Love
Chloe moved into ECH at her age of 15. She was grateful to a few house parents who cared about her, whom she could pour out her heart, who gave clear guidelines to rewards and punishments and were trustworthy. Passionate in art, Chloe learnt Zentangle art and playing drums in ECH. She loves singing and painting which helped her express her emotions. In the house gathering and regular prayer sessions, she gained deeper and mutual understanding of the other girls and encouraged each other. She was deeply impressed in a corporate volunteer activity when she handmade soap for a charity sale. From making, packaging, transporting to the sale, she devoted herself to the whole process. She took courage to sell them to the people around. They visited the corporate work environment after the sale. It was a good experience to her.
Knowing Herself and Plan for the Future
Chloe described herself as sentimental and only reports good news to others. In fact, her wounded heart is still aching and the unfair treatment of the original family still exists. Despite all these, she still hopes to do something for her family, be a “peacemaker” to mediate family disputes. To prepare for the future, ECH lined up a summer intern job for her at J-Hub – a hub for HK Jewelry Industry. Both the masters and staff were willing to teach her. Later, she enrolled in Tertiary Education of Art and Jewelry Design. She also worked as a part-time in ECH at the same time. Although the workload was quite heavy and the demand was high, it was very challenging. These include preparing and participating in various celebrations for the 65th anniversary of ECH. She took part in performing the 65th anniversary theme song and making of the MV with singer – Ms. Jade Kwan and the other residents, which became unforgettable memories here. The theme song lyrics represent her heart and soul. “I believe there will definitely be one day that I can fly up high to the wide blue sky”.
Fly High with Hope
After leaving residential home at the age of 18, Chloe transitioned into ECH Youth Home and received pre-employment training and plan for her future life. She plans to rent out with her friends after she has enough savings. For future careers, she hopes it will relate to arts and will educate the younger generations. She is willing to be a volunteer, contribute to ECH and side-by-side accompany the new generations here.
The all-rounded care of our residential home helped heal the broken heart of Chloe, allowing her to take root in this stable “Home”, transformed a street kid into a multi-talented young lady, equipped her to move forward bravely and fly with her dreams.
