Tutela Feed
Joana’s Story
It has been wonderful to witness the blossoming and happiness that Joana* has found since she came to live with Seb and Rida. Most of us will have heard a story similar to Joana’s before from another context or culture. Her story brings home that life can be a real struggle, especially when you are handed a tough start in life.
For most Maputo people, daily living is not straightforward. Joana’s mother got pregnant at a young age and was suddenly responsible for a little baby but without family support and stable income. Joana’s father was not interested in giving any help or care.
(* = Name has been changed to protect confidentiality)
A few years after her birth, Joana had a new father, her step-dad. Sadly though, her mum was too scared to let the step-dad know that Joana was her child, hence she was referred to as a niece. Joana was not loved in her new home and was treated as a burden, an undesirable precense in the home. Unwanted advances from her step-dad when she was only nine years old caused Joana to start making disappearances, Running away from home happened more than once and on some of these occasions, she spent many weeks absent. Its not easy for a nine year old to articulate the pain and struggle, but evidently she was in significant distress.
Life is complicated; Joana’s mum had divided loyalties between her daughter and her partner. Sadly, Joana was at the bottom of the pile and received very little protection from those that she looked up to. Now that she is living with one of our foster familes, we have been able to get to know her story a bit better as she occasionally reveals one thing or another about her experiences before. She is not always willing to share lots, but there have been comments about being mistreated, which is what had caused her to run away.
When Tutela got involved with her situation, Joana wasn’t living with her mum. It took a great deal of investigation to find out where she was, because her mum didn’t know. She had sought safety with an old lady quite a long way away. This lady was frail and already had her own children to take care of. Tutela’s social worker at the time, Manuel, liaised with the district officials to have Joana placed with Seb and Rida, our first foster carers.
We created a very special welcome for Joana and wanted her to feel loved and accepted in her new home. She was quite withdrawn during her first few months, but the warmth and friendliness of her new family soon rubbed off on her. She had three new siblings to get to know, a new school to attend and people who gave her the safety and protection that she really needed.
Joana has now been with Seb and Rida for three years and is such a wonderful part of their family. Creative, kind, obedient and loves to play. What Seb and Rida are offering her now is what she really needs in order to feel safe. It is a home where she can begin to dream of a happy future.