When I arrived at the children’s home I was very happy because most of the young people that were living with me were from the same country as me. I did not live there for a long time, as the house was not very good and it was a semi independent place and I was only 14 and a half years old at that time and unable to cook and look after myself.
My social worker decided to move me over to another children’s home in Forest Hill. While living in Forest Hill it was worse for me, as all the children were English and they were abusing me for being an asylum seeker. Once they tried to stab me with knife and said to me “why don’t you go back to your own country?” After facing all of that abuse another young person moved in and he kept abusing me too. The staff were aware of what was happening but they turned a blind eye; pretending they were not seeing anything at all.
The house was very nice but the abuse I had in that home I will never forget. The home used to take us on holiday every summer. There was one member of staff who he abused me while we were on holiday and the other staff at that time spoke to him and told him that he should speak to me in a different way and not abuse me as he did. Another time, I and two other young people were going on holiday to Hastings. We got off the train and he asked me to hold his bag. I could not do it at the time he asked me so he responded by punching me in my back.
A few years later the house was being refurbished, so all the children had to move to the place which was owned by the same manager in Hither Green. I only lived for a several months in Hither Green then I got a room in a hostel in Plumstead. Straight away I faced difficulties while living there because the young people that I was sharing the house with were taking drugs. Once someone came at me with a knife whilst living there. Thank god I am still alive today as I very often think he could have easily killed me! Again, I did not stay for that long in Plumstead and I was moved over to the Queens Hotel in Crystal Palace for few days until I got my own flat.
I left school without any qualifications but today I am studying for a BTEC NATIONAL DIPLOMA IN CARE. I am grateful to some amazing people that I have met whilst being in care. Especially my last social worker and my second social worker whom I miss a lot, as it is long time since I have seen her. There are other social care workers that were not working with me that I miss also.