Care Leaver
The following two and a half years were a time of great hardship for Darshan who was abused by his relatives and was permanently hungry.
Care Leaver
Darshan’s Story
Darshan’s earliest memory is of sitting by the side of the road, laughing and giggling with the woman he still regards as his mother. He had been abandoned as a small baby by his birth mother. His adoptive mother found him lying in the street and began to take care of him despite struggling with severe mental illness and having no income. His life changed again when his mother was arrested for begging. He was kept by police in a police station before being placed in an orphanage by social services. He was five years old.
Darshan has a congenitally deformed limb. He is self-conscious about his appearance but despite such an obvious disability became a superb athlete at the orphanage where he grew up and always held his own in cricket and football. At his orphanage the children were often made to undertake manual labour and he was always expected to do the same physical tasks as others of his age.
When he was 15 a relative of his adoptive mother visited the orphanage and left him a phone number. At 18 Darshan was ready to leave the orphanage but as a result of his disability he was unable to find any work. He contacted this relative and re-joined his mother’s family. Her mental health had deteriorated considerably and the family were living in extreme poverty. The following two and a half years were a time of great hardship for Darshan who was abused by his relatives and was permanently hungry. He had no means of supporting himself and felt trapped in a remote village.
Eventually Darshan managed to make contact with an old friend from his orphanage. Reluctant to believe that someone might actually help him he nevertheless packed his small bag and made his way back to Colombo.
By the time he arrived at the Brighter Path transition home Darshan was very nearly broken. As the door opened and he recognised a familiar face he began to cry. For the first time in many months he felt safe. Since then Darshan has worked hard on his recovery with professional support. It will take a long time for the scars to heal but Darshan is now cautiously optimistic about his future.
Further Reading

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