Pavement Project works across the globe, in Brazil, Columbia, DRC, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Kenya and Uganda. We’ve trained over 1000 workers and work with 177 partner organisations. All this means that over the past 10 years Pavement Project has been able to counsel 15,000 children-at-risk.
Here are two stories of children who have been counseled using Pavement Project.
Lydia, Uganda
Lydia* lost her mother when she was 8-years-old, and then her father married a second wife and abandoned his children. Lydia and her siblings had to fend for themselves, leaving them vulnerable and at risk. Lydia found herself on the streets of Mbale town and ultimately ended up at the Child Restoration Outreach (a Pavement Project partner).
By this time Lydia was 12-years-old. When Carol, one of the workers, took her through the counseling, Lydia expressed hate for her father to the extent that she did not want to see him. She had dropped out of school, and following the example of her older sister, had become a prostitute.
After going through counseling, she went back to school and performed so well that she quickly joined the class in the year above. She is now 15-years-old and in high school. She brought her sister to Carol, who also took her through the Pavement Project process.
Her sister’s behavior has changed and she is now undergoing a computer training course. Lydia is reconciled with her father, and though Lydia and her siblings still live on their own, they now have a relationship with him and he visits and supports them.
When she was recently asked by Carol how she was doing, she said: “God has lifted me up like the child on the card that I was given during the counseling.”
Yulisa, Columbia
Yulisa*, who is in her teens, felt lonely and isolated as she remembered her parents’ separation and her father in prison. As she was counseled by the Pavement Project worker she told her that this experience had such an impact on her life that she saw herself as “a little and lonely pig, not knowing where to go”. Yulisa listened to the Bible stories that spoke about how much God loves her, and how he wants to protect and take care of her. She also heard that she is very important to God and that he will look for her wherever she is, taking her in his arms like the shepherd did to the little sheep in Jesus’ story.
Yulisa opened her heart to Jesus, sharing with him the difficult situation with her parents. His message of love filled her heart and renewed her strength. At the end of the session, Yulisa saw herself as “a very beautiful flower, fruitful and all colorful”.
*Names have been changed.
