It's late in the night, and you hear a child screaming. The father seems to have returned home, and is apparently not in a good mood; as he has been for the past few weeks now. Every other night, you hear the tearful pleas of a woman begging for him to stop, but the screams of pain from the child continues. The next day, you see that same child, coming out from the house next door, boarding the school bus with a noticeable strange limp in her walk, while her face remains emotionally dazed and grim.
Child abuse can happen any day, anywhere, and at any time. What makes it worse is that often, the abuser is one whom the child trusts to give them love, and shelter. It is our duty as a neighbour, a citizen, and as a person, to report such incidents should we realise what is happening.
Shelter was established in 1981 for such a purpose. We receive children of such cases from the Welfare Department and from brave parents who want to rescue their children from such situations. These children come to us, broken and abused. In time, we help to nurture and care for them and raise them to confront their past, and move on to seek a brighter future.
It doesn't matter from what age and race you come from; for the some 450 children that we care for and support in our homes and refugee schools, it means a brighter future for them all.
Help us, to give them a chance at a future they deserve to have.
