"Charlotte"

Charlotte loves cutting the grass and feeding the cows at the shelter. She has been here for a year now and hopes to be able to fend for herself when she transitions back into life outside of a shelter.

Charlotte has lived on the streets ever since she was a little girl. She says that a family member dumped her in the streets of Naivasha when she was young, and she only remembers this life. Numerous men in her life have raped her. A father at the church sponsored Charlotte and paid for her rent so that she could have a place to stay. She notes that other people in town knew about this home, and they would come to the house and rape her. Charlotte felt like she had nowhere else to go.

She tells one account of leaving home to buy some vegetables, and she met a man who lured her into a lodge and raped her. She became pregnant with a baby boy. Charlotte says that she had two other daughters, but they were taken in by the church and taken to a children’s shelter.

When Charlotte went into labor with her most recent pregnancy, she was taken to the hospital and stayed there for two weeks while recovering. When asked if she reported what happened to her, she said yes, but these men were never found. She also was taken to the hospital by a community health worker for an STI check and medical examination. While she was in the hospital, a community volunteer connected her with the shafe house which is where she has been since.

Charlotte does not know where her family is but believes that her parents are no longer alive. She believes that she does have some family, and the staff at the shelter have been attempting to trace her family to aid her when she does leave the safe house. She says that living here has been a positive experience, as she has learned how to manage her time, clean, and wake up early. These were never things she knew before. She hopes to find a job and finally be independent. She is currently raising her son and benefits from the skills and classes at the safe house.

Charlotte is a very caring and loving person; she also suffers from mental disabilities that impedes her conversation and ability to learn. Despite this, she is one of the warmest people I have ever met. Although there is this barrier on top of the language barrier, Charlotte would come greet me every morning with a pat on the back and a big smile. Her baby boy was also the sweetest, and she would let me hold and play with him each time we came across one another at the house. Although she could not participate in many of the activities and lessons due to a lack of understanding, the women in the house would take the extra time to ensure that she had some understanding of the lesson. There were times she did participate. She was always trying and doing her best as she knows the skills and lessons learned while in the shelter has the potential capacity to create a better life for her and her son.