I spent time with the same 5 friends that I met last week. They all live in the vicinity of the dangerous park. They saw me and invited me to come and hang out with them.I ended up listening to the story of a young lady - the only girl in the group - called Asana. She is kind, strong, and young. I don't know why she ended up living on the streets, but her eyes tell a story of pain and hurt.

Pain makes you choose between dying off completely or coming back to life. (Tweet This)
This is her story 
My name is Asana. I am 20 years old. On the 24th of February I will be living on the streets for 13 years.
 I became homeless when I was 7 years old. My mom died 2 months before I left home. After my mom died, my life became difficult. I moved in with my grand parents. I slept in the same bed with my grand father. One day I left...

While I have been living on the streets people have tried to rape me. So I carry a knife. If anybody and I mean anybody tries to rape me I will stab them and fight them off.

On the streets, I found a group of guys to live with. During the first night one of the guys tried to rape me. The other guys f****d him up. He got what he deserved. Since then the other guys and I are like a family. We look out for each other and we share the little that we have.

When I am hungry I go and beg. Most people tell me to f*** off and get a job. I ask them for a job, but they tell me to f*** off. I want to work, but there are not many jobs. I do some ironing, washing and cleaning here and there.

The police can be difficult with us. Once, they took me and 2 girls and drove us halfway to Uitenhage, about 30km away, and released us in the middle of the bush. Why would you do that? Three girls, at night in the middle of nowhere. We were scared. The last time they tried to arrest me I wrestled with them till they had to call reinforcements. They needed 6 officers to put me in the van. That felt like a small victory. They were just arresting me because I am homeless.

I want to move off the streets. I want to live in a place where I can come home to and where I can feel safe. I am scared on the streets. I want to live in a house where somebody can give me rules and bed times.

Asana is stuck in her homeless life. For now.

Where do you feel stuck? What do you need to change in your life?

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