Jessica, 16. (Not her real name).She likes being at the home for the protection it gives and for teaching her her rights. The sisters and counsellors have helped her get back her trust and confidence in herself and others. In her spare time she loves to read inspiring stories and she wants to become a social worker in order to express and share her own experiences with other children and what she has learned in spite of what happened to her. .."The rose on the mask symbolises my life; even though I have been through a lot of bad experiences I has managed to overcome them with the help of Laura Vicuna. The lips are red to signify that I say so many things even though not the things I really want to say. The blue signifies the negative thoughts I have in life but the sun signify the hope which came to my life."..When Jessica came to the home at the age of 12 she was in a coma for 4 days after having tried to take her own life. She had been sexually abused for many years and her grandfather was her father who then carried on abusing her. She had wanted to run away for years but she was afraid to leave her little brother and suicide seemed at the time to be her only way out. Her biggest worry now is the well-being of her brother and she finds it very difficult to come to terms with that she had to leave him. ..Laura Vicuña Foundation, Inc. provides a safe haven, a secure home for girls where they live together with sisters from the Don Bosco order. They get the love and care they never have received and counselling when needed from qualified psychotherapists. .The Laura Vicuña Centre in Cubao houses 30 street girls who may be orphaned, neglected, abandoned, battered, morally endangered and sexually abused.The girls are aged between 6 and 16 and all of them go to school in the local municipality.
