Mireille's story
At the age of 7, Mireille and her younger brother found themselves on the streets, accused of witchcraft by their parents. They spent several months combing the street of Kinshasa trying to survive. Sadly her brother was ill and died. Mireille was more fortunate and was eventually found a street children's centre that War Child works with called Pare Monti.
For the first time she started attending school and quickly proved to be exceptionally bright. The centre continued to encourage her in her studies whilst at the same time establishing contact with her family. After about 6 months of mediation, the family started to accept that Mireille visit from time to time. Gradually this turned into weekends and by the time she was ten she was back with her family. It was a slow process but regular mediation between the family and the child allowed trust to be rebuilt and perceptions of sorcery to be broken down.
Pare Monti continues to support Mireille's school fees and they still visit regularly. On their last visit they learnt that Mireille came first in a competitive exam between 5 schools in her neighbourhood. Her family is visibly proud.