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Photorealistic scene of a young woman sitting at a wooden table talking to a person, with a bulletin board full of flyers in the background.

Photorealistic scene of a young woman sitting at a wooden table talking to a person, with a bulletin board full of flyers in the background.

At a helping centre Sarah tells her story about being a young runaway. Sarah’s father had been abusive and she remembers her childhood with fights between her parents. When Sarah was still a child, her father left them and she and her mother were on their own. A troubled time followed and Sarah’s mother got addicted to alcohol and pills, and sometimes when things were really bad, she lost her temper and was violent. Over a period, Sarah thought about running away. She was sad to see her mother in a bad situation and she had tried so many times to help her. One day Sarah had had enough and packed a small bag with clothes and a little money. She silently closed the door and left her mother and her home. In the beginning, Sarah couch-surfed at friends’ places but after a while, the friends stopped offering her a place to stay. Sarah felt abandoned and did not know where to go. In the streets, she met other young persons like herself, and for a while they stayed together in a small group. It felt safer not being alone walking around in the streets, and it felt safer sleeping in staircases and behind factories when she was with the others. Later, Sarah realized that she was getting into problems with these friends because they led a rough life, and she left them. She decided that she wanted to do something better with her life, and today Sarah is trying to get back on track. She has started school and dreams about seeing her mother again. Helping young runaways is different from Mehr sehen