(Name has been changed for security reasons)

As a child, Maria lived with her family in a home that belonged to the Bulgarian state. When Maria was 18, her parents arranged her marriage to a man from Greece. This man forced her into prostitution for the first time; Maria was now on a path that would lead through years of abuse and exploitation. Maria suffered a lot of abuse at the hands of her husband and his “friends” but eventually an Albanian lady took pity on her and helped her to get back to Bulgaria. After a few months her father died and her mother moved to the island of Cyprus with Maria’s oldest brother.

After this, Maria spent three years in London with her boyfriend but when he found a new girlfriend Maria moved to her mother and brothers’ place in Cyprus. During this period Maria began to display the symptoms of genetically inherited schizophrenia.

Maria’s mother struggled with depression and after six long and difficult months suffered a stroke and died. Maria was left with many unpaid bills. Her own brother then trafficked her to Italy; selling her to a man much older than herself. Maria was again abused physically and mentally. The man helped her with all of her unpaid bills but, having no patience with Maria’s mental condition, eventually trafficked her again to Germany where Maria had a serious crisis, after which she returned to Bulgaria and was placed in a clinic for people with mental health problems.

After a while Maria moved out and looked for help from the man with whom she had lived in London. He helped her to find accommodation, but, unfortunately, she could not pay for it and so went back to the clinic.  After a while, the same man helped her to find a shelter for victims of human trafficking in one of the biggest towns in Bulgaria. Maria felt more relaxed there, but the shelter had to close its doors last September. She rented an apartment but struggled to cope financially because she could not find an understanding employer to take her on and so she was faced with being homeless again.

At this point Maria was made aware of the House of Opportunity Programme and she now has a safe place with us. We will work with her to try and rebuild her life – part of which will be to finish her school studies, which she is now working on through evening classes. It’s going to be a long and difficult road back to anything that might be considered normality but we will walk with Maria and support her as much as she needs.