[Content trigger warnings: child abuse and mental illness]

“I did not feel anything good, all day I was sad.”

At just six years old Ditya* was forced to make and sell alcohol by her aunt. She was denied the opportunity to go to school and was instead kept as a slave by the family who was supposed to be keeping her safe.

Ditya doesn’t remember her parents. What little she remembers of her childhood is one of child exploitation and cruelty.

She was taken by her uncle to live with his wife where instead of providing a loving home, they used her as a house slave and refused to let her go to school.

She was forced to make alcohol in the dark back room of their home and trudge through the streets selling it to the town’s hotels. Ditya received no money in return, she was enslaved.

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On top of making alcohol, she had to care for her young cousins and the family’s goats.

“I did not feel anything good, all day I was sad,” she explained.

“I would watch the other children going to school every day and it would make me cry.

“My neighbours told me to run away but I did not know where to go. It was the only home I knew.”

Ditya lived this life for three long years before 3 Angels Nepal rescued this scared little one–taking her to live in the vulnerable children’s home.

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She is now 16-years-old and time, love and counselling have helped heal Ditya’s traumatised soul. “My aunt did not love me, I know that now,” she said. “But I feel love here.”

As a student at 3 Angels Nepal school, Ditya has learnt to read and write and her future is now brighter. She looks longingly at the world map and speaks of her dream to become an air hostess and travel the world learning new languages.

“I never thought I would go to school,” she said. “But now it is the best part of my day, I enjoy English a lot as my teacher makes me laugh!”

*Name changed and representational image used to protect Ditya’s identity

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