Avi (18), student at Kadoori Youth Village
“When I slept in my bed here for the first time, I finally felt safe”
Avi is from Western Guinea
Avi’s Mother died when he was 10. Left to face life alone on the tough streets of an African city, a street merchant found Avi and passed him on to a Human trafficker. The child was then traded via Morocco to Egypt. By the time Avi was 13 he ended up in a Bedouin slave market in the Sinai – where he was sold on as a laborer. Avi was smuggled over the Israeli border and landed in prison. When authorities discovered he was a minor Avi was adopted by Kadoori Youth Village.
‘My mother died of a simple illness because we had no doctors. On the streets I fought for scraps of food. I would do anything to make it through the day. Life was dangerous. When I slept in my bed in the youth village the first time, I finally felt safe. Here I found out how to use my voice. I can dream about my future. One day I want to go back to Africa and set up a Youth Village there’.