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When Gerlee first came to Mongolia’s Child and Family Information Centre in 2001 she was eleven years old, and an extremely frightened child.
She wore old, torn and dirty clothes that were too small for her. She was thin and weak, with ulcers on her head and face and tufts of hair missing.
Gerlee's mother suffered from a psychological disorder that would suddenly send her into violent fits of rage. Gerlee had grown up without any protection from this violence.
Her social worker Tsolmonbayar, recalled that when Gerlee arrived to take shelter at the centre she could hardly walk because of abuse and malnourishment.
"I picked up a crying Gerlee and brought her into the building. She did not speak a word.”
“After four hours Gerlee said her first few words, which were: ‘My mother said that I must go away and never come back again.””
Gerlee was taken to the hospital. The doctor on duty found signs of repeated sexual abuse, extreme malnourishment and a damaged hip, which Gerlee explained had happened when her mother threw her against a wall.
The Child and Family Information Centre works with victims of extreme domestic violence, a problem on the rise in areas of Mongolia where unemployment, poverty and communitiy alienation are high. Gerlee's case was shocking, but not new, for the staff at the centre.
World Vision paid for Gerlee's medical expenses, organised ongoing trauma counselling and arranged for her to live in foster care. They helped with food and clothing expenses and sent her to school.
World Vision also worked with her mother to help her cope with her illness and improve her chances of employment.
Four years later, Gerlee is a completely different person. She enjoys school, has made many friends, and smiles and chatters like any other 14-year-old girl.
She has started talking about her future and what she would like to do one day.
“I like to spend my free time at the World Vision centre and I like to learn English there too,” says Gerlee.
“If I had money I would install electricity into my home and buy clothes for my mother. I would also buy a carpet, a table and a TV for my mother, and if I had a younger brother or sister I would make sure they went to school.”
After all she has been through, Gerlee still loves her mother. Though they don’t live together, they are in regular contact.
“A happy family is a family that has good relations between the family members. I can be happy if I have a good relationship with my mother,” says Gerlee.
* Gerlee's name has been changed and her face obscured in adherance with World Vision's child protection policy.
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