Portrait of a Tough Life

One of Rasta's winning shots

In 2012, in order to finance future art programmes at Chung King Mansions Service Centre for Refugees and Asylum Seekers, a talented young man’s photographs were sold at the Soul in the Metropolis exhibition.

That young man's personal story is as dramatic as his photography.

Amidst the chaos of civil war, rebel groups in his country forcibly conscripted boys aged 14 to 20.  His parents couldn't protect 15-year-old Rasta, so they sent him to Canada with an 'agent'. En route, the agent abandoned the boy with only the clothes on his back. Alone and frightened, Rasta sought protection in that transit country. Within 25 days he was granted refugee status by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). For the next two years he washed dishes in a restaurant kitchen and saved all he could.

Siew Mei and Rasta at
Soul in the Metropolis, 2012

Once a star student, Rasta was desperate for a high school certificate because he had hopes of becoming an aeronautical engineer.  When he met a man who offered to take him to Hong Kong where he could complete high school, Rasta used all the money he had saved to get here. On arrival in HK Rasta was told to go to Chung King Mansions. "Once again the agent got away with everything and I was forced to sleep on the street," Rasta told us. Then he met some of his countrymen who directed him to the UNHCR, who began a year-long verification of his identity.

"I stayed in a men's shelter, and because it was difficult to prepare meals, I often picked up a McDonald's voucher from my case worker.  When they were out of vouchers one day, he directed me to Christian Action.  Because I’m a Hindu I didn't want to go to a church for help, but my caseworker assured me it was not a church and that I would be treated with respect. It took only a few minutes to register, and I was soon eating a lovely hot meal!"

Rasta was only 17 and an unaccompanied minor, so his CA case worker invited him to participate in our youth programmes. Rasta said, "All I wanted was to go to school, I wasn’t interested in anything else." Unfortunately, by then, he had 'aged out' of the Hong Kong school system. "It took seven or eight months for me to return to Christian Action. I was depressed and I couldn’t see how badly I needed the support of a community, but my caseworker knew what I needed, and she was persistent. Later I began to help around the Christian Action office whenever I could."

Rasta expressed an interest in photography, but the expense made it prohibitive. Then Turner Broadcasting came along and offered to teach photography skills to Rasta and two others. He turned out to be truly talented and of course his photographs were in demand at the 2012 Soul in the Metropolis exhibition.

Rasta grew from being lonely and depressed into a truly remarkable man during his time with us. We became family to one another. In mid-January Rasta left Hong Kong for his destination country, but we will continue to prayerfully support this wonderful young man as he makes his mark in our sometimes very tough world.