Category: Letters

Beyond the stormy waves

I grew up on Cheung Chau in a family of fishermen, raised by my grandmother, and completed my education up to Form 3. As the eldest son, I have one younger brother and two younger sisters. After my mother had my second sister, she stopped working on the boat to care for us, leaving my father to fish alone, which ultimately led to his tragic death at sea.

When I was eight, my father bought a house on Cheung Chau, and our family began to live together comfortably. After finishing Form 3, I took a one-year painting course and started working as an apprentice at a painting company at 15 to help support my family.

At 17, I began dating a girl who was a classmate of my cousin, and her family was also made up of fishermen. Our relationship blossomed over three years, and we enjoyed spending time together while our families got along well.

Tragically, my father developed heart disease at 40, which affected his ability to work and our family’s income. Fortunately, my sister and I were employed, allowing us to support the family, although my father occasionally went out to fish.

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Sixty eight pellets of desperation

Praise the Lord.

I am a 35-year-old single mother to a 9-year-old boy. I am a Christian from a humble background in Nairobi, Kenya.

This is my story.

I was raised by a single mum who passed away in 2015. Life has been really hard for me and my siblings after our mother passed on.

I remember mum would go hungry most of the time to sacrifice food for us children. She would ask for assistance from church every Saturday, and the little she got, she would save for my school fees to go to high school since I had performed very well at my primary level. She only managed to send me to a boarding school after an organization called Well Wishers fundraised for me. Meanwhile, my brother went to a day school, but he would be sent home now and then because of failure to pay the fees. I thank God because finally, we managed to finish high school. It was so unfortunate that we lost her. It pained me because she never got to know how I performed. She left us behind with our niece and we were to bring her up by ourselves. Life taught us to be responsible at a very young age.

All this time my brother and I had to do odd jobs to survive, pay the bills, and support our niece until we got stable jobs. I went to university after my relatives helped to pay for my engineering degree and after 2018, I wanted to start my own company that deals with the installation of biodigesters. I needed to set up a website for my company, payment for my Facebook page, capital for printing out brochures for marketing and set up an office. So I approached a friend of mine who was working for a micro-financing agency and who offered me a small loan, that I was to pay monthly with interest. I managed to set up my company and business picked up until the COVID pandemic struck.

At this time, life became so hard for self-employed people. I had to close down the office and had no money to pay the rent and my staff. I started selling rice, and I would pack and advertise my business online and do deliveries to get enough to sustain me and my son.

The friend who had facilitated my loan approached me again and asked me if I would like to make extra cash. Knowing the need I had, with all the debts incurred for the office I agreed without further thought. She later told me that it was a very quick job and that within 14 days I would get paid. This got my attention, but still, a small voice told me “Wait, the deal is too good, think twice”. I was reluctant at first, scared, and kept procrastinating. My friend assured me that she had successfully done it before and had traveled to Thailand. I took my time to think, but since I desperately needed money, I gave in.

She later organized a visa for my trip to Thailand, after convincing me that it wasn’t risky at all because it was as simple as carrying a backpack delivery and then getting the payment.

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A mother’s broken heart

I started using drugs at the age of 13 and have been using them for 17 years. Methamphetamine, primarily. At first, I was influenced by my peers… I was curious and used them for fun. But when things got difficult at home, constant arguments and scoldings, I decided to run away and joined a group of drug users, thus becoming a drug addict.

At first, I didn’t realise the drugs were doing me any harm since I didn’t seem to have any averse reactions to them. I only saw the effect it had on others, symptoms such as sleeplessness, obsessive behaviour, hallucinations, thoughts of self-harm, and losing control of their emotions.

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Caught between the lines

I was born in 1971 in Hong Kong. I am the youngest in my family and come from a single-parent household, raised by my father. I have an older brother, and no one in my family uses drugs. I have never used drugs and have had no exposure to them since I was young.

At the age of 22, I married my first husband. We had three children together: our oldest daughter is 30 years old, a son who is 25 years old, and our youngest daughter who is 13 years old. I have always taken care of the children by myself. My ex-husband, a printer by profession, was a gambler who never provided enough for our family. I home-schooled all my children and always tried to set a good example.

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If only bad people wore a label

I have been struggling to put pen to paper. Even when I started, I kept rewriting it and it took me a long time to finish it.

I am 28 years old and was born in Hong Kong. I grew up in a broken family. My parents divorced when I was three years old, and I have an older sister and brother. My mother emigrated abroad over 20 years ago, and there are no relatives from my father’s side here. My siblings are much older than me and left home earlier on rather than endure the discordant atmosphere of our home. In addition, my father had to work outside for a long time to support the family, this meant that I was pretty much on my own during my formative years. My father is a serious and traditional person. He made it clear when I was young that I had to “leave home at 18,” so I was deprived of the opportunity to attend university at an early age, and I left home without a solid financial foundation.

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Completely blinded by cocaine addiction

I’m a 23-year-old Brazilian. I’ve always been dedicated to doing my job and to furthering my studies. I come from a simple, honest, Christian family.

When I was fifteen years old, I entered the world of drugs through the influence of false friendships and my curiosity. That’s when I started using cannabis. I confess that at first, I didn’t have much trouble, but my life turned upsideown when I started to use cocaine in 2019. Since that moment, my life has been full of pressure. I disliked my life; it was a terrible nightmare. I began working only to buy drugs. I was unable to stop myself from taking drugs, the cravings controlled me.

Many times I needed my family’s support to pay for the drugs. My mother tried to help me pay the debts for me because she was afraid that if I didn’t pay, I would get killed. My mother helped me several times, trying her best to protect me from taking drugs, but I never listened to my mom. And I made another debt afterward: my mother helped me to pay once again.

I lost most things in my life. My girlfriend left me because I had too many problems due to drugs. After that, I was terminated from my job. I didn’t have the strength to work. I was very thin and weak, my appearance was horrible, and I wouldn’t have the ability to work at all.

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Daddy, why are you behind that glass?

I come from a single-parent family. My father passed away when I was 20 years old, leaving my mother and younger sister dependent on me.

My mother is not from Hong Kong; she came to take care of us on a two-way permit. We relied on social assistance to survive. At that time, my father was suffering from stomach cancer, and my mother had to care for him every day, making our lives very difficult. This situation led me to become very rebellious, and I fell in with the wrong crowd, embarking on a path of no return.

“Just give it a try; don’t worry, you won’t get addicted.” I tried it. After that first hit, I wanted to continue, and I couldn’t stop.

Those so-called friends offered me drugs, leading me deeper into addiction. I started using methamphetamine,. I still clearly remember their words when they first encouraged me to try it: “Just give it a try; don’t worry, you won’t get addicted.” I tried it once. After that first hit, I wanted to continue, and I couldn’t stop.

In the following days, I kept using meth, but using drugs requires money. Where would my money come from? I had to steal, rob, and deceive! I would snatch phones, grab handbags, and steal money from my friends just to buy drugs. Eventually, I met some people with triad backgrounds and entered the underworld, following a boss. The drug circles I was exposed to grew larger and larger. Initially, a small amount of drugs was enough, but gradually I began to use larger quantities and a broader variety, including ketamine, cocaine, meth, and marijuana. The money I earned increased, and it became easier to obtain.

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CAUTION: Easy money doesn’t pay

I am a 38-year-old woman, born in Kampala, Uganda. My father had six children with my stepmother, and nine children with my mother. My siblings and I are not close, nor were they close to my mother.

Our family situation was not favorable and we lacked everything. My father was a government army soldier with a modest income that barely covered our household expenses. From an early age, I understood that I had to work hard to survive.

I was in Form 4 in high school when our father disappeared and left us without income. We did not know why or where he had gone. Even the army was looking for him. We were left destitute.

One day, I decided to run away from home due to the tough conditions we were facing. I was separated from my family for seven years without them knowing my whereabouts. By the time I returned, I had missed most of my middle school years.

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No second-chance for second-hand businessman

I was a businessman working out of Lagos. I had opened a second-hand electronic appliances shop selling laptops, printing machines, photocopy machines, etc. I had traveled to Hong Kong many times to source these second-hand electrical appliances.

But my business faced a downturn because of the pandemic. I had to close down my shop but I owed creditors and did not have any means to settle the debts.

When I was arrested and sent to jail, I could not sleep and I kept on asking myself: How could I have been so stupid as to turn to swallowing drugs for trafficking knowing very well it is illegal and doing so came at great risk?

My creditor told me I could pay back my loan and also earn some money if I agreed to deliver goods to Hong Kong for his Argentine friend. I was told his friend could pay my debts and in addition, US$2,000 if I agreed to deliver drugs to Hong Kong. Continue reading No second-chance for second-hand businessman

Don’t be next

Dear someone, open your eyes and ears and say no to being the next victim of drug trafficking or abuse.

I reach out to you with love and care. I don’t know you, and I don’t wish to meet you under such circumstances. He who has an ear will listen, and my words will be like a seed falling on fertile soil. When life is falling apart, nothing seems easy, and Plan A and B aren’t working, questions flood your mind. When happiness distances itself, and most of your peers are succeeding while you feel left out, never agree to drugs, whether it’s abuse or trafficking.

Saying NO is the path to freedom. There are people out there, like hyenas and scavengers, looking for someone like you to prey on. A life of drugs always ends behind bars.

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The life of a young woman being bars

No one wishes to live behind bars. No matter how long you spend here, being away from the world still hurts. Mornings are full of sadness and sorrow. At home, morning routines depend on your mood; here, every minute of the day and my tasks are already planned for me. There is a fixed time for waking up, refreshing, and having breakfast.

Having all meals of the day hurts more, not knowing if my family had even a single meal, especially my son.

Checking on their well-being once a month is always emotional. Hearing their voices and sensing the sadness in their tone, I immediately break down. Thinking that my son will grow up without a mother next to him, the way I did, is painful. Losing a parent is a hard experience that an innocent child should never endure. Now that I’m here for only God knows how long, I feel I have failed him as a parent. I will never be able to turn back time; no amount of money is worth the time passed.

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Five little angels

I’m a 25-year-old Brazilian with five children, currently living through a challenging time. I arrived in Hong Kong on May 8, 2023, and was immediately arrested. I’ve now been in prison for a year, spending holidays and family birthdays in this alien environment. Let me share a bit of my backstory.

I was born in Diadema, São Paulo, a place I scarcely know. At the age of four, my parents separated due to my father’s infidelities. Shortly after, my paternal grandparents moved to the countryside, and my mother distanced herself from me, blaming me for their separation. My father disappeared. Consequently, I moved in with my grandparents in the countryside.

As a child, I cried myself sick, yearning for the love of those who were supposed to care for me from my first breath.

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Will I ever see my children again?

I’m a 29-year-old male from Uganda, born in the city of Iganga. I come from a modest Muslim family, one of ten children. Growing up was challenging due to our limited resources. Our parents struggled to provide for our basic needs like food, shelter, clothing, and medical care, a problem further compounded by the government’s inability to assist.

Despite these hardships, I attended school, though I often lacked the funds for school fees, books, and other materials. When I was old enough to work, a friend offered me a job opportunity. I didn’t think twice before accepting, eager to earn money and improve my situation.

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Drug courier’s addiction spirals out of control

Allow me to introduce myself. I was arrested on October 25, 2022, and have been in custody for 17 months. I face two charges of trafficking dangerous drugs on two separate occasions. I pleaded guilty in November and will be sentenced on June 27, 2024.

To be candid, my history with drug abuse only began around 2020. Compared to others who have been using drugs for 10 years or more, I’m relatively new to this. Regrettably, during the most difficult period of my life, my consumption may have been higher than others because I had easy access to large quantities of drugs as a wholesaler in the drug supply chain. There was a time when I consumed over 30g of cocaine in a single day, and periods when I didn’t return home, leaving behind my wife and our three-year-old daughter.

Looking back, I deeply regret my actions.

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Hope from within a dark iron cage

I want to share my journey. Previously, despite being in my prime, I felt trapped by various issues, as if being in a dark cage. These stemmed from my violent and misunderstood family background. Reflecting on my past, I see that nearly half my life was spent in a state of lost freedom.

I was born into a typical family. My father was a construction worker, and my mother was a busy retail salesperson. They were often preoccupied with work, so from the age of 12, I had to learn to fend for myself. However, a single phone call dramatically changed my life forever.

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