The Road Back Home: Destiny's Story

For teenagers, the search for freedom is universal—even for those in loving homes. But when you feel unloved and uncared for, that search becomes desperate. This was Destiny's reality in 2023.

After his parents separated, Destiny's father—who had remarried and moved to Ghana—sent him to live with his grandmother in Lagos. But the emotional disconnection left Destiny feeling abandoned and unwanted. He eventually ran away, joining the growing number of young people surviving on the streets.

The Challenge

But life on the streets is deceptive. It may offer short-term freedoms—like easy cash from sympathetic passersby and the illusion of independence—but it comes with hidden costs: no safety, no structure, and no foundation to grow. For Destiny, that freedom began to feel more like a trap.

The streets that had promised liberation instead became a place of uncertainty. Each day brought new challenges: finding food, staying safe, and dealing with the constant awareness that this wasn't a sustainable way to live. What had felt like freedom was slowly revealing itself as another form of confinement.

LOTSI's Intervention

It was during this difficult period that Destiny encountered LOTSI's weekly meetups, where street-involved youth are welcomed without judgment, offered community, and gently guided toward better choices.

As Destiny opened up, we saw a young man wrestling with deep wounds and longing for something more. It wasn't easy—there was a lot of back and forth, moments of progress followed by setbacks. Slowly, through trust-building sessions, Destiny began to consider the possibility of reconciliation—with his father, and with himself.

The weekly meetups became a safe space where Destiny could process his feelings about family, abandonment, and what he truly wanted for his future. Our team worked patiently with him, understanding that healing doesn't happen overnight.

The Transformation

One particularly memorable moment for him was a SPA Day event hosted by one of LOTSI's partners. It may have seemed like a small gesture—grooming, care, a bit of pampering—but for Destiny, it sparked a new sense of dignity and self-awareness.

He began making intentional efforts to stay clean and tidy. More importantly, he started to see himself differently—not as someone who had been abandoned, but as someone who deserved love and had something valuable to offer.

This shift in self-perception opened the door to deeper conversations about family and the possibility of reconciliation. Destiny began to understand that his father's decision to send him to his grandmother hadn't been about rejection, but about practical circumstances during a difficult time.

Current Status

Eventually, LOTSI was able to reconnect Destiny with his father—who, unbeknownst to him, had also been searching for his son. He travelled down from Ghana, and father and son reconciled in a tearful reunion.

Today, Destiny is rebuilding his relationship with his father and working toward a more stable future. The experience taught him that the freedom he had been seeking wasn't found in running away from family, but in working through the difficult emotions and circumstances that had driven them apart.

Destiny's story reminds us that the freedom young people seek isn't found in abandoning family, but in healing relationships and building a future together. Sometimes the hardest journey is the one that leads us back home—but it's also the most rewarding.