“I didn’t know how to get back up”

family and a successful life together, God, I broke down in tears, I wanted to achieve, my faith in God, Self-esteem,

It took one blow for my life to crumble. I was left hopeless and bitter. I had so many goals that I wanted to achieve. I envisioned building a family and a successful life together, but all of that crumbled before my eyes when my relationship broke down. The ending of that relationship left me heartbroken, humiliated and bitter. My self-esteem came crashing down. I no longer believed in myself and my dream fell apart.

I would put on an appearance of a happy person but behind closed doors I was completely broken. Here I was in an unknown country, unable to speak much English with no income. To make matters worse, my visa was about to expire and I had no idea how I would renew it. I even found myself living in the streets at one point. My life rapidly went down to a zero and I didn’t know how to get back up.

I found help at the UCKG HelpCentre when I could not go on anymore. I spoke to an adviser about my problems. I broke down in tears, but that was the last tear I shed before my problems.

I was encouraged to go along to the sessions on Mondays for my finances, Wednesdays for inner-self and Fridays for spiritual cleansing. I started to notice a change within me. I gained a confidence in myself that I had lost. I became happy, but this time it was real. With this newly gained confidence, I started the journey to sort out my documents.

I approached lawyers to help me with my case, but the feedback they gave me was that I didn’t have enough documentation to sustain my case to apply for a permanent residence in the UK.

With only one week left before my Visa expired and the lawyer telling me that it would take three to six months to get a response, I leaned on my faith in God to see me through. I believed that with all that I was learning at the HelpCentre, I had faith that I would get a positive response, so I told my lawyer to send the few documentation that I had.

Can you believe that after three days of submitting my documents, I received a letter from the Home Office granting me a permanent residence in the UK!

As I regained confidence in myself, I also met my now husband and we have been happily married for two years. Seeing my life progress proved to me that happiness can still be achieved.

Gloria Orozco