In 1990, at the age of ten, Daryl Brougham was told by a social worker that he was useless and would end up in jail. By 1997, he had attended 27 schools, been through over 30 social workers, and lived in more than 30 different foster homes in New Zealand and overseas (including the United State of America). During his 18 years as a state ward, he suffered repeated sexual, physical, emotional, and psychological abuse. 
 

Imagine coming home to be told you are moving somewhere new in half an hour. Imagine being forced to eat a spider. Imagine drinking from the toilet bowl because you’re too scared to go near the kitchen. Imagine what you would become after all those years of living in fear and loneliness. 
 

Rising above all the abuse, Daryl proved that the social worker wrong. He didn’t end up in prison. Instead, he vowed to become a better social worker than his detractor. He studied social work at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa in Mangere and graduated with a Bachelor of Social Work (Biculturalism in Practice). 
 

In 2015, he received an official apology from the Ministry of Social Development for a litany of errors, including failure to follow their own procedures and placing him with unapproved caregivers. 
 

Through the Eyes of a Foster Child is the story of Daryl’s journey.

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Donations go towards educating communities of what it's like to be in foster care and how the impacts of care can be minimized.