Ghulam Mustafa, 11 years old

Ghulam Mustafa ran away from home and was missing for more than two months. His mother had recently passed away, leaving him and his infant brother in the care of their father. Struggling to survive and unable to care for the baby, the father sent Ghulam’s younger brother to live with a relative. Heartbroken by this separation, Ghulam ran away.

After wandering the streets for several days, he was found by police officers. When they asked about his family, Ghulam, not wanting to return home, told them that his parents were dead.

Believing him to be orphaned, the authorities sent him to a shelter. He stayed there for some time before eventually telling the police that his father was still alive. Roshni Helpline then helped reunite him with his father.

Today, Ghulam lives with his father in a small, dilapidated room on the roof of a commercial building in Karachi. The building houses several shops and a small school. His father works as a guard there, while Ghulam assists at a cell phone repair shop downstairs. The owner allows them to sleep on the roof of the building.

His world now centers around this building—its stairways, the hum of the shops, and the quiet rooftop that he calls home. He does not attend school and spends little time with other children his age.

Ghulam often speaks of how deeply he misses his mother and brother but finds comfort in being reunited with his father.