2005 Winner
Asmeret Tesfazghi
Despite losing her homeland and her father, Asmeret Tesfazghi considers herself a lucky woman. After fleeing the war-torn African country of Eritrea in 1989, Asmeret and her mother Letina arrived in London with Letina’s other children – an older son and daughter – to seek refuge.
Since then, the family have built a new life in the UK and have been fostering vulnerable teenagers for the past three years.
Letina and Asmeret became a fostering team after Asmeret’s older brother and sister left home when she was only 22.
Asmeret, now 25, shares the responsibilities and duties of looking after the teenagers with her mum, and uses her experiences of trauma and loss to connect with the children.
She has always wanted to give something back to the young people in the UK and fostering means she can help provide a stable and caring home in which teens can start a new life.
Asmeret constantly puts the foster children before herself and, in doing so, has sacrificed the type of social life other girls her age enjoy. She is currently looking after a young boy and girl.