CHRONICLING A FAMILY’S SAD TALE about children is usually tedious but it is important.
Hours must be spent delving into personal backgrounds, prying loose family secrets and then painting a clear picture that holds people’s attention so that remedial action can be undertaken.
That was the case of Kaliah Foster, a 34-year-old unemployed mother of five children who made a public appeal for help on Sunday for her last child, Sarah, a five-month-old baby. Foster is a former University of the West Indies student, and the father is a Nigerian who came to Barbados under a controversial scheme to get an education but ended up impregnating the woman before returning to Africa, leaving her the sole provider of care.
“She needs help now,” Foster told the SUNDAY SUN about Sarah. “I never asked for help with my other children.”
The story triggered an avalanche of interest in the social media world and in comments to the paper, most of them from people expressing anger, frustration and disgust. Many condemned the mother, in particular, for being “irresponsible” or careless or both for having unprotected sex and becoming pregnant. Others found her public appeal galling. Although the mother has to answer some very valid questions, the most important issue should be Sarah’s welfare. She didn’t do anything wrong and certainly didn’t ask to be born. She shouldn’t be forced to suffer because of her parent’s poor judgement.
But Sarah isn’t alone. Hundreds of youngsters across Barbados, the products of one-night stands, prostitution or teenage sex that didn’t begin with a desire for pregnancy are in need of care, putting the onus on the Child Care Board. Barbados’ eight children’s homes are already raising about 100 youngsters, evidence of our long-standing interest in children’s welfare.
Just ask Ken Knight, chairman of the Child Care Board, or Dr Angela Jennings, a paediatrician who heads the board’s adoption and foster care committee, and they can write chapter and verse about the situation.
The plight of the kids must be of prime concern to all of us. They can’t be allowed to fall through the cracks. After all, they are among our most precious resources.
There is an obvious need to expand our existing child protection services. Yes, in these tough financial times with prolonged high unemployment, finding the money to do it wouldn’t be easy. But Government must do it. The public must recognise the value of placing a greater emphasis on care for children in a family setting, whether through adoption, a greater involvement of the extended family or foster care. The best place for many of the children is a private home, not institutions.
The board is well placed to get the job done. It already has four children living with “foster” parents who are providing loving care and are receiving a Government stipend for their efforts. That number should be expanded. The reason: foster parents, who can be members of the extended family, provide care in a safe and nourishing environment while the youngsters’ biological parents maintain fundamental rights, such as access to their offspring who may turn out to be our future leaders, doctors, engineers, technicians or bus drivers.
“We need more public information about the benefits of both adoption and foster care,” said Knight. “There is a need to expand our foster care initiative.”
We couldn’t agree more. Suffering children can’t wait.