October 2009 will be a month to remember for many Barbadians. It was the month a newborn was found abandoned on a beach by a 21 year old woman, interestingly a mother of two others. Thankfully the baby was found, just in the nick of time, and is reported by the QEH to be doing well. The newborn was found in a plastic bag similar to those distributed by supermarkets.
A lot has been written in the press and shouted on the talk shows about the matter of a mother abandoning her baby. BU is not about judging anyone but wrong is wrong. We live in a society where we adhere to mores and laws meant to protect citizens and the society alike from descending into decadence. It is hard for the BU household to understand how a mother who carried a child for 40 weeks would abandon it at birth. It is even harder to understand how the child would have been abandoned in the circumstances which Ms. Ellis is reported to have pleaded guilty to in Court last week. Why not leave it in the bathroom at the QEH, a Polyclinic, a Police Station or a Bus Stop?
In a plastic bag on a beach under cover of foliage?
In the weekend press did we read correctly former Chairman Joey Harper giving his expert opinion? To quote Harper: Former chairman of the Child Care Board David “Joey” Harper believes that subject to proper counselling and psychological analysis, Ellis should not be deprived of the opportunity to mother her child if she wants to. Did we read Mr. Harper correctly? What is the basis for Mr. Harper jucking his mouth into this affair? Frankly we are astounded a man who would have been Chairman of the Child Care Board would bullrush his way into this issue by making such leading statements, why the Nation would carry Harper’s opinion so prominently is beyond comprehension, yet they refused to publish General Secretary Lincoln Lewis Open Letter To Rickey Singh and Norman Faria. Does he know something which the public is not aware? How can he speak with such authority?
The following picture of the baby in a plastic bag maybe offensive to some.
There is the argument that Ms. Ellis maybe or have been mentally unbalanced through the affair which caused her to abandoned her baby. Many are forgetting that the 21 year old Ms. Ellis is currently the mother of two. In light of her recent actions should the other children be removed from her care as well? How can she be deemed unfit to mother the baby but continue while on bail to mother her two other children?
We understand as fellow human beings we have to find forgiveness and compassion in our hearts for Ms. Ellis. We also have a responsibility to deal with the matter honestly. Whether subsequent psychiatric tests show she is mentally disturbed or not, she has already demonstrated she is an unfit mother. To have given birth to three children while living under her grandmother’s roof further demonstrates irresponsibility.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.