Vulnerable babies in North-western Ethiopia

Just when you think you have heard and seen it all you are confronted with a shocking story.

We were called one morning by social services to tell us they wanted us to take a 2 year old child.

Usually we get abandoned babies so we sent our social worker to the area to investigate how a 2 year old could have been abandoned...

He phoned to us with the most horrific story. The child had been found tied to a tree and was beaten up. A little while later the police came to tell him that they had found and arrested the mother of the child and a friend.

It didn;t take long before the whole story came out. The mother was young, maybe barely 18 years old. The father of the child was a soldier and he had abandoned the mother when he found out she was pregnant.

She went to her family but they sent her away as they were upset that the father of the baby was from a different ethnic group. The young girl had not much education and what work can you find when you have a little baby to care for...she became destitute and depressed, living from hand-outs in the community.

Finally she met a friendly lady who told her that she would give her a job, but she had to get rid of her child. The lady kept influencing the depressed mother and she finally agreed that the only way to get rid of her child would be to kill her. They both went to a wooded area one night, beat up the child till they thought she was dead and after that they got frightened and ran away.

The child was not dead but unconsious and was found the next morning by some people who took her to the police and health center.From there the incestigation started and both mother and her accomplish were arrested. The mother has been sentenced for 11 years in prison and the courtcase for the accomplish is still pending.

We took in the  traumatized little girl, who quickly settled and is doing very well in our care. But as staying with us for 11 years is not a sustainable solution we are currently trying to look for solutions within the family, unfortunately this process is greatly slowed down due to the COVID-19 situation which imposed travel restrictions.

We also felt compelled to work with the mother as well for the sake of the child. The psychologist attempted several visits to the prison  but there are many restrictions put in place due to COVID-19 and she has not been able to visit her in private. But the outcome so far is that the mother is very repentent, she greatly regrets what she has done and is willing to do whatever it takes to restore her relationship with her baby.....we hope that some sort of reconcilliation between mother and child will be possible in the future.

We thank you for your contribution to this project, it enables us to provide sustainable help and support to mothers and babies/toddlers in need.