PHOTO: Child being held by a social worker after the discovery
By Garmah Never Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
It was around 3-4 Pm GMT, when a one-day-old baby boy was left abandoned in the bush of Liberia’s western Grand Cape Mount County, something that has sparked serious public concern in the area after the child was later discovered.
The day was Sunday, October 17, 2021 and the mother who did this is identified as Mamie Paul, who had given birth to the boy child, blaming current economic hardship for abandoning the infant.
The unimaginable incident occurred in Dumangbee Town, Porkpa District, over 88 kilometers west of Monrovia.
According the District Platform for Dialogue in Cape Mount, the baby was discovered by a local Town Chief with his ‘navel string’ still on him.
Chief Morris Kallon, who was on his way from inspecting his bush trap, came across the baby after he heard the sound of a child screaming/crying at about 7:30-8:30pm on October 17.
Upon hearing that crying, Chief Kallon using his flash light, went to see where the sound was coming from, thus discovering the day-old baby lying in the bush.
Later he returned to the town, which is 7-10 minute walk. There, he informed the residents that he found a baby in the bush and people from the town then went there and the saw the child.
The mother of the child is said to have abandoned the baby after she had given birth by herself in the bush. After abandoning the child, the woman went to a nearby creek to bathe and then she then left the area, as though nothing had happened.
But after the incident was uncovered, the abandoned child was rescued, the mother was later trace and both she and the baby were taken to the clinic in another town in the early morning of Monday morning, Oct 18, 2021.
A prominent social worker in Cape Mount, Melvin Kamara who is the head for District Platform for Dialogue told www.newspublictrust.com that Miss Mamie Paul told them that she abandoned her baby, because she has no one to help her support this child, when she already has a seven-year-old son to cater for, as his father had denied her pregnancy.
Meanwhile, the abandoned child and mother are said to be in urgent need of assistance, as there is no food and clothing.
And this recent child pregnancy father again denied it and she suffered a lot by eating gari and never has the means of going for medical checkup, due to serious economic hardship she is facing.
Mr. Kamara, the District Platform for Dialogue official in Cape Mount said that the 21-year-old mother is completely vulnerable.
Few years ago, bush cow killed her father and her mother is very old now. Her grandma is also said to be blind, he said.
According to him, the young single mother is now experiencing serious trauma.
In order for the infant to survive, Mr. Kamara said there is a need for assistance from humanitarian organizations and individuals.
At the same time, both the child and the mother are currently in Bendaja being monitored by the local community leaders.
Their contact #: (231) 776201221/0880556983