–girl, 10, found cooking on kero stove
A ten-year-old cooking roti on a kerosene stove near a bed and an eight-month-old baby who had not had a diaper change in hours was the scene welfare officers from the Child Care and Protection Agency happened on in a shack at Clonbrook, East Coast Demerara.
Four children, between the ages of eight months and 10 years were at home alone when the ministry officials visited and they were forced to remove the children because of the dangers they faced.
The welfare officers of the Human Services Ministry’s agency along with their colleagues from the Ministry of Education and two police officers were continuing the ‘Mission: Child Protection’ programme on the East Coast on Tuesday.
The children are now in the custody of the ministry and officials plan to counsel and assist their parents to provide a better home environment for their offspring.
Child Protection Coordinator Ann Greene told Stabroek News that the parents visited the ministry on Wednesday and it was decided that the children will remain in the ministry’s custody as attempts are made to assist their parents to better provide for them.
According to Greene, Tuesday’s exercise was conducted after police officers from the Clonbrook Police Outpost informed the ministry about a number of problems with schoolchildren in the area. She said it was reported that some of the children were openly smoking illegal drugs while many of them do not attend school.
She said it was indeed found that some of the children were not attending school and it was at that time that the four minors’ plight was brought to the officers’ attentions.
“When they entered, the ten-year-old was cooking roti on a kerosene stove set up right next to the bed… the baby’s diaper appeared not have been changed since morning…. The entire place was in disarray and it was very dangerous and unhealthy for the children,” Greene told Stabroek News.
The children were removed and the neighbours were told to inform the parents to visit the ministry which they did on Wednesday morning.
Greene said the officers were told that the father of the children is a substance abuser and while he has denied the claim there are signs that this may indeed be the case. She said the father told them that he and the mother had worked all night Tuesday night, in an effort to get their home in a proper state for the children.
“The fact that they said they worked the entire night tells you what condition the place was in,” Greene pointed out.
The children’s mother said that at the time of the officers’ visit she had left to take care of her husband’s nephew who is hospitalised.
The father is a fisherman and he said he made his wife quit her job as a cleaner at a local club in the area.
Greene said eventually the children may be returned to the parents as it is not the ministry’s aim to take away people’s children. However, they have to protect children from dangerous situations.
She said it is obvious that the parents are in need of supervision and the ministry would also assess their needs and help them so as to facilitate the children returning to the home.
While the three older children attend school, Greene said this is not on a regular basis and this is one of the areas they would have to address.
“It is never a case where we want to take away people’s children but our mission is to keep children safe and sometimes we have to take some drastic actions when we find children in dangerous circumstances,” Greene said. She added that the parents of the children would be given some counselling and guidance and it is hoped that the children would be returned to their home.
“The child protection agency does not want to be coming in after the fact but rather we want to prevent tragedies,” Greene said.
The Child Protection Agency was launched in 2007 and has since intervened in the lives of approximately 200 children; about 100 of them have since been placed in protective custody.
