In recognition of Child Protection Week Stabroek News is publishing a series of interviews with children who have been rescued by the Ministry of Human Services. The first one follows below.
Jermaine never understood what the word “Baboon” meant, but his mother called him by that name since he was a baby. It was explained to him when he was a bit older and he never looked at her in the same way again. In fact, something in him resented her.
The cruel labels that people would give to others were routine in Jermaine’s life because of how his mother treated him as a child. In addition to referring to him as ‘Baboon,’ among other names, she would often say that he was too ugly at look at, but more painfully, love. The child barely understood many of the insults, but he grew to realize something in her overwhelmingly disliked him.
Out of hurt and some amount of neglect from the age of six he turned to the streets close to home, which was Main Street and downtown Georgetown. He rebelled at home and spent most of his time running from his mother. The only good thing he remembers about home was his younger siblings, whom he had to look after. Whenever he ran away his mother would find him and take him home, but it got so frequent that she stopped bothering after a while.
Jermaine mustered the courage to tell his story recently, and while he struggled to recount some of it he got through the interview. The tiny boy is covered in scars, each of which tells a story about the pain he suffered while growing up. He pointed to a huge one on his right knee and said his mother beat him so severely one time that she ruptured the knee cap. The beatings, he recalled, were constant and always severe. According to him, his mother just liked picking up whatever was within hand’s reach and beating him – a piece of wood, a belt, or a discarded piece of steel, among other things. The scars on his face are a result of a mauling he received from a dog in his area, a terrifying experience which he survived; however, he had to brave going to the hospital alone. No one including in his mother showed any interest in seeing that his wounds were attended to.
The child returned from the hospital and recovered from his injuries, but he retreated to the streets and started to build a life there. He forgot his mother and made new friends on the road who showed him the ropes; occasionally he went back home to see his siblings and if his mother was there her too. Eventually, it all came to an end when the Ministry of Human Services picked him up one night while he was on the streets hanging out close to home.
“I deh playing football when they come fuh me and they went and tell mommy where I was going,” Jermaine said. He spent the first few months of his life in the ministry’s care rebelling, and used the opportunity to attend school to run away with a few of his friends who were also picked up. Twice he ran away, but on the second occasion the ministry had him put in jail for one night. The experience changed him, and when he returned back to the ministry’s centre he promised to attend and stay in school.
Jermaine revealed that he hated school and stayed away because children often teased him about a medical condition with which he was born. He explained in his own words that he was born without an anus and that doctors had to recreate one for him, but his mother was advised that it would take years before he learned how to control his bowels. As a young boy growing up he struggled with the condition and often had personal accidents at school which resulted in his peers taunting him. He recalled that they called him various names, none of which he was too eager to repeat. Now he is thirteen years old and has better control of the condition, but for a year he was forced to wear diapers to school.
He said life has been cruel to him while he was still young, but he is determined to stay focused and make something of himself. He is connecting with his mother again who has since begged for forgiveness. She has explained to him somewhat her personal struggles to live with a child born out of an incestuous relationship, and she is working hard to provide a better home for him and his siblings. She has made so much progress that the ministry is currently building her a home.
“I want to be cricketer when I grow up, but one who knows how to read and write and speak well,” Jermaine said smiling. He said that his strength is in his batting, and he is eager to join a club and pursue his passion. He likes the game and follows it closely.
He is aware of the current problems facing cricket in the region. In a few years or sooner Jermaine is likely to return home and be with his family. He said his siblings are happy to see him and he is looking forward to the reunion.
Note: Jermaine’s real name was not used in the article to protect his identity.
