Three little boys sit gingerly on a sofa and survey the strange environment. The youngest holds on to one of the older ones who lovingly puts his arm around him in a comforting manner.
About an hour later they are joined by another little boy who with no shyness joins them on the sofa, and quickly turns and asks one of the ladies with him who the boys are and what their names are.
“It is your brothers,” she replies as she proceeds to call each of the three boys by name.
Indeed they are all brothers who were born to a mother who was forced to work as a domestic to support her family and a father who though he worked, abused drugs and alcohol. Three years ago their life dramatically changed when their mother, 25-year-old Mary Sandy, was struck down and killed by a car on the Providence Public Road, minutes after she had dropped one of her sons to school. Sandy had reportedly endured domestic abuse and was forced to raise the children almost singlehandedly. The husband had described their circumstances as “difficult” in an interview with this newspaper. The family lived in a shack under deplorable conditions at Providence.
Their father was unable to take care of them and while their mother’s relatives, who hail from Moruka, were willing to take them, they were prevented from doing so because of their financial situation. The state then took control of the children and three eldest, Andre, 10, Anthony 8 and Tyrone 6 were eventually placed in the Mahaica Children’s Home. The youngest, Lorenzo, who at that time was known as Andrew, and was just two months old at the time, and he was placed in foster care.
Sunday Stabroek caught up with the three older boys at the office of the Child Protection Agency office where they had been taken by one of the home’s caregivers, Indranie Sookhoo.
Minutes into the meeting it was obvious that eight-year-old Anthony was the mischievous one, as he pulled at his brothers’ clothing and ears. Six-year-old Tyrone bore the brunt of these antics and kept wiggling around in the settee to avoid him, but from time to time he would settle down and allow himself to be cuddled by the affectionate Anthony.
Andre, the oldest, was more reserved and while he kept stealing glances at this reporter whenever he was directly addressed he would quickly turn away. Asked if he remembered his mother, Andre shook his head and under his breath he said he missed her.
“She use to carry to school,” he said when asked why he missed his mother.
He recalled seeing his mother on the roadway after she was struck down, but after that he refused to talk again about the fateful day. Caregiver Sookhoo described the three as “very good boys,” adding that it is Andre from all indications who missed his mother. She revealed that he seems very close to one of the girls in the home and she has concluded that the girl reminds him of his mother. The last time they saw their father was just before the Easter holidays, when he took kites and some fried chicken for them.
Sookhoo said he informed them that he works in the interior and prior to Easter he had visited during the Christmas holidays and had taken the clothing the children were wearing during the interview with this newspaper.
It was as the children were shyly opening up (to the point of asking this reporter to read stories to them) that a bold Lorenzo in the company of two women entered the room. The latter are the only mother and sibling he knows. The woman who has been fostering him since he was three months old told the Sunday Stabroek that she had applied to adopt a child prior to the tragic death of the child’s mother, and when she was told about him she was hesitant since she wanted a baby girl to be a sister to her grown daughter.
She has not regretted her decision to take him, however, and hopes soon that she can fully adopt him and make him officially her child.
“Right now he is the man in charge at home. He is a very sweet and loving child and very intelligent too,” she said of Lorenzo who has started pre-school.
As she spoke Lorenzo sat with his brothers and soon got Tyrone to play with him; the two took turns driving a small truck he had brought with him. Shortly after that the visit ended, and he quickly waved his brothers goodbye and skipped out; they themselves were then hurried out by their caregiver to make the trip back to the Mahaica home.
Foster care
Director of the child care agency Ann Greene told the Sunday Stabroek that while the three oldest boys have adjusted quite well in the home, she hoped that they could soon find a foster home for them. She pointed out the difference between the boys and said it was obvious that Lorenzo was thriving better than his older brothers.
“We always feel that foster care is better because children do better in a family and home environment. It is not that something is wrong with the homes, the homes do well, but I always advocate for children to live in a home environment,” she said.
Greene said she has no intention of splitting up the three boys since they are very close to each other. She said with the youngest it is different, as he has been with the family since he was a baby and she would be working towards making that his permanent home shortly.
She hoped that soon they will find a family that is in the position to take all three boys since separating them is not an option. She is hoping too that they will make contact with the father soon in an effort to have him agree to the children being fostered.
“We have allowed him to see the children but now we definitely have to hear from him, as we have to get a permanency plan for these children,” she said.
According to Greene foster care is “doing wonders” for children in Guyana, and she described the system as being very successful. At present there are some 130 children in foster care and the government provides a monthly sum per child, although the family has the choice of accepting this or rejecting same. The agency works along with Child Link which pays regular visits to the families fostering children, and Greene said they have had no problems with children being abused in foster homes.
Before a family fosters a child, Greene said, they are prepared and trained, and during that time the family and child would also go through a bonding period. The agency is assisted in the process by Child Link.
The only problem is that many of the families prefer babies instead of children who are older.
“We have some lovely children who need fostering but it is to find the families. Right now we have a ten-year-old girl who is very nice, and we need to find a foster home for her,” Green said.
She is inviting families to approach the agency if they are interested in fostering children.
