“It is very hard because it is my daughter and I just want her with me. I believe the best thing is for her is to be with me because nobody can love her like me,” the woman said, with tears in her eyes.
“I know it will take time but how long more I must live without her? She is growing every day and I don’t know why they keeping me child away from me. They prefer she live with strangers than live with me. Tell me if that is right?” she asked.
It was obvious that this mother was in a lot of pain. She has been fighting for a while to remove her child from state care and, initially, when she approached me, she was angry and just wanted to “have the story publish because is unfair wah happening to me.” But after talking to her some more, it was clear that even she was a ‘stranger’ to the child as they had not lived together since she was 10 months old. Today the child is 10 years old and has only seen her mother intermittently over the years.