The Problematic Young Woman

Those of you who had been following my blog from the beginning may remember the story of Zana, the first unwed pregnancy case I had to send to a shelter home. You can read her stories here… Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.

Anyway, Zana gave birth to a pair of twins, both boys, but one of them died after a few months, exactly a week after I visited them – initially to bring Zana & her boys back home to her parent’s place, but ended up not doing so when Zana’s mother told her not to because apparently her father was fuming mad when he heard about Zana’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy for a second time (they were already taking care of Zana’s older daughter, also a result of out-of-wedlock pregnancy).

Zana always had problems with the other occupants at the shelter home. She finally left the home, initially with her son, but later the people at the shelter home took the boy back under their care due to Zana’s unstable financial position. Zana herself told them that she’d fetch the boy once she gets married.

Zana then went back to her wild old ways. She never went for her follow-up appointments at the hospital.

The latest update I got was that Zana, whose condition seemed to have reached full blown AIDS, went to the shelter home, wanting to take her son with her to her parent’s home. She felt she did not have much time to live and so wanted to spend more time with her son and her family. To be doubly sure that she indeed was going back to her parent’s place, the people at the shelter home called up Zana’s mother and the mother confirmed that they were willing to have both Zana and the boy at their home. And so the boy followed his mother (after much coaxing by the caregivers at the shelter home).

Apparently, after going back to her parent’s home for a while, Zana still went back to her old ways. She left the home and her son there as well. The boy had to stay with people who was not familiar to him at all, despite being his close family members.

Recently Zana called up the people at their shelter home, seeking their help to get the boy back from her parent’s home. According to her, the boy is being abused at home by her other family members.

Hmmm… knowing Zana, we don’t really know if she really was telling the truth. But come to think of it, it could still be true. Zana’s father had always been the overly strict type and had even disowned Zana once. The boy, so used to the people at the shelter home, may have missed his caregivers and would have probably thrown tantrums from time to time, wanting to go back to the only “family” he ever knew. His real family could have got fed-up with his antics and beat him up instead, wanting him to keep quiet.

I don’t know. I am no longer handling this case. The people from the shelter home can’t simply go to the home of Zana’s parents to take the boy away from there. They tried calling Zana’s mother to discuss matters, but she never answered the phone. From what I heard, they may seek the help of the welfare department.

Whatever it is, I do hope the boy will end up with the best option available. It sure wouldn’t be fair for him to inherit a problematic life due to the mistakes of his own mother and other family members.