My Poor Mommy

 I’m new here. Just arrived a couple of days ago. I was born without a name but at the hospital they called me Moses. Here at the Mzuzu Crisis Nursery there is already a baby Moses, so they call me Aaron.

When I arrived at the Nursery they gave me a private room with my very own crib and a personal nanny who looks after my every need. They say that my private room is meant to protect the other kids from any germs or rogue viruses that I might be bringing with me from the village. By next week they will let me move in with the big kids.

Right now all the other babies here are orphans. That means their mother died shortly after they were born. I feel sad for them. I’m glad my mommy didn’t die.

The only reason I’m here is because my mommy threw me away. My mommy already had a baby and I guess she decided she didn’t need me. My big sister is only 2O months old and when I was born the other women in the village started making fun of my mommy. They said she was stupid for having two babies so close together. My mommy didn’t like it when they made fun of her so she dumped me in a graveyard near our village.

When she dropped me I fell on my arm and it hurt so bad that I thought it was broken. I started to cry. Then the ants found me and started crawling all over me,  biting as they went. Fortunately someone heard me crying. They found me lying on the ground naked, picked me up, and took me to the hospital. The nice people at the hospital x-rayed my arm and decided it wasn’t broken, which is good. But I still cannot use that arm which is bad.

The hospital called Social Welfare and Social Welfare called the Mzuzu Crisis Nursery. It was the Nursery’s third call in one morning from babies in need of crisis care. Fortunately, there were two empty cribs and they reserved one for me. As I settle in here, my arm doesn’t hurt so much and my ant bites are clearing up. They give me warm baths and put lotion on my bites. There is plenty of warm milk whenever I want it. I’m no longer crying. I am a happy baby. .

But now the people in our village are making fun of my mommy because she threw me away. My poor mommy. I don’t think she knows what to do. She says that she wants me to come back. But some people think that is a bad idea. The police and Social Welfare workers aren’t sure what to do.

As I wait for their decision I don’t know what to think. All I know is that I like the way they care for me here at the Mzuzu Crisis Nursery.