This helpless woman should not have been jailed
I recall the following headline; “Domestic worker jailed for leaving children home alone”. The mother of eleven children received a 6 months sentence for leaving the children home alone. It upsets me that this parent is being jailed because of neglect. I don’t care what her occupation is. She was out there earning a living to care for her children. It is not the mother, it is the Ministries of Social Protection and Education and the community at large that failed these children.
Was this family known to the above Ministries? I am sure that the children attended school at one time or the other. Did the Ministry of Education share their information about children’s attendances and performances with Ministry of Social Protection?
If information was shared did the Ministry of Social Protection intervene and put in place services to address the problems plaguing the family? If they did not, Magistrate Moore you must rescind the sentence and bring in the officials from the above Ministries before the court for neglect.
Did the church and other organizations within their community reach out to help this family? The community members and organizations no longer reach out to families in need and in crisis. Self preservation has a new meaning. It is more save yourself and let your brother go astray. Mr. Moore you must rescind that sentence and bring in the community leaders and organizations before the court for neglect.
I became angry and really livid when I read the last sentence of the story. “The victims disclosed that their stepfather raped them and asked them to leave the home”. Why is this mother in jail? Where is the stepfather? This mother left her children in care of the stepfather. The victims reported that he raped them and asked them to leave the home. Mr. Moore this mother did not neglect her children. Rescind the sentence for the mother and bring the stepfather to court and hold him responsible.
Mr. Editor, our communities must be made stronger so as to address the social problems we face every day. The experts within our communities are more likely to provide for their members and/or those who can pay. Organizations like the church must be more Christ like. Feed the hungry, clothe them, and house the homeless. The church and other such organization must return to the call of the old hymnal “Make me a Blessing”.
The members of the vulnerable families will be jailed, sent to the New Opportunity Corps and/or become misfits of our communities because Government Ministries do not collaborate with each other. They are stewards of the old saying; “never let the left hand know what the right hand is doing”. The Ministry of Social Protection is reactive instead of proactive because they have no relationship with related Ministries like health, education and communities. Mr. Moore, please use your good office to advocate for better collaboration between Ministries so families can be helped and not destroyed.
Clyde Clarke