Giving babies for others to care?

It is around midnight at Mpemba Reformatory Centre in Blantyre. All corridors are quiet as almost everyone is in bed.

At the corner of one of the rooms, is 14-year-old boy, Patrick (not real name) with his head uncovered and eyes fixed on the roof. Signs of pain can be read on his face. There is fire burning in his heart. He feels out of place.

“I wonder why I am here, but I accepted it. I did not commit any crime nor do I have any mental problem to deserve reformatory services,” said Patrick in a recent interview at the centre.

He has been at Mpemba for five years, and enjoys equal treatment like any other child. He says both his father and mother are around. Patrick says he knows cases that dragged most of the children to the centre and wonders why he is among them.

“We usually discuss our stories at play grounds and before sleeping. Most of the stories from my friends are frightening. Some committed murder and others stole other people’s money. I do not understand why I am here, but officials here told me that I was brought here by my parents and I did not commit any crime,” he says.

According to the Officer on duty that day, Osborne Kananji, the reformatory centre currently accommodates 29 children from across Malawi. He says there are three groups of children. These are remandees who are waiting to be taken to juvenile courts, convicts and children whose parents cannot effectively support them.

Kananji says the latter group has children who did not commit any crime and have no mental problem, but need care and protection.

Patrick falls in this group, says Kananji. He says his parents surrendered him to the centre for care, saying they cannot sufficiently support his life because of poverty. He reveals that there are a many children who were brought to the centre by their parents to get protection from immorality and have access to better education and meals from a confined environment.

Patrick’s mother insists her child is at the right place and she does not regret sending him there.

“I blame myself for failing to give care to my own biological child. It pains me a lot, but my failure to support him should not make him a slave or a street kid. There are other ways I can help him get support and the centre is one of them,” she says, adding that she tried to approach people to adopt the child, but none came forward.

Like Patrick’s mother, Tamara Kachepa of Traditional Authority (T/A) Mpama in Chikwawa says her sister’s child has been rescued by the centre.

“The boy was living with his late mother in Blantyre and we just learnt after the death of his mother that she sent the boy to the reformatory centre. We are happy that the boy is healthy, strong and in school. He was a beggar at one point and I am happy that he is now a responsible boy and back in school,” says Kachepa.

Currently, the centre keeps three children whose term of stay at the centre expired.

“Our duty is to rehabilitate children and when we observe that they have changed, we release them. We recommended the release of some children, but they are still here because their parents asked us to continue keeping them. Most parents say they are afraid the environment at the village can spoil the future of the children,” says Kananji.

The sad part is that, life at the centre is designed in an almost prison style. There is a daily programme of activities and these include garden work, cleaning the premise, handiwork such as carpentry and tailoring, education, prayers, counselling and sports activities, and everyone participates.

Rockford Bowl, a US-based psychologist and mental therapist doing his masters programme in Malawi says mixing children that committed crimes with those that just need support is a joke.

“Our brain is delicate and what goes in daily is what shapes our thinking. If the children are learning that their friends committed murder, they see possibilities in doing it,” he says.

Brussels Mughogho, EveryChild country director concurs with Bowl. He says although the initiative is a relief as it protects convicts and remanded children from living in traditional prisons, it has failed by mixing such children with those that just need parental support.

“We are building new terrorists with this practice because they can end up forming gangs and eventually compromise national security. There is need to have separate reformatory and correctional centres for the minors who are in conflict with the law and those that have unbecoming behaviours,” says Mughogho.

He urges government to take action on this matter.

But Mughogho acknowledges that most children are insecure in their villages and some parents are not responsible enough to protect their children, which makes such centres relevant. He also cites issues such as poverty, orphanhood and family planning as driving forces that take some children into crime or parents seeking help at such centres.

He nonetheless, believes every pregnancy should count for responsibility of the parent and not giving birth for others to raise.

“Section 3, Part II of the Child Care, Protection and Justice (CCPJ) Act of 2010 says each parent or guardian has a legal obligation and responsibility to provide necessities and security to a child of tender age. It is unjustifiable to give birth to a child and then say they cannot afford to raise the child,”he says.

He adds that it is time parents and communities are oriented to take up their responsibilities in creating a conducive and supportive environment for children other than sending them to rehabilitation centres.

Minister of Gender, Children and Social Welfare Clara Makungwa describes the practice as unwelcome, but she could not give her clear position, saying she needs to consult as she is still new in the ministry.

The centre was founded over three decades ago to house street kids from Blantyre city. It now accommodates children from across Malawi who are on remand or convicted by juvenile courts apart from those dropped by parents. In 2012, the centre opened up for girls and changed its name from Mpemba Boys to Mpemba Reformatory Centre.

The current figure at the centre sounds small, but the centre is struggling. During our visit to the centre, the premise was disconnected from water and its electric cookers were down. Kananji says the water bill is less than K200 000 (about $476) and the cookers just lacks only filaments which can cost about K120 000.He says they have been using firewood, which is also scarce in the area.