A couple of months ago one of our Community Based Rehabilitation team members was visiting the home of a woman who had delivered her first child three weeks earlier. They had known her and her extended family for a few years as they had worked with her nephew with a disability. She had seen that the way they value and treat children, is different from what she’s seen in her own community. And when she was pregnant she had expressed a desire to learn from them as she was looking forward to raising her own child.
When her child was born, she found out the little girl has Down Syndrome. The response of her mother-in-law to the news that her first grandchild has Down Syndrome, was that of total devastation and disaster. She is no longer talking to her daughter-in-law and is blaming her for her grandchild’s condition. Thankfully, the new mother loved her daughter from the moment she knew she was carrying her in her womb.
“I’ve learnt from you that each child is created by God and valuable, and I want to do my best to love and raise her like you would,” she said as she was sharing her situation with our team. “Will you support me in this?”
Of course they assured her that they would support her in the best way they can as she cares for, and raises her daughter. What a privilege to stand next to, and support a woman, who displays such love and courage in the midst of challenges. And they can only imagine what a support she will be to other mothers like her in the future, who are in similar situations.
Illustrative picture, not the child the story is describing.
