Left at our doorsteps, and Wortley Home

Egerton Chang, Contributor

She was literally left at our front door. She 'arrived' at around four in the morning when we were awakened by a middle-aged lady named Miss Violet, who brought her in a taxi straight from the airport. It was near Christmas of '86.

We had only met her a few months earlier when her mother visited for a couple of days from abroad. But here she was. Left at our doorsteps. Her mother, my wife's sister, had been having some difficulty and decided to send her. We had no idea. We were not forewarned. Yet she was here. I was between families and she came before I had started my second set.

Hollanders, who was just seven months old, was welcomed into our home, particularly because she filled a void. We had the joy of seeing her make her first steps and speak her first words (although she had difficulty pronouncing her Fs, e.g. 'pun' for 'fun' and 'pan' for 'fan'). Throughout nursery school, then prep school (Holy Childhood/Sts Peter & Paul), high school (St Andrew) and university (Florida International University), we have watched her grow. We have enjoyed her.

We could romanticise and say everything was perfect. But what in life is? When she was eight years old, she ran a very high temperature and went into hyperthermia. She was close to death. And once when we were late in picking her up, this seven-year-old walked all the way from Holy Childhood (Half-Way Tree Road) to our home on East Kings House Road. Alone. And she did it the way we drove, including a number of 'short cuts', which made her walk that much longer and convoluted.

not coming back?

We were accustomed to sending Hollanders to visit her biological mother every summer. However, on one occasion, she decided not to send her back down. I was moved to tears. Anyway, my wife went up there and finally convinced her sister to send Holly, then eight, back. I was so glad and relieved. Holly came down alone and I took her immediately to KFC to eat and to spend some time with her. I think I am pretty good at hiding my emotions, yet to this day she remembers it - and seeing my joy at having her back.

As said, our trials and tribulations were relatively few and virtually to be expected from any girl growing up in Jamaica.

While we didn't go through the formality of legal adoption, she is our daughter and we are mommy and daddy.

She recently told me that acquaintances often ask her how she knows we love her like our other children. She says she tells them, "Because I got the same cussing and beating like all the others."

Given this background, Hollanders Myers (her biological mother has called her Latoya from birth and that's what we call her) has made it one of her goals to help other children in a similar situation, whether in foster homes or places of safety, knowing fully well that many times these 'adoptions' are difficult, at best, and unworkable, at worst. And it doesn't matter that the 'adoption' has family connections. Witness the recent case of the 15-year-old girl who stabbed her six-year-old half-brother a number of times, killing him and leaving their family to grieve. The closeness of the relationship hardly matters.

we must persist

Yet we can't give up.

There are approximately 2,500 wards in residential childcare facilities, both privately owned and state-run accommodations in Jamaica. Of that number, 800 are housed in the various places of safety, and the remainder live in children's homes. In addition, the LIFE (Living in Family Environment) programme accounts for another 3,500.

In 'Child Development Agency Moves To Increase Foster-Parenting Awareness', published Friday, February 11, 2011, Philip Hamilton, Gleaner writer, wrote:

"The Child Development Agency (CDA) has stepped up its activities aimed at encouraging more Jamaicans to become foster parents. Carla Francis Edie, the agency's CEO, says the CDA's latest effort to build awareness of its foster-care programme comes amid a fall in the number of Jamaicans showing an interest in foster parenting.

"Approximately 1,135 Jamaican children currently live in foster homes with 900 foster parents.

"Francis Edie pointed to the current economic hardships as one factor behind the drop in foster-parent registrations, as well as misperceptions that only 'bad children' are to be found in children's homes.

"The CDA recently launched a Faces of Love campaign featuring the photographs of children living in children's homes, which Francis Edie hopes will attract prospective foster parents.

"The agency hopes to find foster parents for 350 children this year.

"Diana Chung, who registered for the CDA's foster-parenting programme yesterday in Duhaney Park, said she was moved to become a foster parent after several visits to the Glenhope children's home with her Optimist Club.

"'The hardest part of those visits is putting the child back in the crib when we're ready to leave,' said Chung.

'The way they cry really touches your heart, so when I saw this opportunity, I thought it was a great thing to do.'"

Hollanders isn't fooling herself. She knows she can't make a really significant difference, yet if she can improve the life of one or two or six or nine of these children, her efforts would not be in vain.

She has chosen the Wortley Home to concentrate her efforts and is working closely with Tony Hogarth, vice-chairman of the board.

The Wortley Home

Founded in 1918 by the Rev Canon Wortley, who was then rector of the St Andrew Parish Church, and his wife Bertha, the home for girls is located at 'Maurice Hill', in Constant Spring, St Andrew. Originally, it provided placements for orphans or children whose parents were indigent. Noted for its annual carol-singing recitals at Christmas, the Wortley Home now accepts any needy girl, aged three to six years, regardless of socio-economic or religious background. It has accommodation for 25 residents.

Hollanders encourages any person interested in helping to call:

Superintendent: Mrs Orlyn Martin

Contact: 'Maurice Hill', Constant Spring, St Andrew; tel: (876) 924-1322.

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