Thrown in a garbage can at birth - now a law student

[malaise]

I'm watching a local program here in Jamaica -a regular Sunday program called Profile. The host always has great guests. The interview today is with nineteen year old John Clarke. He was thrown in a garbage can hours after his birth and was rescued by an old lady. He was brought up in a children's home for a few years and then adopted by a foster mother. She treated him the way she treated her own kids and although she wasn't wealthy, she provided all his needs, particularly for his education. She told him he could be anything he wanted to be. Today he is at the University of the West Indies - a first year law student on a scholarship he won for himself.

He has nothing but praise for his foster mother - what a lovely young man. Damn he has me in tears. He's rather forgiving and says he has no doubt that his poverty stricken real mother didn't think she could make it.

Sp.

[ThatsMyBarack]

1. K&R!

:kick: :applause: For the young man!

[malaise]

3. You know the saddest part of this story is that

had his mother kept him he'd probably have been dead already, but she could have taken him to a children's home, a police station or a hospital. How does a woman throw a new born baby in a garbage can? :shrug:

[shireen]

6. did the tv story say if someone witnessed the mother throw the baby away?

If a woman was seen throwing the baby, I don't know if we can assume it's the mother unless the old lady who rescued him knew who she was.

[malaise]

8. Yes the young man said that

he was told that his mother threw him away. It's not that unusual here. Don't let those lovely beaches fool you.

[femrap]

15. I ask a different question....

how can a man violently rape a woman? And if she becomes pregnant, she is forced to carry the child?

[malaise]

16. But you don't know if that is what happened here

do you. That said all rape is violent. Maybe this was just a young girl who didn't even tell her parent(s) that she was pregnant. We don't know.

[Hekate]

25. Infanticide, including so-called death by exposure, is as old as mankind...

The ancient Greek play about a failed infanticide is Oedipus Rex.

But I agree with you -- I don't know how a woman can do this and not kill a part of herself as well, regardless of the reasons.

Hekate

[lynnertic]

29. I think that's the consequence these women don't realize

...that they will live, but with guilt.

I don't say that as a person who is against abortion, or as a person who thinks all women who abort or abandon children will feel guilt, or as a person who has no compassion for women who do this kind of thing.

I say this as a person who as a 3-year-old was left at a party by her mother and didn't see her again for 32 years.

Some women aren't fit to raise children. I have compassion for them. I wish there was an easier way (less stigmatized, less guilt-ridden) for them to give up their children if they become pregnant and don't want them.

[madokie]

2. What a story, I wish I could be seeing it too

Kick and Rec

[malaise]

4. Heartbreaking and uplifting

at the same time.

[shireen]

5. the two sides of humanity

unimaginable cruelty and senselessness
vs.
an abundance of love and compassion

I'm glad my team won. :)

But I can't help but wonder what went through the mind of the person who threw him in the garbage. Was it a young mother in deep denial and shock, unaware of her actions? A sick deranged person who stole the newborn and threw him away? I wonder if he or she feels any remorse. I wonder if that person saw the news story and made the connection. Just wonderin' ....

[malaise]

9. Yes

Our team won. We're not always this lucky.

[IndyOp]

12. The line dividing good and evil

"If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart." Solzhenitsyn

By ascribing evil to the disposition of the person who performs the evil act we let our society off the hook and fail to change what we can about our world so that such acts decrease in frequency. One simple change is to create safe drop sites for babies -- so that it is okay to drop a baby off at a hospital, police station, fire station, or school - no questions asked. On a much grander scale, creating economic and social justice around the world is the ultimate goal.

[malaise]

13. Who could argue with your points

although no questions are asked anywhere in Jamaica if a woman drops off a baby. Police stations receive babies regularly.

And you're right - the gap between rich and poor on this island is frightening as is the indifference to the poor.

[femrap]

17. Did the dalai lama

teach you to dislike Hillary?

And why does a society force compulsory motherhood? You have no idea whatsoever what the mother of this child was facing. None at all.

You act as if this was some kind of football game....'Our side won.'

Pathetic. You all sound like holy rolling repugnants who feel they are so morally superior to everyone.

[malaise]

18. An infant who was thrown into a garbage can was rescued and is

thriving. What's bad about that?

And yes I have no idea what his poor mother experienced. This thread is about his story. Please.

[IndyOp]

19. You are responding, in part, to the wrong post -- I did NOT say "our side won"

- I posted a response to the person who said "our side won". I included the quote about the dividing line between good and evil running down the middle of each person's heart - in other words I don't believe there are some people who are good and others who are bad. I don't believe that anyone's side won.

I hope society does not force compulsory motherhood. I am an over-the-hill female with no children by choice and no intention of birthing or adopting any. I posted that I think that society needs to change - including by providing safe drop off points for babies that women can use with no questions asked.

I am not worried if you don't like me, but I do try to be a decent poster. The Dalai Lama is my avatar because he inspires me to be better. I am far from perfect but I am trying to be better.

I don't hate Hillary Clinton. The drawing is from Mr. Fish - Harper's magazine cartoonist. I keep the drawing in my sig line because I do hate the possibility of an attack on Iran and I hate the fact that both leaders and citizens of the U.S. repeatedly take positions in regards to military that lead again and again to war crimes. I am angry at the repeating horror. The day Hillary announces that she will pull ALL troops from Iraq and will never ever allow a pre-emptive attack on any nation - including Iran, whether or not they are developing nuclear weapons - then I'll remove the cartoon from my sig line. I'll probably withdraw it sooner than that.

[raccoon]

28. Well said!

"...creating economic and social justice around the world is the ultimate goal. "

[malaise]

14. I did wonder if his natural mother was watching

but would she recognize him? Would she even remember what she did?

[scarletwoman]

7. Thank you for posting this moving story. Sounds like this young man will do well with the chance at

life that was given to him.

k&r
sw

[malaise]

10. So far so good

A little love and care goes a long way.

[flashl]

11. K&R n/t

[rzemanfl]

20. All these replies and not one shot about lawyers yet. n/t

[dsc]

21. That is an awesome story

I have no idea about the laws in Jamacia except what I read in this thread, so I can't say what other, before birth, options this woman had, but these stories really piss me off. In societies that permit abortion, bc, and dropping children off no questions asked, women who do this should be jailed, period. There is no excuse for this at all when the above is true. Given my lack of knowledge about Jamacian law I can't comment on this particular case except to say good for him.

[malaise]

22. He said he was born between August and September 1988

Maybe just maybe it was after that devastating hurricane Gilbert. Hopefully the mother will speak now although she's probably terrified of being arrested. They're from a very poor area. Maybe she was a teenager and her parent(s) didn't know. People drop off babies here at an alarming rate. Makes you wonder. Women have abortions all the time (illegal or not and no one is arrested), but they do cost money and if she was really poor that was not an option.

I'm just happy for him.

Add.

[dsc]

23. as you point out she could have left the child with a social service agency

or a church. I am very glad he thrived.

[StClone]

24. I hate to beat a dead horse...

Inverse: Bush born in a golden bubble takes World to the dumpster.

[Angela Shelley]

26. Yippee for StClone!

and your clear view of the events.

[malaise]

27. Profound indeed

:D