The Abandoned child

CHAPTER ONE The Abandoned Baby Mrs Blessing Nwankwo who is popularly called Maama, was walking home after she closed work for the day as a nanny at one orphanage in Portharcourt city. Suddenly, she heard the cry of a baby. At first, she thought it was the cry of a baby from the neighborhood. But later, she paused and listened again only to find out that it was a cry from an abandoned baby beside a refuse dump. “Probably, it must have been a teenager that abandoned this baby,” she said. She looked closely and saw a baby wrapped with a faded cloth laid on a well arranged heap of cut grasses. She lifted the baby and behold, it was a baby boy. She stood there motionless for about two minutes thinking of what to do with the baby boy. “Should I take this baby to the orphanage where I work?” she asked herself. This is because it is illegal to take an abandoned child without informing the police or relevant authorities. she then decided to take the baby to the orphanage where she worked. Maama is a widow in her early fifties and she has no child. This made her to devote herself in caring for orphanage children. She said doing the work makes her happy and also to forget her sorrows. Early the next morning, as she set for work, she carried the baby with her. On getting to the entrance of the orphanage, the security guard saw her and the baby. Then he said, “another unlucky one?” she replied, “yes, Mr. Etuk, another one.” As she got inside the orphanage home, other staff present rushed to see the baby. Each one of them had one thing or the other to say about the baby. “What is this world turning in to? Only this week, two abandoned babies have been brought to the home and this one is making them three, Nurse Brenda said.” She continued. “This baby looked very handsome but it is unfortunate that he is ending up in the orphanage but it is better that he was brought here rather than been devoured by wild animals.” She made the latter statement because Maama had told them how she found the baby. “You have to report to Oga madam when she comes and for the necessary documentation. What do you think we will name him given that there was no name tag on him when you found him? Let us call him Chetam for his God has remembered him?” Everybody burst into laughter as she finished talking. “Ok. There is nothing wrong if we call him Chetam. What do you think?” she asked. It’s alright they replied together. “What about his surname? Nurse Nene asked. “We shall call him Chetam Godsfavour. Godsfavour will be his surname,” Maama replied. Later in the day, Mrs. Akin whom they called Oga madam arrived at the orphanage. Maama met her and narrated her encounter on how she found the baby. After that, she admitted the baby officially into the orphanage by making all the necessary documentation and reports involved. He was registered as Chetam Godsfavour.