Miracle baby finds ‘Samaritan’ mother
February 12, 2009
A baby-girl dumped in a maize garden at Mvera in Dowa district last month has found a home courtesy of a Lumbadzi couple, Charlie and Hallima Daudi. The family has since offered to adopt the baby and has already named her Shanilla Sarah.
Dowa District Hospital matron Rosemary Bilesi told The Guardian that six weeks ago police brought a newly born baby suspected to have been delivered in a maize field from an unknown mother.
“After examining the baby we established that she was only a day old and gone through a very cold night before a passerby discovered it and immediately alerted the police,” said Bilesi. “We quickly treated the baby to clear any infections it might have been taken the long hours she spent in open air.”
Bilesi said the hospital contacted Hallima Daudi for her to assist identifying an orphanage in Lilongwe where the baby could be kept as police carried out their investigations, but upon arrival at Lumbadzi Daudi and her children decided to take the baby into their home.
“My husband was away when the baby was brought in an ambulance, but when I and my children saw the beautiful baby we agreed to take it as a member of the family,” said Daudi. “I have three boys and one girl, but now my daughter has a sister.
She said her husband was also attracted to the baby that he accepted that the family adopts it, saying it was God’s arrangement that of all people in the district the hospital officials chose Daudi’s wife to identify a suitable home for the little one.
“Sometimes we can not understand God’s plans,” said Charlie Daudi. “Why did the matron pick on my wife? I am happy to look after the baby as part of the family.”
Dowa police spokesperson Kondwani Kandiado confirmed that the baby was discovered by herd boys wrapped in a plastic bag at Mvera on 6 August, 2008 who took it to the nearby police station.
Kandiado said the police had not made any arrests, but were still investigating and asking for tips from the general public.
“This is not common in Dowa,” said Kandiado. “I think mostly we deal with cases of child labour whereby boys brought from other districts to work in farms find themselves stranded and need assistance to go back to their homes.”
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