Maddening

The little one is asleep in a hammock made of cloth. Her mother has tied it between a wall and a small tree.

The family of two is living on the street.

2 years ago one of our staff helped the mother get admitted to the government hospital for the birth of the daughter.

We then went through 2 months of challenge. The mother - we will call her Lila - wanted to give the child for adoption - which some other people helped her do. Lila then went basically insane after when the child was put in a government welfare home. She went wandering off somewhere in a dazed state. Somehow she contacted our staff member who helped her get the hospital admission. After a lot of effort our staff reunited the mother and child and had them both admitted to a home which looks after women and children.

Happy story. The end. Roll the credits. Good feelings all around.

Except that this was not the end of the story.

After Lila was admitted at the home - she seemed to settle down at first. Though it was a bit tough for her - she seemed at peace. The child blossomed and grew. But then things started to spiral out of control. Lila became more and more erratic in her behaviour. The staff of the institution started calling us with greater and greater frequency. Lila's behaviour was clearly psychotic and verged on the violent. We were helpless - and they even more so - not being equipped to deal with people with severe psychiatric problems.

Things got so bad that they were unable to look after a number of other women who were being cared for at the place because of Lila's behaviour. Lila insisted that she be let out. Our dear friends at that institution finally gave in. They let her go.

Today Lila is back on the street. Her daughter is sleeping in the cloth hammock.

Its maddening to see things like this happen. Lord have mercy on us all.