Baby on Curb

How can people just leave their 15-month old sitting alone on a busy curb?

This evening Drew, Titus and I were on a quick stroll after dark. The 100-degree (F) heat keeps people dormant during the day, so the streets come alive at night. On this busy sidewalk we met a dirty baby girl, about Titus's age -- sitting unattended -- in stroller on the curb. I actually thought she was boy, with her buzz cut and dingy blue tank top. She had a string tied loosely around her neck, strung with three house keys and a small plastic puppy. Spilled milk flooded the cupholder of her stroller tray, but she had no cup. She did have a small plastic straw.

People were walking by -- college students, shaggy migrants, grannies, businessmen -- and others were loitering around. Titus and I talked and played with her for awhile, and no parents showed up. One of the nextdoor hairstylist guys came over. I asked him where the baby's parents were, and he told me that they run the restaurant across from which the baby was sitting. Looking into the glass front of the hole-in-the-wall eatery, I didn't see anybody watching the babe. I told the hairstylist that I felt really worried about the baby, but he said it's no big deal.

After awhile we tried to walk away, but the baby started crying and squirming out of the stroller. Nobody came! A middle-aged trash collector came up to me and started asking questions about Titus, but I ignored her interest and asked her what we should do about the lonely baby girl. She also acted like it was nothing. I'm thinking "What to do!?!?" (See bold questions below). Then -- an answer to Thoughts -- our organization's Regional Coordinator popped out of the nearby convenience store. She's been in China for fourteen years. I explained the situation. She went into the restaurant and said "Hey! Baby's crying, she's too hot!" and the Grandma came out with an apple to feed the babe.

So our Regional Coordinator left, and we stood there with the baby girl, her Grandmother and the guy hairstylist, chatting for awhile. I tried to give the Grandma face -- asking the name and age of her granddaughter, saying how much Titus likes her granddaughter, asking about the restaurant, smiling a lot. Then we promised to come back to play and eat at the restaurant some time next week.



Where's the line between...


1. This child needs help. Do something, even if it breaks all cultural norms, draws attention, and causes others to lose face. Act now.

2. Let it go. You don't understand all that's happening here. You don't understand the cultural implications. Entrust it to the Father.


Rachel