Child rights activist Diana Mahabir-Wyatt says the $500 babycare fund for underprivileged mothers is okay but they also need classes on how to be better parents, among other things. Mahabir-Wyatt, who headed a Child Protection Task Force appointed by the Prime Minister in 2013, also dismissed the idea that the fund announced in Monday’s budget will encourage people to go and make babies.
“Personally, from my life’s experiences and observations, I don’t think that is a valid comment. “People make babies for plenty of reasons, not for $500 a month,” she said. However, Mahabir-Wyatt said, a programme for underprivileged mothers was needed along with the $500. She said she had a non-governmental organisation waiting in the wings to help set up the programme.
“It is called PLOTT (Powerful Ladies of T&T), and is comprised of executive women. They have written out a proposal for the programme,” she added. Mahabir-Wyatt said the programme included parenting classes for underprivileged mothers. “They will take the classes when they come to collect their money once a month. “They will be supported by babysitters who will watch their children for the one-and-a-half hours while the class is going on,” she said.
Brown: PM way off mark
But head of the Network of NGOs Hazel Brown rejected the $500 fund, saying the PM has completely missed the mark in finding a way to help young underprivileged mothers. Brown recalled that in 2010, the Network of NGOs rejected a similar proposal by Persad-Bissessar called “Baby Milk.” “She got some very stern responses for that. We told her artificial milk is very dangerous and that we promote breastfeeding. She dropped it, it never happened,” Brown said.
“But she has come back around (with the baby fund) with it. She’s very careful this time not to mention milk. She dropped it this time under a social welfare scheme.” Brown said what young underprivileged mothers needed was help with how to get back to school, to be better parents and how not to have more babies. She said data showed that young girls in T&T got pregnant at 13 to 15 years and by the time they reach 19 have about three babies.
“There should be some programme in the $500 to track the development of the mother and her children, but there’s no provision for this. You need the programme first and the $500 may or may not be required. “The Prime Minister is way off the mark in finding an appropriate intervention for the development of underprivileged mothers and their children,” Brown said.
She claimed recommendations in the report of the Child Protection Task Force submitted to the PM in December 2013 were ignored. To explain her point, she quoted 18th-century queen of France Marie Antoinette who, when the people asked for bread, said, “Let them eat cake.” “People like cake, right? The Prime Minister made people happy but has not provided them with the information they need to prevent them from continuing in a negative lifestyle.
“So they will make one child and go on and on,” she added. Brown said T&T had one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world and children of underprivileged parents might not even live a year. “We don’t want cake. Come with real solutions.”
