{"id":122136,"date":"2023-12-08T13:09:02","date_gmt":"2023-12-08T13:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cottontailsonline.com\/?p=122136"},"modified":"2023-12-08T13:09:02","modified_gmt":"2023-12-08T13:09:02","slug":"teenager-abandoned-by-her-mother-struggles-feeding-baby-and-brother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cottontailsonline.com\/world-news\/teenager-abandoned-by-her-mother-struggles-feeding-baby-and-brother\/","title":{"rendered":"Teenager abandoned by her mother struggles feeding baby and brother"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A teenager \u201cabandoned\u201d by her alcoholic mother faces a daily struggle to feed herself and her five-month-old baby.<\/p>\n

Grade six student Bertha, 17, became pregnant last year when she met a man, 20, who promised her he could provide food.<\/p>\n

She told how she faces the added burden of feeding her son Jankel, as well as her brother Liton, 14.<\/p>\n

Bertha said: \u201cThe boy who is the father to my son doesn\u2019t work so the baby has become a challenge in my life. My mom works as a house helper somewhere else so she\u2019s not here to help. It\u2019s a challenge to feed myself and my baby.\u201d<\/p>\n

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My life of suffering started in 2014 when my father died. In 2021, when my mother started drinking heavily and abandoned us, it made our state a terrible one. I now live with my brother alone because we had nowhere else to go.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have one or two other relatives who are working but they don\u2019t show a concern for us which has been difficult. We\u2019re at a tender age and should be under the care of an adult who is able to help with food and clothes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bertha and Liton showed us the small patch of crops behind their home in rural Zambia which produces two bags of maize a year, far from enough to sustain the pair.<\/p>\n

The siblings started living together in 2021. Their father was killed in an axe accident nine years ago.<\/p>\n

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Bertha, who cradles Jankel while he latches onto her, said: \u201cIt\u2019s difficult now to even afford a bag of mealie meal. I live a life of struggle at a young age. I even abandon some activities like being with friends because I need to go out looking for food. I should be at school, with friends.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel bad when I see my friends passing by in their uniforms when I\u2019m just sitting here. I also want to be in school but I have a child and no one to take care of him so it\u2019s delayed my return to school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liton, who hopes to be a tour guide one day, continues to attend Katapila Primary School nearby where he gets a cup of porridge thanks to Mary\u2019s Meals every day.<\/p>\n

He maintains he has no plans to quit school and search for work despite the challenges his family faces.<\/p>\n