Christmas baby alive and kicking

ONE-week-old Chris Mazon Emmanuel was snuggled safely in the arms of his “new mum” at her ATS settlement home at Eight-Mile, on the northern side of Jackson International Airport, yesterday when The National met him for the first time.
Chris looked so content in his sleep that it was hard to believe that only a week ago, this new-born was abandoned, probably left to die, in a dirty bag.
The woman who found him, Francisca Ae – affectionately known as “Mama Rat” – thanked people who had been visiting, bringing baby clothes and other presents for Chris.
“I will be dedicating baby Chris to God this Sunday, to thank Him for giving me the baby,” she said.
Yesterday, “Mama Rat” recalled how their paths crossed last Tuesday when she had woken up to go look for betelnut and cigarettes.
For some reason, she walked past her usual betelnut seller, past the main market at the bus-stop and joined the early risers who were rushing to work.
There, she noticed the dirty bag, hanging on a thin branch of a sapling and asked bystanders what it was.
She said that no one was interested. “I peeped in and saw the baby, it was all blue and cold and I thought it was dead.
“I tapped his cheek and he started to cry! And I started to cry tears of joy!”
Mama Rat knew the baby was newborn because it was covered in blood and the umbilical cord was still attached.
She said she rushed home, washed the baby with warm water and took him to the hospital.
Chris Mazon weighed 4.2kg, a normal term baby.
Daughter Rose Ae said her mother was asthmatic and her family believed Chris was a gift from God to extend her mother’s life to bring up the child “whose future only God knows”.
“Mum was offered K2,000 for Chris by a bus driver who was on the scene but she will not sell the child. She will accept money to care for Chris,” she said.
“Mama Rat” has not heard from the Department of Community Development on what the future holds for Chris Mazon Emmanuel.