An update on the child left outside our friend’s place:
Vincent Kipli or “Kip” is the name of the boy. He is actually three years old, not 18 months like we previously thought. But you wouldn’t be able to tell by his size or development. We had the chance to go visit him the other day and his mother actually came with us. She showed up at the apartment where she left him asking to have him back. He had already been placed in a home and a police report filed, so she was unable to get him back.
In most circumstances it is best for a child to be with its mother. That may be so, but in this case the police, social worker and orphanage director will have to decide what’s best for the child. It looks like it will depend on her finding stable work and a home. She claims that she left the boy in hopes that the father would take responsibility. She is a widow with two other teenage children. She told us that she was convinced by this man that he would marry her and take care of their son, but a few months after Kip was born the father stopped coming around. Come to find out, he is married and has kids of his own and won’t support or acknowledge the child. Long story short it is a sad situation that we hope and pray will be resolved soon and that this child is given the best chance at growing up healthy in all aspects.
Here is a quick video of Kip. He is playing with the flashlight on my key chain. It took a while, but he finally started to smile and laugh. The other child in the video was at the police station when Kip's report was being filed. The police asked our friend to take him with Kip, the child had been there for several days. It seemed like he was happy to have someone to play with. Hope your Internet browser allows it to play because the two are adorable...
