‘The children are not safe here’: the Nigerian couple fighting infanticide
Nigerian couple Olushola and Chinwe Stevens have been rescuing children deemed 'cursed' by traditional beliefs since 1996, providing refuge for over 200 children at their Vine Heritage Home Foundation. Their work addresses persistent infanticide practices in rural communities near Abuja, where children born after maternal death, with disabilities, or as twins are sometimes killed or abandoned according to traditional beliefs.
Summary
The story follows the work of Olushola and Chinwe Stevens, Christian missionaries who established the Vine Heritage Home Foundation in 2004 to rescue children condemned by traditional beliefs in rural Nigerian communities. Their work began after discovering that some children were still being killed, poisoned, or abandoned due to beliefs that certain children bring curses - particularly those born with disabilities, twins, or after their mothers died in childbirth. The couple has rescued over 200 children over 20 years, with 75% coming after maternal death. Nigeria has the world's highest maternal mortality rate, with one in 100 women dying during childbirth. The home operates near Abuja, serving isolated communities with poor healthcare and infrastructure. Children like Esther Stevens, who was nearly buried alive with her deceased mother as a newborn, now thrive at the facility. The Stevens originally planned to reintegrate children into their communities as agents of change, but this vision has largely failed due to language barriers, educational gaps, and persistent community resistance. Some children have been successfully returned to families, but others face danger or rejection. The work has taken a severe toll on the founders - Chinwe Stevens is now seriously ill and depends on donations for medical care. The home struggles financially due to Nigeria's economic crisis and lacks formal organizational structure. Despite government denial of these practices, surveys show 16% of men in affected areas still support infanticide. ActionAid and other organizations have worked to address the root beliefs through community development programs, achieving some success in stopping killings in four communities. The couple continues their work with help from local missionaries and Islamic clerics, though the challenge of changing deeply entrenched traditional beliefs persists.
About this episode
In a few isolated communities in central Nigeria, some babies are believed to be bad omens. Olusola and Chinwe Stevens run a thriving home for babies at risk. But what happens when the families want them back? By Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani. Read by Nneka Okoye. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>
Key Insights
- According to human rights activist Leo Igwe, certain traditional Nigerian communities still believe that when a mother dies in childbirth, it is the fault of the child, leading to infanticide practices.
- The Stevens discovered that 75% of children at Vine Heritage Home are there because their mothers died in childbirth, reflecting Nigeria's status as the world's most dangerous country for giving birth according to 2023 UN data.
- ActionAid's 2019 survey of 57 villages around Abuja found that 16% of male respondents openly expressed support for infanticide practices, despite government officials claiming such practices don't exist.
- The Stevens' original vision of returning rescued children to their communities as agents of change has largely failed due to language barriers, educational disparities, and persistent community resistance to the children they once rejected.
- ActionAid strategically approaches communities by focusing first on development issues like healthcare and education, only later addressing infanticide under maternal and child health programs, because direct confrontation would cause communities to reject their help.
- The Nigerian federal capital territory government initially summoned the Stevens in 2013, accusing them of spreading falsehoods and damaging Nigeria's image, but later commissioned them to run awareness campaigns after being shown evidence.
- Some children who were successfully returned to their families later had to be brought back to the home due to community elder resentment and safety concerns, as happened with eight-year-old Monday whose grandfather feared for his life.
- Chinwe Stevens' health has severely deteriorated from years of caring for hundreds of children while neglecting her own wellbeing, and she now depends on donations to cover her medical expenses including regular dialysis.
Topics
Transcript
This is The Guardian. This article contains some themes listeners may find upsetting. Take care while listening. Welcome to The Guardian Long Read, showcasing the best long-form journalism covering culture, politics and new thinking. For the text version of this and all our long reads, go to theguardian.com forward slash long read. The Children Are Not Safe Here, The Nigerian Couple Fighting Infanticide by Adobitrisha Mwabani, read by Nneka Okoye. Esther Stevens' life nearly ended as soon as it began. She was born in 2007 in a village on the outskirts of Abuja, Nigeria's capital city. Her mother, died giving birth to her, and in the eyes of some villagers, that meant the baby was cursed. According to tradition, there…
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