Mother of 30

Mama Jamale is a surrogate mother to more than 30 children. She has helped two generations of SOS Village children and looks forward to supporting many more.

How many children have you raised to date?

30 [laughs]

Wow, do you remember every one of them?

Are you kidding? Of course! They’re still in my life and I still follow theirs. Some are married, one in particular got married in the SOS Village. One got married in my parents’ house.

What about your current children?

Now I have seven children. The eldest is 16 and the youngest is seven; two boys and five girls. This is just your average family, I often forget that we’re part of an organization. There’s a large group of people behind the upbringing, it’s not just me. In my house it’s my job but we let the experts do their jobs.

What’s the youngest child you’ve ever had?

I had a 5-day old girl. She’s 18 now and no longer lives with us but is in the studio with the other teens. She still sleeps over sometimes on the weekends and we’re in touch all the time. She’s my daughter you know. My seven year-old was brought in when she was three months old, my 14 year-old came in when she was ten months old and my eldest was a year and a half old when she was brought in.

Why are they brought in at such a young age?

Social issues. Typically the mother is not there or not available. Most of these kids have families outside and we interfere on the behalf of the children only if the need arises. The families sometimes see their kids once a month and we try to keep some level of communication between them all.

Are you getting more children in these days? And does this reflect a social problem?

Once upon a time families were tightly knit units. It’s not like that anymore. Women marry young, men leave their wives, parents have children before they’re ready. The family unit is breaking apart. Sometimes there’s just no money, no home or no job. You never know what’ll happen, having a child is not an easy decision.

Do any of the kids ever reunite with their families?

Some, but it’s a tricky business. We study each case independently, and when we think that the chances of a child returning to his family are good, we have a halfway system for that. But many children are here to stay, and once a child’s been here for a while you can’t thrust him back into another family. You can’t just reprogram him. We try to predict these things.

What brought you here?

Wow, well I’ve been here since ’82. I love kids and I knew that I could never bring any into this world myself, with the country the way it is. People were dying and disappearing and I knew about the SOS in Bhersaf. I had read an article about them, loved the idea and wanted to try it out. I joined up for my two month trial and before I knew it a few decades had passed.

What’s your favorite place in the country?

Here in the south. I love the SOS village but the area here is beautiful. I love living here.