Subsequent to all this however, Patricia’s grandmother Piwai came to JCT to advise that Patricia had now started behaving in erratic ways. She reported that Patricia was now in the habit of just leaving home without telling her grandmother where she was going and had started stealing her grandmother’s money when she did so. On all these occasions, Patricia would take her baby with her and the grandmother was now worried that both Patricia and the baby would come to some harm. On one occasion, Patricia left home and after 3 days, Piwai received a message that Patricia had taken rat poison and that she should come and get Patricia’s baby. When Piwai called back on the cell phone number used to send the message, the lady who answered professed ignorance of the matter, saying that she had only assisted with the use of the phone. When Patricia arrived in Harare, her grandmother told her to go to her uncle’s house as she was angry at what had been done to Patricia and she wanted the rest of the family to intervene. She felt that her sister should have brought Patricia to Harare herself and sought her forgiveness and provided an explanation of what had happened to Patricia while under her care. Because she had not done so, she wanted Patricia to go back to Rusape. Patricia went to the police and asked them to accompany her to her uncle’s home in Kuwadzana 6. The uncle tried to talk to the grandmother but she said insisted that Patricia should go back to Rusape. Patricia went to Headlands police station and stayed there for 2 days before she was referred to Simukai Organisation in Rusape. It was at this time that Patricia was brought to Justice for Children by a Childline community volunteer. She was now 6 months pregnant. Patricia subsequently received some cash assistance from Justice for Children to help with accessing urgent medical care that she needed at the time. JCT also conducted court monitoring to ensure that the criminal case was properly handled. One cannot begin to describe the heartache in Piwai’s voice when she talks about her granddaughter Patricia and the tragic experiences the family has gone through. She is bewildered by Patricia’s conduct and blames herself for what Patricia is going through. At the time of writing, Piwai had not seen Patricia for 5 months despite her best efforts to locate her. For Piwai, it has been five months of sleepless nights, wondering how her granddaughter is and whether she is alive and well. She has tried calling Patricia on the numbers she used to use, but she has not had any luck. She has asked friends and acquaintances of Patricia’s, but has not had any luck. As we wrap up the interview she has only one plea “please help me bring Patricia back home”. 24 20