Toddler's two kilometer walk casts light on poverty stricken families
A Durban-based child rights organisation
says the rescue of a 2-year-old girl this past weekend, has brought the
country's heartbreaking levels of poverty into the spotlight.
Operation Bobbi Bear was called to take in the toddler, who local security had spotted walking alone in Illovo, in early hours of Saturday morning.
The group's Eureka Olivier believes the child trekked some 2-kilometres away from her home, in an informal settlement.
She says the little girl's mother - who woke up and realised her baby wasn't there - searched frantically for her at police stations nearby:
"It's just a very bad case of poverty. Mom had been working, she also lost her job during covid and she's got two little girls and she is trying to make ends meet. She lived in a very bad rundown house,” Olivier said.
“The door can’t even close never mind lock and the mom is on medication. It’s a one-bedroom shack,” she added.
Olivier says they'll offer the family a helping hand.
