Mother of seven and children found living in squalor

One of the twins being fed her ‘tea’ of tap water and sugar.

A little boy dashes down the street. He is stark naked. He pays no attention to the approaching car. He is focused on the small green fruit in his hand that he is hungrily chomping on. Two older children join him. As the car slows alongside them, they look curiously at its occupants. This close, it is clear that the small boy is eating an unripe soursop.

Adults are on the veranda of the house where the car finally stops and when an enquiry is made about the children’s mother, they quickly said she had “gone up the road.” Just behind this house is the frame of an unfinished building with no windows and only sand for the flooring. Inside there is evidence that it is being dwelled in, but its abject squalor is shocking.