HUNGRY PEOPLE ARE LOOTING SHOPS IN VENEZUELA

MADONNA AND CHILD

After I cooked Kudu mincemeat meatballs, rice and gem-squashes for me and my wife and daughter I am feeling quite desperate to look at and read reports of hungry people looting shops for food. You can access the link here.

And I am reminded of an incident some 40 years back when I had to prosecute a young mother who fell on hard times.

I recall the young mother [she was about 18 years old at the time] I had to prosecute for shoplifting in the Booysens area, in greater Johannesburg. She was employed by a big company as a saleslady.  The dress she wore was so washed out and thin that you could almost see her skin beneath it. The image I recall of her was of a woman who was desperate; life was tough, very tough and she braved it alone. Well, I thought she was alone. It was before our first child was borne and so baby diapers were academic for me. My wife regularly bought skim-milk for us. 

Then she stole baby diapers and skim-milk. This tells you that she was not alone - there was someone she had to care for even if it calls for stealing. 

She looked at me, then she looked at the magistrate; she started talking and she told the court her story. She was a single mom because the father of the child absconded and just ran away. She had to fend for herself - she couldn't rely on her parents either. Her baby needed diapers and was hungry. The court found her guilty of theft and then gave her a fatherly talk. The magistrate advised her not to steal again, but rather approach her employer and ask for food and diapers. 

Shall I ever forget this incident? It happened about 40 years ago and I can still feel her eyes on me. 

There were some hungry people in Venezuela who lost their lives after they clashed with riot control police officers. What a dreadful thing to go on the rampage to get food and then only to be met with bullets and to die not of hunger but of a bullet.

I don't even know whether I want to put up a photograph - shall I publish a photo of the looters? Or the Police with their guns at the ready? I think the Police must have been quite upset for enforcing law and order in the face of desperate hungry people. Yes, we should maintain law and order; but on the other hand what hand does the Venezuelan government have in creating a situation like this?

While I was typing I thought of a photograph I took of a young mother and her baby - I call it MADONNA AND CHILD. Maybe this is the most appropriate photo. What do yo think?