With most of the major shopping malls cleaned out of stocks and almost burned to the ground, the Coronavirus Action Committee (COVAC) has pulled in volunteers from the Nelson Mandela Youth Centre, other organisations, bikers and seasoned roti-making mothers to make and distribute the flatbreads, keeping hunger at bay.
According to Clive Pillay from COVAC, the volunteers kicked off a heart-warming revolution.
“Amid all the doom and gloom today, we got a call from RK Khan Hospital saying that there was no bread and other food line items for patients. Thereafter, we received a call from Aryan Benevolent Home (ABH) also appealing for bread for their children’s home and the aged. When they called out saying there was no bread, we said let them eat roti! We assure you that we kicked off a heart-warming revolution, unlike the violent one Queen Marie-Antoinette started. We had happy people anxiously awaiting delivery,” he said.
Pillay said that it was a learning experience for all as they rolled out and toasted over 500 rotis on hot ‘thavas’.
Naren Puttundeen, CEO of ABH said that if the looting and violence continues, it will spell disaster for all.
He said: “Our staff are an extremely special set of individuals that take care of our elderly residents and our children. They are stressed and anxious knowing that these disruptions mean that there will be less income. Our residents are just as stressed and are in a panic as they try to understand what exactly is going on.”
With limited stocks, care facilities in Chatsworth are relying on the goodwill and humanitarianism of residents to see these dark times through.
