The homeless and shoeless Ettienne Koch can now put his best foot forward after receiving donations from the public and in so doing, he has made contact with his mother.
After an article published by the Herald in which was stated that Ettienne’s shoes were stolen while he was sleeping on the street, the community as well as the Herald offices donated shoes and clothing to Ettienne.
After a long search for Ettienne who was later discovered to have gone away to his favourite streets in Sandton, the Herald could hand over the collected items.
Ettienne then learned that his mother had gotten in touch with the Herald in a bid to make contact with her estranged son. On the day of the handover, Ettienne got a chance to speak to his mother for the first time in eight years.
His mother, Erika Buitendag, was in tears when she heard his voice again. His family is currently trying to make a way for him to come to Cape Town where they reside to take him off the streets and admit him to rehab.
Unfortunately the family is not in a financial position to fully support Ettienne in the way they would like to. They would like to enrol him in the School of Fire in the Northern Cape which is both a rehab and bible school.
The family currently gathering funding to get Ettienne to Cape Town and for his rehab. For more information regarding Ettienne’s funding, his mother can be contacted on 081 416 9191.
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Also read:
Shoeless man wanted. have you seen him?
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