Migue Rios started a passionate revolution when he posted a heartbreaking picture of a poverty-stricken little girl – desperate to quench her thirst – crouching on her hands and knees as she tries to drink water from a roadside puddle.
The picture, which has shocked people across the globe, shows a girl who looks maximum three to four years old and hails from the indigenous Mbya Guarani community in Argentina.
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She was quenching her thirst during the widespread heatwave across the area, which caused temperatures to soar to 37°C. The child is also said to be among many other kids who beg for money during the day, all over the city of Posadas, located in north-east South America.
Migue, who posted the video, is a voluntary worker who has now started a national debate which has crossed his native Argentinean borders after the photo – taken by a local journalist – went viral.
Working for UNICEF Argentina and based in Posadas, Migue captioned the touching photo with: "While the country is on fire, this little Guarani girl hydrates herself from the ground. We must be doing something wrong as a society, mustn't we?"
Also mentioning that the little girl was later on seen by doctors, Migue added, "Why did I post the photo? So that we finally start talking as a society about a problem which we often don't do anything about because no-one highlights it, while those who should do something just carry on lining their pockets."
A local news website, Misiones Online, explained the story behind the photo, also revealing that one of their reporters had taken it around 1pm on Wednesday.
"A Misiones Online journalist was driving along Mitre Avenue when he stopped at a traffic light and saw the crude scene, which regrettably often happens in the centre of Posadas."
"Youngsters from the Mbya Guarani community who are exploited by adults in their community beg for money in the city. And although they're always being helped, they resist when it comes to abandoning the area because their earnings are greater than what they could make in their villages."
"The journalist, who lives in the area, is used to seeing these sorts of scenes but he got out his camera and sent the photo to colleagues to see if more could be done to help them. [...] These children were helped in that way, as well as many families living on the streets in the city."
"Municipal and provincial governors help them on repeated occasions, even taking them back to the villages they come from, but they usually end up returning a short while later to beg for money again."
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Ana Mari Gimenez Pons wrote: "I would be ashamed if I were a millionaire boasting about my luxury lifestyle while others die of hunger."
Tamara Lamirona added: "Put yourself in the place of that little girl and what she must fell or imagine your children in that situation!!"
