The family of 28-year-old South African teacher Cowan Titus is desperately seeking information after he went missing during the devastating earthquake in Myanmar on March 28.
Seven days into the search, his mother Samantha speaks about their ongoing hope and the dedicated search efforts by his colleagues.
Samantha said Cowan was meant to leave Myanmar on March 31 to visit South Africa for a month-long holiday during their vacation. But on March 28, as schools were preparing to close, the earthquake struck.
“It has been 7 days and we still have no news about Cowan but we are not giving up and neither are his amazing friends and colleagues in Myanmar. The principal and his close friends and co-workers are at the site everyday, not stopping and not giving up hope until they find him," said Samantha.
The 28-year-old moved from the Bluff to the city of Mandalay in Myanmar a year ago to start his teaching career. He lived alone in an apartment.
According to reports, the earthquake's epicentre was located 16km north-west of the town of Sagaing. This is also near Myanmar's second-largest city, Mandalay, with a population of about 1.5 million people.
Samantha said she knew something was wrong when she could not get a hold of Cowan.
“I check in and chat with Cowan every day and when I tried to call him on Friday morning and messaged him, nothing went through. I tried the whole of Friday and even the early hours of Saturday and still nothing.
"A mother’s intuition told me to turn on the news and to my dismay, I saw the breaking news about the massive earthquake. I was shaking and crying not knowing how and who to contact to check on my son."
She decided to get in touch with the South African Embassy in Thailand.
“After calling them, they checked and told me that Cowan was missing. That was the worst possible news anyone could get.
"We went through his social media to look for friends and I managed to get some names and started messaging them. His friends are such amazing people and started giving us details about the incident and regular updates and the progress of the search and rescue mission,” she said.
The family said they put their faith in God to bring him back safely.
“Schools were closing on Friday, so he was coming home to spend time with us. We were meant to pick him up on Tuesday morning at the airport."
She said they were not coping.
"But I have vowed to never stop believing and to never give up. We are praying and declaring our faith in God's grace and trust that he is coming home alive."