There has been a devastating fire in our area of the Eastern Cape, which has deep repercussions for many affected, including some of our clients.
Here is a report just received from One to One Africa Country Director Julia Bishop:
“Enable Project Manager Afikile Dabe and the team are on the ground at the moment trying to assess the extent of the fire damage and the impact on our team and clients. Here is what they have been able to ascertain so far:
The fire seems to have started late afternoon Sunday (reached other areas on Monday). The cause at this stage is unclear, some say someone was smoking and threw a cigarette butt on the ground. They are estimating that about 100 households were affected – I think we will know the extent a bit later. Families lost everything - clothing, food, personal documents. Livestock were destroyed as well
The One to One team is still failing to get hold of the 4 Mentor Mothers who stay in that area. On the way, Afikile identified 4 clients' houses that were destroyed, there are more clients who live further down, where the fire originated, they may have been affected too.
A woman and her child died trying to save her ID. I've asked the team to prioritise getting in touch with the Mentor Mothers in that area to make sure they are safe and sound. My understanding is that the two fatalities were not clients of ours, but I will let you know if I get more information on that.
We've transferred R20k to help buy some basic necessities, but once we have a better sense of the damage and impact (especially on our Mentor Mothers and clients), we will need to come up with a plan as to how best to support them. I'll keep you posted as things develop on the ground and we get more information.”
One to One Children’s Fund will be allocating an initial R100,000 to provide emergency support particularly to our Mentor Mothers and their client families who have lost all their possessions. Chairman David Altschuler said, “They have so little and have painstakingly accumulated their possessions over years and years... one has to ask, why them?” Trustee Jonathan Penkin reacted similarly: “The pain endured by impoverished people in SA is unbearable. It’s just one thing after another.”