On Wednesday, community development workers and Gadra opened their hearts to the Thomas family of Tantyi after they lost their five roomed house in a fire over the weekend.
On Wednesday, community development workers and Gadra opened their hearts to the Thomas family of Tantyi after they lost their five roomed house in a fire over the weekend.
Phumla Thomas says she was outside her house when she discovered that the second house on the property was burning. She called out to her neighbours to come and help her to put it out.They quickly arrived with buckets and tried their level best to quench the ever increasing flames. When the fire brigade arrived, the fire had already consumed two rooms. The house was occupied by her son, Lonwabo Thomas who was fortunately not in the house at the time it burned down. The bedroom, a room for storage, a garage and a chicken coop were all reduced to ashes. Although there were no lives claimed in the fire, Phumla’s husband, Sydney says he lost 50 chickens and says now he has to "start all over again." Sydney said the items lost in the fire included a fridge, TV and their son’s clothes. The Thomas family don’t know what caused the fire but they suspect that it was arson. A while ago, an argument broke out between their son and his friend, who at one point had allegedly threatened to burn the house down.
After hearing about the fire, community development workers offered assistance to the family by contacting Gadra, which donated food parcels and blankets to the family. Andisa Meltafa, one of the workers says they assist members of the community when they are in need by refering them to relevant organisations.The Thomas family offered their gratitude to Gadra, the community development workers and their neighbours for helping them in their time of need.
