RESIDENTS from New Magwegwe suburb showed the Christmas-giving spirit when they assisted a family that lost property to a fire that gutted their home, days before the special day.
The Ncube home burnt down on December 22 at around 11.30am.
The family is appealing for help to replace important national documents and some of the property they lost.
A bed from a spare bedroom, a wardrobe full of clothes, and school uniforms, documents, a television set, a set of sofas, a kitchen unit full of kitchenware, and a stove were destroyed.
Neighbours saw the flames when the house owner had gone to buy bread.
Residents sacrificed water that they had stored in their homes to put out the fire. The extent of their selflessness can be seen in that most Bulawayo suburbs go for days without water and most residents walk up to 5 kilometres with buckets on their heads.
While some were putting out the fire others took it upon themselves to call the fire brigade and the police. However, the inferno spread too fast and their efforts were in vain.
The blaze destroyed all the property in three of the four rooms at the house. The family was left almost destitute and they did not know how they would enjoy Christmas.
In the merry spirit of the jolly fat man from the North Pole, Residents chipped in by donating a set of second-hand sofas, plates, pots, and water buckets. They contributed money to replace windows that exploded in the fire.
A neighbour, Mr Shelton Moyo, said he saw smoke billowing from the house and ran to investigate.
“I saw people taking precious water from their homes because there was no running water to extinguish the fire. I asked if they had called the fire brigade and l was told they were still looking for the number. Fortunately, l had the number and immediately called them. They responded quickly and came with their own water,” said Mr Moyo.
He said after the unfortunate incident residents came together to raise money and donate the little they had.
In an interview, the family elder Ms Nobesuthu Ncube said they appreciated what the residents had done.
Ms Ncube said she had gone to the shops when she came back to find her neighbours shouting her name, as they stood by watching the fire thinking she was inside.
“The cable that connects our house to power had been sparking for some days. I left home at around 10:20am to get food at the shops. When l returned, l found my neighbours shouting my name as they thought l may be trapped inside the house. I ran towards the back door as l thought maybe l could save some of the property,” said the woman.
She said when she tried to enter the house, there was already too much smoke, so she quickly went out.
“The sofas, water buckets, and plates that are here were all donated by people in our community. They have also contributed money towards buying windows so that when it is raining we are not in trouble,” she said.
However, Ms Ncube said they did not enjoy Christmas because they were still in shock.
“Even my seven-year-old daughter could feel the tense atmosphere as Christmas approached so she did not cry or cause a scene when l told her l did not have Christmas clothes for her and her Christmas food had been destroyed by a fire,” she said.
Ms Ncube said they need help with getting the roof fixed and repainting the walls.
She said the family needs donations of essential property like a stove, lights, beds, and clothes as everything had been destroyed, and starting from scratch was hard.
The family, she said, needs funds to retrieve her niece’s O Level certificate from Zimsec.
“All our national documents and property from the three rooms were destroyed. As it is we do not have any place to securely sleep because the roof was destroyed and should it rain, we are not going to be able to sleep. At the moment we need our walls to be fixed and the asbestos to be replaced. We also need money to replace my niece’s O Level certificate because we honestly do not have money to do it,” said Ms Ncube.
She said she would go to the registrar’s office after the holiday.
The family can be contacted on 0779 636 238 – The Chronicle
