Even now two months on from the 27th of August we are meeting people who had their lives turned upside down. We have been working with a family whose four bedroomed rented property was undermined by a tiny stream that turned into a raging torrent. The pillars gave way and the whole structure crashed down 30 feet with the family in it. Maria told me how she lay there wondering whether her body was still in one piece and then heard her daughter and granddaughter calling her. They disentangled themselves from the rubble and moved to one side as the remaining pieces of the home crashed down exactly where she had been. All the houses round them in Upper Canefield are intact you would think the house had been deliberately demolished. After two months squatting in an abandoned hotel with unsafe electrics and dysfunctional plumbing they are moving this weekend into a rented apartment together with their goat , pet sheep, little dog and a bus that is their income generator. They have borrowed a stove and a fridge and are sleeping on mattresses we got from the Baptist Church. However her other daughter ,who was not there at the time, could so easily have been looking back on three funerals they are just giving God thanks for life. Meanwhile I met another family this week who are being very well looked after in the Canefield Urban Council building. Their shack was swept away from the side of the ravine. Unlike their original home, in the shelter, they have running water, electricity, food, and support from lots of "aunties" with their new born baby and toddler. I suspect they are hoping they are last on the list for rehousing. Whilst it must have been a terrifying experience they are obviously safe and sound and seeing the storm as opening doors for them to receive love and support that they would not otherwise have known.
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TIna Alexander
Director, Lifeline Ministries Archives
December 2017
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