Bleak Christmas looms for mother of two after home goes up in flames
MONANNIA BUDRAM, mother of two, was making plans to have her house repainted for Christmas as well as acquiring some more much-needed items for it. That all went up in flames on Thursday, November 11, when she awoke to the realisation that her house was ablaze.
Reliving the event with The Gleaner, Budram said she came in from the shop where she worked. With the house in darkness due to electricity being out, she lit a candle and set about preparing something to eat.
She went to relax in the couch and dozed off. Her spouse woke her up and told her to go to bed, which she did, promptly falling asleep.
Budram explained that she awoke sometime later to what sounded like a storm outside.
“I was saying to myself, I didn’t hear about any storm and I didn’t see the rain falling, so I was there still listening and lying in the bed. Then I heard like footsteps on the rooftop, which sounded like somebody a come in on the house,” she shared. She made an alarm and called to her spouse after hearing the sounds of the windows being pulled out. Thinking someone was trying to get into the house, she woke her spouse, who promptly got up to investigate.
It was then he made the alarm that the house was on fire. Quick action saw her getting the children out of their beds and trying to see what she could save.
A washing machine, which she used on the veranda, and a few pieces of clothing were all she could manage to salvage before the fury of the fire took everything else.
Budram tearfully shared that the fire has totally devastated and traumatised her and her family. Added to that, she has to deal with the unkind words of some in the Rowe Town community of Mason River, Clarendon, who are accusing her of being careless and casting blame on her for the fire.
Councillor for the division, Noel Nembhard, who has been mobilising assistance for her, said there has been no official report from the fire department or from the police. He instead blasted the Jamaica Public Service for their slow response to a downed tree in the community, which resulted in the power cut.
“It took three days after our report for them to fix the problem. That is not good enough. They are not the same JPS that we know,” he complained.
Nembhard said he had already contacted the agencies in the parish regarding assistance for Budram, and although he would be of assistance, the scope of help needed was beyond what he could do.
It will be a hard road getting back on her feet as Budram said her children, who are eight and five, need clothes, a bed, and any other furniture she can get. They also need gadgets for school, as her son’s tablet was destroyed in the fire.
In addition to her trying to rebuild, she must continue to pay for the six-burner stove she took out on hire purchase from Courts and which has been destroyed in the fire. She is hoping that they can defer the payment until she is able to resume making payments.
The house – three bedrooms, bathroom, living room, and veranda – is totally burnt and the forecast for Budram is bleak as she said she has been advised that to rebuild, she would have to have it decked, which means strengthening with columns, and it is something her mother, who owns it and who lives in the States, is unable to take on right now.
Nembhard, who is standing by her side throughout the crisis, said he is hoping that she will be able to get a Food For The Poor home temporarily for her and the children, as there is no telling how long her current living situation will last.
“She needs some help. I am going to do my best as the councillor, but it bigger than me.”