Help Embo flood victims stay warm

PHILANTHROPIST, Carol Schroeder, and Ward 8 councillor, Marco Mbambo, have turned to the public to ask for help to repair Ebeh Hall in Embo, which has become a temporary home for 66 flood victims.

With uncertainty about the period that the families are going to spend at the hall, Schroeder said they saw a need to appeal for material to make the hall warm and homely.

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“We are approaching the winter season, it is cold in here, there are 29 children who are forced to play on the cold concrete, the windows have holes, the ceiling is open and the doors cannot close properly,” said Schroeder who runs the NGO, Twinkle Star Foundation.

Schroeder, with help from her husband, runs a soup kitchen every Thursday for the grannies and grandpas in the Embo area.

Councillor Mbambo said all they needed was material and he will organise men from the community to help with the labour.

“We understand that the hall is a temporary solution but for now it is their home and we have to make their stay comfortable,” he said.

He highlighted that there were issues with the toilets that were not working properly

“The kitchen also needs attention and we need gutters for the JoJo tank.”

Mbambo said the families in the hall get food from the municipality soup kitchen and private donors.

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The families in the Ebeh Hall are not the only people that have been affected by the floods as there is another group, which has been placed at the Methodist church in the area, who are also in need.

Schroeder added that if she had the means, she would feed the people everyday but does not have enough food and most of the time, she buys it with money from her own pocket.

One of the elderly people residing at the hall, Gladys Khumalo, said she was forced to leave her home, in which she has stayed for more than 40 years.

Khumalo told the Highway Mail that her five-roomed house collapsed during the floods.

“I will never forget that day – it was in the morning, I was in my bedroom and had just finished my porridge. One of the bedrooms collapsed, they shouted for me to come out, others came to help me out as I am old and struggle to walk properly.

“We had just stepped to safety when the kitchen fell, then it was the dining room. My bedroom is just hanging. I struggle to sleep and the only think that comforts me is singing, we just sit here with my grandchildren during the day and sing.

She said her house is now filled with trees and sand. ” We were lucky that it happened while we were awake, the amount of sand would have buried us, we are surprised that we all made it out alive. Many of our neighbours lost their loved ones,” she said.

“We are grateful for this hall and I have no complaints as we get food and clothes assistance, but I would appreciate to get a home soon,” said Khumalo

To assist the flood victims at the hall and the church, contact Carol Schroeder on 083 777 7369 or Marco Mbambo on 073 688 4825.