Slum fire isn't news

The fire men always zoom late to the fire zones, packing their heavy autos away from the blaze hard to encroach the melting iron sheets that once women laid on beds to have another poor child. They sometimes seem to report a witness for allowance. They never waste their precious pressure water on poor people. Even the siren of the vehicles as it rotates to the site sounds to sing a sweet dirge. It no longer startles people. We are used to it. It burnt in the neighbourhood the other day and yesterday alike. Today the flames chose our block. And all we could do was to save what was on our bodies and pockets. The rest, our earthly belongings was left to the previous life of fire. It is as if we died yet we dint. Funny.

Below is a sample report of loses families go through. It is for Heart to Heart Orphans Organization.  I am a volunteer.

On 2^nd August Evelyn decided to shift from her small house to one of a larger space just a few meters away. On 4^th August, Sunday, coming back from the church, she was welcomed by a fire that was burning her house among others. It was the most painful moment in her life after the death of her husband in 2011.

Evelyn is a widow with a responsibility of taking care of her four children through schooling and home needs. Her girl child of twenty is presently nursing a one-year old child. Her source of income is unpredictable laundry activities in the neighbourhood. Once Heart to Heart office offered capital and training to start a fish monger micro-business but it did not last to expand and help her family.

On Sunday the 4^th, she and her children were baptized at Uhuru Highway Lutheran Church. It was a special day for the family and they had left home happy expecting to come back with a blessing. The day had been good and the family arrived home happy and in need of a rest. The children were sleepy. Little did they know that they won’t have a comfortable sleep for some days hence.

The fire was heavily blazing beyond control when they arrived. Grapevine has it that it was started by a faulty water heater which had been left unattended by the tenant. She had gone out to fetch water. Evelyn couldn’t believe it. It was hard to believe that she was not going to save anything.

One infant, three months old died in the event when the mother could not run away with her. Any items that could be saved were thrown outside. People with wrong motives used the chance to rob. Evelyn could trace her bed on Monday but it was converted to wood already. At the time of visit, local youths were still extracting more sellable items from the aftermath.

A nearby friend and neighbour presently accommodate the family. On the fateful day, Kenya Red Cross Society arrived at the event and provided services as food and recorded the affected families with a promise to help the affected. She is not sure of any coming help.

On the faces of the children, happiness cannot be discerned. The event may be a nightmare to them as it is to many inhabitants around. Most people are shifting from the area and Evelyn thinks of moving from Pipeline, Tasia area to somewhere else in the capital. Loose electrical wire rings can be identified on the paths. Sewage water runs below them.

But life goes on, waiting for another fire.