By Vanessa Braithwaite

THE family of Cinderella City, Amelia’s Ward, Linden, whose home was destroyed in a Good Friday fire on Tuesday, has received a courtesy visit from Region 10 officials who gave family members vinyl, mattresses and curtains in a bid to help them get back on their feet.

The Regional team consisted of Chairman Renis Morian, Vice Chairman Elroy Adolph, newly-elected councillors of Constituency 1 and councillors of the Region 10 Regional Democratic Council (RDC). Nadia Johnson, who collected the articles on behalf of the affected family, was very emotional, especially during the tour of what remained of her home.
The young mother said she did not know where to start, as she had a fully furnished home that was built less than three years ago, and everything was lost in a matter of minutes.

Now staying with her three children — aged two, three and four — at her mother’s home, Johnson plans to occupy the bottom flat of the building and gradually rebuild the entire home.

On Saturday, the councillors and members of the community will take part in a cleanup exercise at Johnson’s burnt-out building, as plans are to rebuild the home with the help of the corporate community.

In consoling Johnson, Regional Chairman Morian told her of his neighbour’s house which was burnt down but was rebuilt with help from the community. “By the time that man house rebuild, he got a better house than the one he had before it burn,” he told her.

Councillor Rawl Friday offered to provide Johnson’s children with school uniforms in time for schools’ reopening on Monday.

On Good Friday morning, Johnson left her three children at home to sell eggs, and in less than five minutes, her children were rescued from the burning home. Efforts to save furniture from the home were unsuccessful. Johnson’s husband, who last Wednesday returned to work in Suriname, is trying to get a flight back to Guyana to be with his family during this trying time.