A TOTAL of 28 girls are now in urgent need of clothing after a fire on Monday morning demolished an upstairs section of the Shaheed’s Girls’ Orphanage, located at Oleander Gardens, East Coast Demerara.
The fire, which began around 11:00 hours, is believed to have been caused by a faulty electrical ceiling fan in the dressing room of the orphanage, according to Acting Fire Chief, Kalamadeen Edoo.
The investigation revealed that one of the elderly caretakers of the orphanage was alerted of the fire by one of the younger girls, who noticed smoke emanating from the small room. Upon inspection, the fire was discovered, and the caretaker immediately summoned the Guyana Fire Service. The firemen arrived promptly and managed to contain the small blaze in record time.
No injuries were reported, as the caretakers were successful in getting all of the residents of the orphanage to safety, but the fire completely destroyed the dressing room, which housed the clothing and toiletries for the girls, aged three to 17, as well as the surrounding walls and a section of the roof.
“We usually need public assistance, but of course, we didn’t anticipate this,” expressed Director of the Orphanages, Raheema Rahaman on Monday. “Now we have to get the roof; we have to get the walls fixed. For the dressing room and that area to be fixed back, it’s going to be a lot of money. The girls need clothing as well.”
As a result, they are seeking public assistance.
“The only clothes they (the girls) have left is the ones that are hung out on the line,” secretary of the orphanages, Merissa Permaul, explained. “And it’s only a few pieces.”
The girls have since been temporarily relocated to the Shaheed Boys Orphanage, at 157 Alexander Street, Kitty.
Sharia Yasin-Bacchus, Rahaman’s daughter, who is also a member of the board of directors of the orphanage, explained that the girls will be occupying a separate flat from the boys.
“Nobody’s injured, but they’re scared, I imagine. But we had child services over here to make sure they’re okay. However, there’s no severe damage done, so they should be back over here, in their home,” she stressed.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time such an incident has occurred at the orphanage.
In October 2018, the orphanage suffered a more severe loss when the building was gutted by a fire that started in the lower flat of the building. Since its reconstruction in 2019, the orphanage had not recorded any additional fires before yesterday. Thankfully, the orphanage was not as severely damaged in this instance.
“It’s very unfortunate,” Rahaman lamented, in a brief interview with this publication. “I can only hope that we get the assistance we need.”
