Clarendon Family Loses Home Ahead of Christmas

A Clarendon family is homeless after a fire ravaged their home over a week ago. While the family has learned to cope, the mother says the pressure of helping to provide for her family is mounting.

The family of four escaped injury with just the clothes on their back. They now cling to a bucket of paint and a desire to rebuild. As the festive season approaches, many Jamaicans have begun to prepare their homes in anticipation of a celebration. But there is no celebration for Molanie Budram and her family who lost their home to a fire on the night of November 11.

Molannie recounts how she had finished cooking dinner for her husband and two children when the light went. She lit three candles, one placed on the top of a fridge in the kitchen. Before bedtime, she says all but that one was put out. When she woke up it was to the sound of her home on fire. She managed to get out of the house with her family.

They now live with relatives in Rowe Town, Clarendon. Molannie earns her keep as a shop owner in the area. Though it’s been just over a week since the incident Melonnie still finds it hard to talk about the fire.

She has another hurdle to jump. With her 8-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son due to start school in January, all their supplies have been lost in the fire. She is appealing not only to her councilor but to anyone who can help.