A Walmer Location creche for more than 60 children that was destroyed by fire at the weekend is being rebuilt, thanks to the intervention of two anonymous donors.
Other help has also been pouring in for Eluvuyeni PreSchool as concerned people make generous donations through the Walmer Angels nonprofit organisation.
The creche was destroyed by a fire on Sunday, leaving the owner devastated.
The blaze, believed to have started early in the morning, razed both the zinc creche and the house of creche owner Thandiswa Goniwe, leaving her family with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
Goniwe, 66, said she had noticed smoke after 6am when she had woken up to open the windows, but dismissed it as coming from the nearby dip.
“I was in the house when the fire started, along with my two younger grandchildren [aged three and two years old].
“I had woken up around 5am to open the curtains in the lounge area, then I went back to bed,” Goniwe said.
“About an hour later, I started hearing a funny crackling noise but I ignored it.
“There was also a whiff of smoke and I thought it was the usual burning of waste at the tip,” she said.
Goniwe said that moments later she noticed smoke inside her shack home.
“When I got up, I noticed smoke was coming from the front. I rushed towards the smoke because I could hear my eldest grandchild trying to knock down the door,” an emotional Goniwe said.
She said at this time the fire started to spread and her grandchildren started crying from the bedroom.
“Eventually the eldest managed to kick down the door.
“We got out the house and all I had on was my underwear.
“I don’t know what caused the fire.”
Goniwe’s neighbour and nephew, Mzukisi Rala, 39, said he had tried to put out the fire with his hosepipe, to no avail.
“We couldn’t save anything.
“Myself and some neighbours started clearing the ruins later on Sunday afternoon, then the municipality came to flatten the surface and take away the rubble,” Rala said.
Goniwe said she told Walmer Angels founder Glenda Brunette about their ordeal and she had been helping them find their feet again.
Brunette said she arrived at the creche during the fire.
“I recently took up Eluvuyeni creche as the [Walmer Angels’] eighth creche project and when they told me about the fire I immediately came.
“I posted the picture of the fire on Facebook calling for any kind of help,” Brunette said.
She said two anonymous donors made donations to build a concrete structure.
“We have been getting all sorts of donations from across the Bay. We were overwhelmed when we got money to build a cement building.”
Goniwe said hope had been restored in her heart in the midst of her despair and she was very grateful for all the support over the past few days.
Eluvuyeni caters for more than 60 children up to six years of age and was opened in 2004 after she had retired to pursue her passion for childcare.
The construction of a new creche is well under way but much more assistance is needed to get it up and running.