Washed Out in Shades of Grey & Black

I stepped through the doorway of the house into a room lit only by the sunlight shining through the door. Dust mites and ashes floated in the rays of morning sun. As my eyes adjusted to the light, my nasal cavity was filled with the putrid reek of smoke. This was not the smell of smoke from a wood-burning fire, that pleasant rustic scent. This was the smell of smoke from a fire that consumed possessions, memories, and human life, leaving behind charred remnants of what once was.

In the early hours of Wednesday, March 23, a candle fell and set fire to a house in the coloured neighborhood of Mascassar, a suburb of Cape Town. The home had no electricity so the family used candles at night in order to see. The nine residents fell asleep with a candle burning and awoke to find their home on fire. The house was a small residence with a kitchen, tiny living-room, one bathroom, and two small bedrooms. The family of nine, three adult women who were sisters and their six children (ranging between the ages of 6 months to 14 years old) were trapped in their house and in the flames. All nine of them died.

Flowers left in memory of lost loved ones.

The vicious Cape Townian winds fed the flames and spread the fire along to two other houses. One of these houses was the one that I walked through. The homeowner, his wife, and small daughter survived the fire. He took me, my HOPE Africa collogues, and Archbishop Thabo through the remains of his charred house. Everything was black. The linoleum floor tiles were melted from the heat of the flames. The pages of a scorched book fluttered in the breeze. A burnt Christmas ornament sat beside the book. Evidence of life lived. I made my way into one of the small rooms. The remnants of blackened bunk beds rested against the wall. A large crayon and the strap of a plastic watch sat in a pile of ashes. The children’s room. Colorful and vivid life washed out in shades of grey and black.

Archbishop Thabo and his entourage prayed with the man, his family, and the Macassar community. We then made our way to St. Joseph the Worker Anglican Church for some more prayers and a light reception with the families of the fire victims. When asked how the Anglican Church could provide support for the survivors, the community responded by asking the Church to use its voice.

When the fire broke out on Wednesday morning, the fire department was called in. Three separate trucks were sent. None of them had water to fight the fire. Here in Cape Town, they don’t have fire hydrants. Fire trucks carry their own water. Each of the water tanks on the trucks sent to the Macassar fire was empty. Archbishop Thabo promised the community that the Anglican Church would indeed use its voice to advocate for adequate public services. He also encouraged the community to turn to one another in their grief and to turn to God. He told them to question and to wrestle with God. He told them not to be afraid to ask God the difficult questions, like why this happened and where was God in the midst of it.

The most tragic part of this story is that it is not the only story like this. This kind of thing happens frequently throughout the Western Cape. Lack of electricity and water often lead to fatal tragedies. This is a part of life for many people.