For mother of four Kysia Stephen and her sister, the afternoon of Wednesday, February 2019 will not soon be forgotten. It was on that day that they experienced their worst nightmare: a fire that seemingly in a matter of minutes ate up the little they had in this world. Indeed, they were extremely fortunate to escape with their lives. As usual, scant information has been released about the cause of the fire at Sunbilt, Castries. Meanwhile, the survivors have little choice but to continue living, as difficult as that is proving.
“I felt really bad that it happened” Stephen told me last week. “I didn’t have the time to take anything out. I didn’t have the time to save anything. It was so shocking. It was everything bad. Afterwards I just broke down. There was nothing else I could do.”
She had shared with her sister and four siblings the top portion of their building. A family of three occupied the floor beneath them. On the afternoon of the fire, she had gone shopping nearby.
She recalled: “I went to get something. My mum lives not far from us. I told the kids not to go out. But they did.” None of them was home when the fire started.
“Yes, it’s a good thing they didn’t listen to me,” Kysia said. “The family below us were watching TV in their apartment when the fire started upstairs. They were lucky to get out. In no time at all the whole house was in flames. A member of the family alerted my sister but it was too late. Everything we had was gone by the time she got to the house.”
Since then, Kysia Stephen has turned to her own mother for help. “I’m getting all the support from my mum. She’s trying her best. That’s where I’m staying for now with my children, until I can pick myself up and get back on my feet.”
But her mother hasn’t been the only one to offer her help with her three girls and boy. Two of the children are old enough to attend school. One is a kindergartener at the St. Aloysius R.C. Boys’ Infant School, the other a 1st Grade student of the Ave Maria Girls’ Infant School.
The R.C. Boys’ principal Wynnykyj King told me: “Our first concern was ensuring that the child came back to school as soon as possible. The first thing we sought to do was to make sure he had all he needed for school: supplies, uniforms, from shirt to shoes, everything was handed to the parent a couple days after the fire. We wanted him back at school on the Monday.”
The school turned Valentine’s into Fund Raising Day, not only for its student but also for his three siblings and their mother. “We sent out a letter to parents asking them to dress the students in red and white and to contribute either five dollars or an item from a prepared list. We asked for shoes of various sizes, clothes, underwear and so on. Everyone proved quite generous. Then we hired a vehicle to transport the donations to the kindergartner’s mother.”
At Ave Maria Girls’ Infant, Principal Claudia Edward told the STAR that plans are underway to assist the Sunbilt Fire victim and her family, although they have been pushed back by the recent disruptions that occurred at the school recently.
Stephen corroborated all her principal had said: “They gave my son school supplies.” However, Ave Maria was another story. “They’re willing to help,” Stephen told me “but due to the closure of school, they haven’t been able to. I know they are trying their best.” She was most grateful for Mrs. King’s efforts. “I was very surprised by what she did. It helped us a lot.” She also discovered the school principal was “a very, very nice person.”
