Xolani Koyana
ELIZABETH Barrett may be hailed a hero for saving 14 children from a burning house and is set to receive an award for her heroism, but she doesn’t see herself that way.
All the 68-year-old woman is concerned about is the well-being of those she cares for. Barrett came to prominence when the Cape Times ran a story in December about her saving 14 children from a fire at her home.
She had even gone back into the burning house for one of them who had been left behind.
Her act of heroism has earned her a national order.
Barrett will receive the Order of Mendi for Bravery in Bronze at the presidential guest house in Pretoria on Sunday.
“I don’t know how I feel about that (the award). Maybe I will feel it when I get there. My wish was just to get this place fixed and taking care of these children,” Barrett said yesterday.
Although she appreciated the award she was more concerned about the wellbeing of her family who have to live in a damaged building.
“That is my wish. I put my hands together (and pray) and say ‘please God talk to him (Jacob Zuma) let him do something for me and the children’. I am going (to Pretoria) but I don’t know what is waiting for me on the other side.”
She was referring to the old, semi-detached house in Harrington Street badly damaged in the fire in December.
Neighbours collected funds to help repair the roof which had caved in from the fire.
The dilapidated building is without electricity, has broken windows and holes in the floor.
After the fire Barrett and the children sought refuge at a workshop next to their house for a week. In late December they moved to a makeshift dwelling at the back of the fire-damaged house.
They moved back into the house last week after Barrett became sick from living in the other accommodation.
She said she had been to hospital regularly in the last month after picking up a stomach infection.
“I was not worried about myself but the girl and the boys. If they caught it they could die. I’m not worried about myself because I am strong,” she said.
Barrett now lives with 10 of the 14 children after two of them went to live in Mitchells Plain with her daughters. The remaining two went back to an orphanage. She has since taken in another teenager who was injured in a shooting in Mitchells Plain.
Barrett, who has lived in the house for more than 30 years, said she had been taking in children from the streets for years. She takes them off the streets, clothes them and puts them through school.