Eliza Mussa (30) an au pair originally from Lunzu, a township outside of Blantyre in Malawi, got a distressing call from her loved ones that her home was destroyed by the deadly tropical cyclone ‘Ana’ in late January.
The storm which lasted a week and left behind a path of destruction, nearly claimed the lives of Hanna, Eliza’s sister, and her 4 children who were staying at the home, as their home was destroyed by a similar storm in 2016.
As the home is now inhabitable, Hanna and her children sought refuge at a primary school, before being housed by warm-hearted samaritans.
For the past 8 years, Eliza has lived in Lakeside, South Africa, diligently saving extra monies to build her safe haven in her hometown, where she planned to retire to in her old age, along with her two children Fatima (10) and Nazim (3).
Eliza is heartbroken that her years of hard work have been erased, but she is thankful for the safety of her family and maintains the sunny disposition she is known and loved for.
“When Eliza came to work in tears one morning and showed me the pictures of her house, which had been destroyed in the storm, it struck me how unfair life can be. She told me about how she had worked so hard to repay the money that she had borrowed to build it in the first place. Then overnight a storm destroyed her house, and she doesn’t have insurance to pay for the costs to rebuild it”, says Jessie.
“Eliza comes to work every day with a smile. Even after her house was destroyed, she was there, playing with my daughter Leah and making her giggle. She is a lovely person; we trust her immensely”, says Jessie, her employer.
Rebuilding brick by brick
To help rebuild Eliza’s home, Jessie has launched a crowdfunding campaign with a fundraising target of R50 000, to cover the materials and labour needed to restore the humble home to its former glory.
Since the campaign launched, over R21 000 has been raised on BackaBuddy to support the family through this difficult time, with contributions from 21 donors, both locally and abroad.
“It is so nice how people have helped me with this crowdfunding campaign. A huge thank you for the campaign and for everyone who has donated, I really appreciate it. I could never have raised this money myself. I hope we can raise our target of R50 000 so that I can rebuild my house and one day go back and live there with my kids.” says Eliza.
Support Eliza by making a donation on BackaBuddy:
https://www.backabuddy.co.za/champion/project/eliza-mussa
Alternatively, make a donation on Snapscan:
https://pos.snapscan.io/qr/ElizaMussa
Photo credit: Jessie with her daughter Leah and Eliza
Create a crowdfunding campaign
South Africa’s leading crowdfunding platform, BackaBuddy has supported more than 10 000+ individuals and charities in setting up fundraising campaigns for medical fees, tuition and various causes in South Africa. The platform has thus far raised over R313 Million.
- Raise funds for an individual or cause.
- Register your non-profit organisation.
- Create a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for a non-profit organisation.