A “strong and devoted” Canberra mother needs the community’s support in raising funds after her family lost their home to a fire in August.

The Moncrieff home on Limb Circuit that Ayen Leek lived in with her children was destroyed by the fire on 16 August. Thankfully, no one was home at the time.

Now her cousin, Achol Dut, who lives with the family, has set up a GoFundMe page.

“She has not been able to come back, so I’m going around trying to raise some money,” Achol told CD.

Achol said Ayen and her children are living in an emergency Airbnb, where the rent is expensive, all while having a mortgage for the home that she has lost. A home that she said Ayen had worked hard to build from scratch.

“I don’t know how she’s going to afford it and pay the mortgage. It’s really hard,” Achol said.

Achol said the donations would relieve the stress off the family’s shoulders.

“Because they have lost everything – all their clothes, utensils, cooking stuff, literally everything”, she said

“The only things they have are their car, their clothes they were wearing and their cat, so thank God their cat got out.

“They are very devastated. I’m trying my best to see what I can do at the moment. She’s devastated but trying to do what she can for the children.”

“…It’s devastating and gone like that, but what matters is that they are safe and healthy.”

President of the South Sudanese community in Canberra, Marial Kot said Ayen’s family had been very generous in helping others around the ACT.

He told CD Canberra’s Sudanese community was quite shocked.

“Even the fact that Ayen has been hardworking, who happens to have her own mortgage and supports her children single-handed,” Marial said.

“She has no inheritance, you work from scratch, you support people back home and also have to meet the needs of the children and meet the daily needs just like any other normal Australian.

“So, it’s quite shocking. She’s now homeless. All her hard work has just been reduced to zero.”

Marial encouraged anyone who is willing and able to do so to help the family.

“It will have an impact for her and her children as well for a long time,” he said.

“She had her plan of buying things and how things would go in her life.

“She had just bought brand new expensive computers for her children in high school two days before.”

The money raised will go towards securing temporary accommodation and helping Ayen pay rent while she rebuilds, replacing essential items such as clothing, school supplies, furniture, and household goods, covering immediate expenses to help stabilise life for her and her children, and starting the long process of rebuilding a permanent home.

Community members can donate to the GoFundMe page at gofundme.com/f/help-ayen-rebuild-her-life-after-a-devastating-house-fire

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