Mother faces eviction from makeshift house
Two years after her six-year-old daughter was burnt to death when her home was fire-bombing by gang members, Akeila Schelborn is now on the verge of eviction from where she and her common-law husband live in a small shed in Carenage.
Speaking with Newsday, Schelborn, 27, says despite repeated interviews and assurances of a home from officials at the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), she is no closer to getting a proper home and was expecting to be homeless any day now.
In March 2016, Schelborn and her daughter Paris Griffith were at their Straker Village, Laventille home when she was alerted by her daughter’s cries for help.
Schelborn says the family has lived in this house since their Straker Village, Laventille home was firebombed two years ago.
Despite the trauma of the incident, Schelborn says she vividly remembers how she tried to save her first daughter’s life.
“She would have been eight years old if she was still alive. I was taking a nap when I heard her calling me, ‘Mammy the house on fire.’ I got up out of bed and tried to save her, but the flames reached the gas tank on the stove causing it to explode. I was thrown out the house and my daughter was trapped inside.
“By the time the neighbours came, the house was on fire and no one could go in. That’s how I lost her.”
Schelborn said since the fire-bombing she and her husband set up a small shed at St Peter’s Bay, Carenage and sold snacks and drinks to drivers along the Western Main Road.
She said last month her common-law husband Atiba Smith received an eviction notice and they were expecting to be homeless any day now.
“I’m doing everything they (HDC) asked of me. I’ve had three interviews with them already so I don’t understand why they haven’t called me as yet. Sometimes my husband goes out to sea and fish but it’s not a permanent source of income.”
Amidst the stress of keeping her home, Schelborn says she is still haunted by the death of her first child but is determined to provide a better life for her 10-month-old daughter Angel Smith.
Newsday attempted to contact HDC Chairman Brent Lyons for comment but were unsuccessful.
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"Mother faces eviction from makeshift house"