Knysna resident's heartfelt thank you three years after fire destroyed her home

A Knysna resident who lost everything in a disastrous wildfire three years ago has penned a heartfelt letter thanking the Gift of the Givers for helping to rebuild her life.

Cheryl Liepner was among hundreds of people affected by the raging fires which swept across the coastal town in 2017.

Before the fires, she had for years been a familiar Good Samaritan preparing meals for the homeless in the area. Not only did she lose her home during the inferno but also some of her pets, her savings and a shop that was her only source of income.

“It was a big fire. I still get emotional when I think about it. It still scares me, I still can’t speak about it without crying,” she told TimesLIVE.

The fire turned Liepner's life upside down soon after she turned 60. “This is the time I thought I would slow down, but losing everything to the fire meant that I have to work even harder,” she said.

She never anticipated the flames would spread so quickly and destroy her home of 32 years. She recalled “going crazy”, thinking what she could grab before fleeing.

All she could salvage was some art, a handbag and a family photo album.

Liepner said she had started a feeding scheme after realising many people were going hungry, and how this would escalate in winter. The scheme started with just 12 people receiving meals and later grew to nearly 100 recipients, seven years after its inception.

“It was the best time of my life,” she said.

She recalled often getting into trouble with police for feeding the homeless — keeping them on the streets.

“Police were my worst enemies, during the feeding they would not want us to feed, they would say we are keeping them on the streets but how does a decent meal keep them on the street?” she asked.

She said she was often asked if she did not fear for her safety but added that “doing good comes back in so many ways”.

When she returned to her home days after the fire, in an attempt to clean up, some of the homeless people she fed also showed up. “After the fire, I’ve lost count of how many came, they said 'ma, we wish we could cook for you now'.” 

Liepner had no idea she too would be the beneficiary of a new home, built by the charitable NGO just months after the fires.

“People are amazing. I am very fortunate to have benefited from Gift of the Givers. I didn’t even know who they were, they just arrived on the farm when I wasn’t even there. When I arrived they had already started with the foundation.

“How do you thank someone that gives you a house? Someone that you do not know, that does not ask how much money you have or what religion you belong to?” she wrote in a letter on the third anniversary of the fires.

Founder of the organisation Dr Imtiaz Sooliman said they had provided R20m in aid to assist affected families at the time. The initiative remains one of their largest disaster- relief interventions.

Speaking on the third anniversary of the fire, Mario Ferreira, a volunteer, said: “The beauty of Knysna, the spirit of the people of Knysna are back. Certain things will never be the same again, it is good some are even better than before.”