‘My children have experienced things they shouldn’t’

Tawa Awonbinpe, originally from Nigeria and now an Irish citizen, says her four children have "experienced things they shouldn't" since they became homeless in October.

In the middle of last year the landlord of the house she had rented in Midleton, Co Cork for four years gave her notice to quit.

She says the house had been in the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) where landlords enter into a lease with the local authority to house rent supplement recipients. Rent is paid directly to the landlord by the local authority. However RAS has become less attractive to landlords as rents in the open market have increased.

Tawa looked for another house but was unable to find anything within the rent cap of €750 per month.

She and the children – aged between 18 months and 12 years – moved in with friends but since this became untenable in March they have been in Edel House, emergency accommodation for women and children in Cork City, operated by the Good Shepherd Services.

The one room they share has four bunk-beds and a cot, a small table and chairs, a wardrobe and adjoining bathroom.

Clothes, towels and toys are everywhere and with cooking facilities in the room, food, baby bottles and milk formula fill the counter space.

There is a strong smell of cooking and, says Tawa, the room gets too hot when she cooks. “My boy Malik (6), his eyes are streaming because the air is too hot and not fresh.”

She says her daughter, Faridah, won’t stay in her cot since they came to Edel House, wanting to be in her bed. “I get no sleep and my body aches. I am so tired all the time,” she says.

Her husband is in Nigeria, she says. Because they married after she gained Irish citizenship, he is having ongoing immigration problems. He is Faridah’s father and works in IT.

Childcare difficulties

She had work as a cleaner before but has had to cut this back to two days a week as her childminder had looked after the children in her home. A friend now helps her with childcare.

“I don’t want my children living like this. They see people smoking, not working. They cannot play. They have experienced things they shouldn’t.”

Her oldest boy, Mubaraq, has had to give up soccer and athletics in Midleton, a half hour drive away. The activities are in the evening and, says Tawa, the drive is too long after she gets the children all back to Cork after school, to return in the evenings.

“It’s hard,” says the boy. “We all have to stay in one room. I used to play outside and now there’s only X-box and the phone. I’d like a house because I miss my friends, and my mum gets sad and I don’t like it.”