Salvos put roof over refugee family

Gilbert and Freda Kabila with their children Susanna and Pauline, and granddaughter Hanriette. Picture: John Mokrzycki.

For 10 years, Gilbert and Freda Kabila and their growing family lived in abject poverty in a refugee camp in Zambia after fleeing violence in their native Congo.

It was a difficult decade marked by food shortages, low wages and poor housing.

The family were finally granted asylum in Australia five years ago and moved to Tasmania as refugees.

Lured by the prospect of work, Mr Kabila moved to Perth in 2009 but found jobs were not so plentiful and housing was almost impossible to find for a family of eight.

He applied for 40 rental properties and was knocked back each time. When he was finally approved for a lease the rent was exorbitant and the lease agreement stipulated that only four of his children were allowed to live in the property.

Unsure what to do next, Mr Kabila approached the Salvation Army for help and the charity responded by finding Mr Kabila a house that could accommodate his six children and later the addition of a grandchild.

“I am very happy to live in this house, ” Mr Kabila said.

He said it was hard to find work in WA despite having several TAFE qualifications. The Salvos help 100,000 people in WA every year through services from crisis accommodation to disaster relief, counselling, employment help and migrant support.

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