On the morning of May 28th, Jane and Martin Weekes woke up to a house filled with children. Triplets. Three breakfast bowls to fill, three spoons to take out of the drawer and three sippy cups to hand out. Can you imagine the chaos of their morning routine? Three sets of clothes to dress three little bodies, three backpacks to organize, three faces to wash.
Every mother has heard it. It usually comes while you're trying to negotiate a stroller through a doorway, or pushing a shopping trolley while holding a small hand, trying to find your car keys and simultaneously dropping your phone. "You've got your hands full" someone will say.
Jane Weekes no longer has her hands full.
I think about Jane every day. I think about all of the families involved in the Villagio tragedy, but Jane's face has stayed with me. I can still see the anguish as she clutched the soft toys of her children in an attempt to fill her hands.
I think about Jane and Martin arriving home on the night of the 28th after a day that none of us will ever be able to truly understand. I think about them standing outside of Villagio with other parents, not knowing if their children were alive and safe while watching smoke billow from the building. The pain on all of their faces while they waited - can you imagine? Knowing your children are inside and not being able to get to them? I think about the moment when they began to carry the children out, about parents deciding who would stay behind and wait for the others while one went to the hospital. I think about them receiving the news, one by one. But mostly I think about them returning home that evening to the silence.
The empty beds, the bowls, the spoons, the sippy cups, the backpacks.
It's been nearly four months. The court case has been postponed, two out of three defendants failed to appear. We've heard that the fire began in a sports store, that there was a problem with a chord or a light - faulty electrics, but the families of the children are yet to hear a full report.
And yesterday Villagio opened for business.
The families heard of this through media reports. There was no contact by anyone else.
I watched from a distance on Twitter, and read the comments on various Facebook sites. Some believe that life goes on and we need to keep moving. Others remind us that people need their jobs and have to get back to work. And one idiot, just can't wait for the VIP section to be open.
I understand that people need their jobs, and I get it that life goes on, but I don't think that life can go on for the families until they have some answers. They've never been back to grieve in private. And they continue to wait for the court case. There is no memorial, nowhere to pay your respects. I know that culturally we all deal with loss differently - but maybe a fountain? Something for the children? Just something, anything, to recognize and remember what happened on the 28th May.
Out of respect for the families, I won't be going back to Villagio just yet. I can get my groceries somewhere else, I can go to a movie, pick up a coffee, or shop for a shirt without going to Villagio - Doha has plenty of shopping malls.
The families of those who lost their lives have released a statement on how they feel about Villagio being open for business. You can read it here.
Well said .
ReplyDeleteEvery time I read or hear about this tragedy from your blog, tears well up in my eyes. I can't begin to imagine how those families would feel. Although those economic points are valid in a way, there is no reason why things can't be done with some tenderness and an attempt at being understanding of the monumental loss of these families.
ReplyDeleteI remember your account of this horrible tragedy and I have thought about this family too over the last few months. I can't begin to think how they coping.
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It's an absolute disgrace! What a vacuous place we live in.......
ReplyDeleteSo sad....
ReplyDeleteShame, shame , shame on qatar. Such inhumanity and disrespect. I will not step foot in villaggio until there are some answers. I cannot believe that they have placed a mural blocking off the wing where the fire occured and put a gondola in front of it so that people can take photos of themselves posing in a boat. It makes me feel sick.
ReplyDeletePassing the mall and the compound where the triplets lived makes me choke with sadness. I'm outraged at the lack of communication and compassion toward the families in the delayed court hearing and reopening the mall without notification .Most of all I'm mad because I feel the expatriate community can't have a voice here and protest for justice .
ReplyDeleteI don't think I could ever enter Villaggio purely as it will stir personal emotion but urge others to boycott until the answers the families crave are given.
Thank you for your beautiful words. The silence continues to be deafening. Lillie, Jackson and Willsher have left the hugest hole in our lives.
ReplyDeleteSadly each time we are let down in finding out what happened, who was responsible and how they are being held accountable it takes us right back to that day and the rawness of our pain.
If something similar happens again because people chose to not learn and change how they do things would be such a tragedy.
Jane Weekes x
I pray you will find peace in this gut wrenching loss and answers to help ease yourself slowly towards closure. My most sincere and heartfelt sympathies
DeleteMy heart breaks. You've said this so well x
ReplyDeleteThat they have put a gondola there for frivolous photos is a disgrace. A memorial should be put there. A fountain would be good, and a plaque with the names of the victims, the precious ones.
ReplyDeleteExcellent article but we should PROTEST!!
ReplyDeleteWe should all be standing outside villagio with 'we will not forget' banners!! It's the least the parents deserve.
tears again. my heart goes out to those families. thankyou for your beautiful words
ReplyDeleteI think it's about time the World really knew how Doha treats it's expats, of any nationality.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened was avoidable and the Qatari response has been diabolical. As someone said above we all continue to sit on our hands as we have no voice and the press are an impotent bunch of self serving kowtowing lackeys. If we don't like it we have to leave.
My advice to anyone thinking about it, just don't come in the first place. People put on a brave face but it's just an awful soulless place where things like this are quickly brushed under the carpet. We are not welcome, we are "tolerated"
The World needs to see the true face of Qatar. It's not pretty. In fact it's really very ugly, much like the City it's self.
My heart breaks open for how deeply tragic this must be for dearest Jane.
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ReplyDeleteHas there been any news since this post? Not that I'm surprised but I haven't read anything in the papers about new developments in the case.
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