Growing up in Africa, one common thing around our neighborhood was armed robbery.  Every one dreaded the dark, as that was the best time the “the robbers” operated. At 9:00pm in most cities, everyone was home and the doors locked tight with huge padlocks.

The aim of the padlocks were to slow down the thieves from entering the house, not to stop them, because the thieves are experts in unlocking any kind of locks you can imagine. When people realized they have unwanted visitors (the armed robbers) at night, they hurry to call the cops and hide before the thieves are able to unlock the locks. Some brave people get ready with their weapons, which could be knives, guns, cutlasses or a machete.

One incident I remember vividly, even though I was just 10 years old was when we had those unwanted visitors invade our neighborhood. My mum heard the first gun shot at 2:00am and woke us all up to hide.

While hiding, we kept hearing the gunshots get closer, you can imagine the fear that we the kids, including my mum, were experiencing. My mum was praying non-stop and encouraged us to pray as well. My dad lived in a different state and was not home that night. Leaving my mum, my two sisters, my little 7-year-old brother and four of my cousins at home. My cousins were a little older than us but they were all girls. Strong girls I would say, because they were all ready to attack the visitors.

The armed robbers started invaded the houses at the beginning of the street. That was when my mum heard the first gun shot. As they moved up the houses on the street closer to our house, which was the 2nd to the last house on that street, the gunshots become louder.

By this time it was 5:00am and the darkness was gradually fading away, the sound of the gunshot was fading away too. We were still scared and unsure what had happened. All of a sudden there were no longer sounds of gunshots anymore. At 6:00am there were police officers and people talking outside. Some were yelling, crying and some were praying, thanking God for their lives.

We all came out of our hiding places and went outside to see what had happened. The thieves had raided 15 houses on our street expect three houses; one of those untouched was ours. After thanking God for our situation, we went down the street to see what had happened. All the houses that were affected were empty, the robbers, came with several trucks and carried anything they saw around. Televisions, small fridges, bags, money, electronics, wristwatches, cell phones, jewelry; you name it. But the good thing was no one was hurt, shot, or killed.

The only sad part was that most people lost some or everything they could call theirs. But to my greatest surprise my mum’s good friend who lives three houses away from ours said other than her electronics, her money and other valuables was still untouched. My mum inquired to her as to how she was able to hide those valuables from the visitors, she took my mum inside her house and showed my mum the safe she had in her room. The thieves had seen the safe but did not have enough time to started interrogating my mum’s friend for the numbers to unlock the safe. She was the only lucky one on the block.

Here in America, the cops might be very effective and show up early to stop the robbery, or maybe the alarm systems at peoples homes would prevent any kind of organized armed robbery. But not withstanding, people still experience small thefts and others natural disasters like fire, flood, and even earthquakes.  These natural disasters can endanger valuables. But like my mum’s friend, having a home safe could keep your mind rest assure of uncertainties with your valuables.

There are different kinds of home safes available ranging from as low as $200 to over $1000 depending on the things you want to keep locked up.  Here are some things that could be kept in a home safe

Things that could be kept in a home safe

• Credit cards
• Important confidential documents
• Guns
• Jewelry
• Money
• Keys
• Laptops
• Certificate of accomplishments
• Electronics
• Passports

In fact, any thing considered valuable to you can be put in the home safe depending on the size of the home safe.

Benefits of a Home Safe

One of the most important and obvious benefits of a home safe is the fact that it keeps your valuables safe and intact. Your documents in a file cabinets are good for temporarily securing important papers and documents, but those file cabinets could be subjected to both fire and water damage.

Similarly, these file cabinets can be easily broken into, making it easy for anyone to have access to documents that are supposed to be private and hidden.  So having a home safe can only make your mind rest assured. It can also help build your confidence when a disaster strikes.  Knowing that your valuables are safe and secure at all times is a great feeling, and is definitely worth the cost so why wait? Get your self a home safe.

By Gloria Kajo

Bio

Gloria Kajo has been professionally writing for the home safety industry for the better part of three years. She shares her personal experiences with the public in hopes to create awareness and provide knowledge to the public on how to live safer lives.