"Coronavirus is not the worst." Life of the homeless during pandemia

The only ones to whom the Kaliningrad authorities officially allowed to carry out massive gatherings with quarantine are homeless. Otherwise, they would be left without food. The volunteer project "Soup for people" has been feeding those who have been behind the poverty line for 10 years, and in conditions when there are no people on the streets who are ready to serve a penny, it is unrealistic to find other food for them.

Every day, at six in the evening, a tank with 30 liters of soup is brought in the same place in Kaliningrad. For 10 years, the homeless people are already used to coming to the park in the city center to eat.

The Kaliningrad restaurants help the project. In turn in one day, they cook food specifically for the homeless. These are not scraps after visitors, but a separate dish. However, Koronavirus confused plans: all the catering was closed, there was no one to cook soup.

“Yesterday we did not know what to do, although we understood that these people needed to feed, they still live on the street,” says Volunteer Maria Shpuntenkova . - We turned to the administration, there we said to wait until the decision is made. Today we were told that they allow us to feed the homeless people, but on the condition that it would be fast and clean.

The cooks of one of the restaurants went to meet the volunteers and went to work to cook food homeless. At first, the organizers of the project were worried that people would not come, since the day before there was nothing. They say that for the first time, homeless people began to call volunteers en masse to find out if they would feed them. But already in the evening, at the appointed hour, everyone was in the park.

Maria Shpuntenkova, before opening a vat with food, asks those who came to participate in the actions and stand with letters that develop in the words "Thank you, Kaliningrad." This is gratitude to the philanthropists and the administration, which allowed to gather in one place in such a number of people, despite the quarantine. True, the action is delayed - the participants confuse letters in places or hold them upside down.

At this time, volunteers are put on an aprons, gloves and masks. All those who came for dinner are disinfected. A sanitizer is generously poured on the dirty, hardened hands. No one resists.

I know that people of my age are at risk, but what to do? Soup you need to eat

Volunteers who came to know all the names and are in the course of their stories. Each has its own, and the result is the same - the absence of a roof over your head and the presence of dependencies. The late Sergey Nozdrin is in a hurry to be in time, runs along the path with a huge bag.

- Eight pharmacies bypassed, not in any masks. I honestly wanted to buy! He says indignantly.

Oddly enough, some really came in medical masks. True, you can doubt their effectiveness. So, one woman said that she found masks in the garbage tank near the hospital.

Baba Valya , the old woman "God's dandelion", made the mask herself - two layers of napkins and a scarf.

- I dripped him with a disinfectant. I know that people of my age are at risk, but what to do? Soup you need to eat. Now they made a sorrel, I really need it for the stomach, useful, ”the grandmother says. She eats soup literally in a minute. “Her son is drinking, and she takes her entire pension,” the volunteers say.

At dinner, Sergei Nozdrin boasts his findings, which he finds out of the package:

People sometimes buy such nonsense ...

- Here, look, I found it all today in the trash! A lot of interesting things: the cosmetics are awesome, a mug, a photo frame, and this, as I was told, is a hanger for various little things.

When asked why he would like a hanger if he and his wife live, according to his own words, "where he will have", Sergey answers without hesitation:

- So I’ll sell it in the flea market! People go, buy, shops are closed during the epidemic, because this, like it, is Eurogrippus, and I sell. People sometimes buy such nonsense ...

Laura Hasoova herself lives in the house of a night stay, but here she is as a volunteer. He says it is nice to help the same as her. Behind her always follows the mongrel Margo, which, however, did not get food. 30 liters of soup go in half an hour. Many are asking for an additive.

Volunteers require a distance, but homeless instructions are ignored. Everyone crowds at Chan with a soup. But, having received their portion, they really scatter on the benches. For bread, everyone is given a piece of onion. As volunteers say, this is not a struggle against coronavirus, but for the prevention of any colds.

Now volunteers are working on scripts in case of strengthening quarantine measures in the city. Already acquire in stores what a person can use without a specific place of residence: disinfectant napkins, cookies, stew, bread and onions. Such sets will be distributed to the poor. Only then will they include cereals that can be prepared at home.

For people who have a struggle for survival every day, such a situation is the norm

The volunteers themselves are not afraid to be among the pile of people during the epidemic. Hygiene and precautions that the people have now rushed to use is the norm for them, says the coordinator of the Polina Glinskaya Soup project.

- We are not afraid, what are we afraid of? Yes, they came, changed their clothes, washed their hands, wiped their nasal passages and face, drank vitamins. This is the usual order of things, ”says Glinskaya. - We all know who we are working with, and believe me, coronavirus is not the worst. They all have bouquets of various diseases. This is terrible for people not like refined, but for those who live in a safe environment. And for people who have a struggle for survival every day, such a situation is the norm.

The project coordinator is going to sew reusable masks to all colleagues, since in the city they either cannot be found or sold for frantic money: "We will not feed speculators."

Now this place does not work, but there is no other point

When asked whether the masks will be heard by the homeless, Polina Glinskaya negatively responds: "For this, the person must be clean, and they themselves, sorry, must be washed with a mump." And there is nowhere to wash - in connection with Pandemia in Kaliningrad, the only sanctuary for the homeless was closed. At the Catholic temple, a dining room and a shower worked. There was also a paramedic there.

- They could wash themselves, be treated from insects, change clothes and take an inspection from a paramedic. Now this place does not work, but there is no other sanctuary, ”says Polina Glinskaya.