Sete Rios, Lisbon,

07.11.15; 15.30h

Ana Isabel Silva
is the coordinator of the nonprofit association CASA,

Centro de Apoio ao Sem Abrigo,(Center for support of Homeless people), in Lisbon.

She explains how the structure operates, how it grew with the help of volunteers, counting nowadays with 11 delegations in all the country, and some connected projects in France, Mexico, Brasil.

Ana started to volunteer at the end of 2008, distributing food in the Lisbon streets on Saturdays.

The beginnings of Casa date back to 2002, when it was founded by Pema Wangyal Rinpoche,(a buddhist spiritual Master)the Honorary Chairman.

It was just in 2007, that the food distribution started in Arroios streets(Lisbon): vegetarian meals donated by vegetarian restaurants were packed, heated in the volunteers' kitchens and distributed with volunteers’ cars.
When in a second moment, a new small kitchen started to work, the same volunteers often collected money to buy food themselves for distribution.

Most of the people involved in Casa do not receive any salary, and the association does not count on any kind of support given by Governamental Entities.

At the present moment, twice a year, CASA collects food through customers donations in Pingo Doce. Beside this, Pingo Doce and El Corte Ingles regularly donate the products that for any kind of defect are not salable anymore; vegetarian restaurants and small private initiatives collaborate to permit food to be distributed every day.
Five rounds of distribution are organized every day and around 300 warm meals are given.
Every person approaching the distribution points can get a meal and can count, in case of need, on distribution of clothes that the association collects.

Trying to give a definition for “Homeless” Ana Isabel says that it includes people with no roof, but also people with low and difficult living conditions.
The population's age varies, including mainly a male population of people between 40 and 50 years old, that most of the times deals with psychological, sometimes psychiatric problems, problems of additions (alcohol and drugs) and luck of family support.

Ana’s opinion is that the most needed help is psychological: an aid aiming to recover the lost self-confidence and trust in the possibility of a integration into society.
She mentions the positive work of NPISA: a platform counting on the integrated action of all agents involved in the city and dealing with these problems.

Speaking about herself, Ana recognizes that she “feels at home” when she stays in a comfortable space, with family members and friends, but mentions, beside this, a special relationship that the individual can developed with the self, and that will permit him/her to “feel home” everywhere.
About Freedom she considers it to be the capacity and possibility of not being conditioned by concepts or patterns, behaving with respect to the environment; Ana says how difficult and how limiting it is to live in a Democracy that is not always what the definition of it represents..or should represent!

...to listen is to imagine...

Thank you Ana for your time and the quietness in explaining me about CASA!!

Good listening!

SPACE:

This interview recording took place in an office located in a building part of a big structure surrounded by a small garden next to the busy junction of Sete Rios, Lisbon.

The room was rectangular and not so high a ceiling. It was quite furnished, full of objects, and silent despite the open window.