Lisbon,

19.11.15; 16.30h

Elsa Mariano works with CASA Centro de Apoio Aos Sem Abrigo (Center for Homeless People Support).

She had already been part of the direction, and now she is the responsible for her group of volunteers on the Wednesday food distribution.

She decided to take part in this project in a moment of change, when she was asking her self about the meaning of life, wishing to feel it and live it in a fuller and more meaningful way.

She explains to me how the work of CASA is organized, and, very openly, she invites me to participate in the distribution and to visit the kitchen where the food is prepared.

CASA works on a National level with 11 delegations organized in different cities of the country.

On Wednesday night Elsa and her group goes to four places in the city of Lisbon:
Saldana, (where most of the people are gathering), Mouzinho da Silvera, Praça da Algeria and Restauradores.

Her group has about six regular participants and this is just one of the five groups that work every day in a coordinated way in Lisbon streets, 365 days a year.

For Elsa it is difficult to give a definition to “homeless“.
A most common definition tends to reduce this group to those who live in the street, but CASA gives food to every one approaching them and Elsa feels that Sem AbrigoHomeless is everyone with precarious life conditions,in need of help.

Elsa loves her work, her team and the people she meets. With some of the homeless people the meeting is a fixed appointment and with them the team starts to have a personal and good relationship of reciprocal appreciation.

Elsa defines HOME not so much as a physical place, more as what one is able to build in terms of affectivity and security.
During her life she has changed homes many times, and she remembers with pleasure her experience in Macao when she was very young and she was already feeling a grown and independent woman.

...to listen is to imagine...

Thank you Elsa for your cooperation and for permitting me to come closer to CASA and to the people connected to it.

Good listening!

SPACE:

This interview recording took place in a small one-room coffee bar located between Principe Real and Sao Bento District.
The space had a low ceiling and was full of small objects. Besides this, the proximity to the bar made the space of communication very full and not always ideal for a clear, comfortable and easy conversation.

The second part of the audio was recorded during my first night in the street with Elsa, accompanying her in the food distribution.

In the moment she asked me to help I put my recorder in a pocket and this is the reason why the audio is noisy.