Currently, there are 1,200 people living on the streets in Barcelona, according to the Arrels Foundation, an organization with a clear objective: “That no one sleeps on the streets.” They are the former homeless, people who have left the streets and now have a flat.
I spent a few weeks with some of the people they have helped, with volunteers and Arrels workers, to hear the stories, some successful, of people who have been able to leave the streets. We have been able to find out how they have been accompanied in this process. A very important process, if we take into account that the life expectancy of someone living on the streets is 34% shorter than the average.
Jaume, from sleeping on the street to being president of his apartment's board
Jaume Mengual, 63, was born in Badalona. He lived on the streets for thirty years, where he went to live for a family reason. For five years he slept in the Palau park, in front of the Boqueria Market, where the staff treated him very well and let him keep his belongings. Three years ago he was given the dog Leika. Now she is his family. He has no contact with his 32-year-old son, who lives in Italy. And neither has he with his ex-wife. Two years ago he was placed in a city council flat, and if they don't find a new one he can stay there for another five years. He is the president of the ladder. Jaume says that with Arrels he has won the lottery without playing. In the photograph, in the courtyard of La Troballa, Arrels' workshop where he works from Monday to Friday.
Awake at night, sleeping during the day
People sleeping on benches in the Open Center library. Many homeless people stay awake at night to protect their bodies and belongings, and need a safe place to rest during the day.
Giorgio Ossola, a special case
Giorgio, 51, is a Swiss-Italian who arrived in Catalonia in 2016 in search of a change of life. 5 years ago he lost his job as a fresh produce seller in a group of supermarkets and ended up living on the streets. He slept in the Barcelona Aquarium with his dog Coffee for 4 years. I started coming to Arrels because it is one of the few organizations that accepts animals. He explains that when he ended up on the streets he was lucky, because his dog opened his heart to him: they took care of each other and he never felt alone. 8 months ago Giorgio found an apartment in Terrassa with the help of Arrels. He is the first Arrels assistant who has previously been looked after by the organization. His official contract began two months ago. In the photo, taking in a homeless person.
Food and work
"When you have your basic needs covered, you need employment": this is the idea that inspires the Troballa workshop, according to Ferran Busquets, director of Arrels. The foundation realized that when the homeless had their basic needs covered, there were many hours of the day to occupy. The idea of the workshop is to fill this time, but also to offer a place where people can put into practice the skills acquired in the past, or simply stop by for a coffee.
Antoinette
Antoinette, a Swiss woman assisted by Arrels, measures the wooden strips that will be used to make lamps that will later be sold in the shop. The projects and objects that are created in the workshop deliberately have many construction steps. They do not want to be rushed or efficient, but rather allow for maximum collaboration from everyone, without requiring the constant assistance of volunteers to complete the projects.
The success of the slogan
The left-luggage office is one of the most requested services of Arrels. It is the only place in Barcelona where users who live on the streets can leave their belongings for a long time. They can leave them there for a month and renew the request as many times as necessary. Some Arrels users use it as the only service they use. In this way, the organization has an initial contact and opens up the possibility of following up on them. In the photo, Simón Sepúlveda, thirty-two years old, a volunteer born in Chile. He comes one day a week. He found out about Arrels because his artist's studio is next door.
Stephan's office
Stephan Tuweckx has been sitting in front of the neighborhood Lidl for 8 years. "The people here love me, and I love them," he says. "I don't beg, I just sit and chat with people." He can collect between 30 and 40 euros a day, in addition to the food that people give him. Stephan has been living on the streets for 22 years. He was born in Belgium and before coming to Barcelona 15 years ago, he traveled to 17 countries. Two months ago, thanks to Arrels, he was placed in an apartment, after being diagnosed with HIV. In the photo, smoking a cigarette, is Anna Lubeta, whom he met 15 years ago on the beach of the W Hotel, when it was a campsite for homeless people. Also in the image are Stephan's three dogs: The Rock (6 years old), Gary Cooper (6 years old), and Forrest (8).
Ferran Busquets, from volunteer to director
At Arrels, many people start as volunteers and end up as employees. This is the case of the director, Ferran Busquets, who started as a volunteer in 1998. He explains that, since the pandemic began, 1,062 people have gone to the open center. For him, the line between living in an apartment and ending up on the street depends on your contacts and whether you can ask someone for a hand. In the photo, Ferran talking to a user in a living room where people can read the newspaper, charge their mobile phones and meet with Arrels staff.
Stephan's fridge
Stephan shows off all the food he received today. For two months now, he has had a fridge where he can store the food he receives from Lidl customers. He used to leave the food with Rosa, a 72-year-old resident of Poble-sec, whom he met 8 years ago when he asked her for a cigarette and she gave him two. Grateful, Stephan goes to Rosa's house every morning to make coffee and sometimes makes meatballs for her. It can take him three quarters of an hour to cross Montjuïc to get there with his three dogs. He can't go there by metro because there is a limit of one dog per person.
The strength of volunteers
Arrels currently has around 100 workers and 480 volunteers. In the photo, José María, 51, a pensioner from Prat de Llobregat, is folding clean laundry. In March, he will have been a volunteer at Arrels for two years. He comes twice a week. "Something needs to be done, we need to lend a hand."
The story of Stephan, gymnastics champion
Stephan, in Belgium, was a three-time ring gymnastics champion: in 1986, 1987 and 1988. "Then I got hit by a car, I couldn't continue, and I tried to commit suicide a couple of times." He started using crack cocaine, weighed only 46 kilos and had to go to rehab. He relapsed after four months. That same day he packed his bags, went to Amsterdam and has never returned to his country. He says he ended up on the streets because he likes the lifestyle and likes to travel. But since he fell ill with HIV he has been grateful to have an apartment. He likes having an empty apartment because, with dogs, it is easier to clean.
The tragedy of Holly, Stephan's partner
Stephan met Holly, pictured, 8 years ago in front of Lidl, and they were a couple until her death, 3 years ago. Stephan knew that Holly was HIV positive, but they wanted to have a child. Holly is Stephan's second girlfriend to die young and tragically. His previous girlfriend, Ana, was found murdered and raped three months before Holly was found dead in similar conditions. In the picture, Holly with the dog Gary Cooper. Stephan and Holly found Gary Cooper in a container on the Rambla de Raval, when the dog was a five or six-day-old puppy.
Antonio Córdova, breaking statistics
Antonio Córdova was born in 1944 in a village in Málaga. The right side of his face is scarred by an accident: a fire that happened when he was seven months old and he fell. He came to Catalonia looking for work. Antonio lost his wife and young son to cancer. An alcoholic out of grief, he ended up on the streets. Twenty years ago he became an assistant at Arrels, which continues to be his main community. Antonio, seventy-six years old, has outlived the average life expectancy of the homeless, or former homeless. This year Arrels has lost 69 people who were living on the streets or who had lived there and, on average, were 55 years old.
Three cowgirls
From left to right, Montse Tor Vidall, from Mentui, Teresa Baqueró Cereza (Albert's half-sister), from Olp, and Janira Sabarich Blasi, from Rialp. Three cowgirls, with long poles useful for keeping cows at bay.
Help arrives
In the image, some farmers who won't make the trip on foot down the mountain, but will help with the enclosure of the cattle along the way.
9.51 and the descent begins
Farmers will be divided into several groups to bring down the cows in separate, more manageable herds. Each herd comes down from different places. The first meeting point will be the Corral Nou.
Teamwork
The farmers surround one of the herds, of a hundred cows, to take them down to the Corral Nou, where they will meet with the rest for the final descent. Farmers surround them to make sure none of the escape.
Lined up
A herd of cows descends in a line towards Llessui.
Father and son
Jordi and Albert Ravetllat run a farm and a butcher's shop in Bolvir (Cerdanya), a small village near Puigcerdà. In the picture they laugh at the advantages and difficulties of running a family business.
Maravilla
The row of cows stretch across the valley during the last stretch of the walk. This step is called the Maravilla (Wonder).
La Tria (the choice)
It's 1 p.m. Three hours later, the 550 cows arrive in Llessui, all mixed up. Here the cows will have to be identified by their owners and loaded onto trucks.
Goodbye to the high mountains
This cow belongs to Ramon Pellicer and is already loaded into truck, on the way to the farm. After four months of grazing in the high mountains, he returns to Cal Masover de Barbats.
Loaded
Thirty-five cows fit in the trucks and are ready to start the road trip back to the farm.
Arrival home
A cow that belongs to Jordi and Albert Ravetllar arrives in La Cerdanya, in the Nau del Po. It is the final destination after four months of high mountain grazing, a tria, and three hours on the road. It's six o'clock in the afternoon. The cows will graze here until Christmas, when they will be moved to the Empordà during the colder months of winter.