In the capital of Madagascar, soup kitchens attract a little more people every day. Between the economic consequences of the health crisis and the general impoverishment of the country, the number of people in need has never been so high, the associations explain.
From our correspondent in Antananarivo,
16.00 In the resuscitation room at the mother-child hospital in Tsaralalana, Caroline, a volunteer in the Akama Association, announces to mothers who so wish that the daily distribution of free hot meals has begun.
Then Bodo, his grandson, approaches in his arms. The child suffers from seizures and malnutrition. She is 2 years old and weighs only 5 kilos. “There are families here who really do not have enough to eat,” she says. So this soup helps us tremendously because many of us have great difficulty. ”
The distribution continues outside, on the sidewalk in front of the hospital. Nurses, guards, homeless … the line gets longer to eat the soup with pasta, fresh fish, eggs and breads that the chefs at Caroline’s restaurant cooked an hour ago: “They are street children, children from the trash, children from the neighborhood. Every day there are 100 people ”.
“Street children, they have no choice but to be there”
On the Isotry side, a very popular district, 7 days a week, at 6 pm, Minah, the gargotière, handles the distribution. “Now we give 305 recipients per day. It’s getting worse. There are more and more people, children, mothers and fathers on the streets, she describes. This is due to the lack of employment in Mada. And the national policy that has been in place since March to close the borders and the town hall policy that ensures that the poorest are removed from the city center, so it does not really help, especially in Antananarivo. “According to figures from the World Bank from 2018, 90% of the population on the Big Island live on less than 2 dollars a day.
These street people, Minah looks them straight in the eye. With a lot of empathy and understanding. Seven years ago, she also lived on the sidewalk with her daughter. “Street children, they do not have the choice to be there,” she explains. For this shady heroine, “is the love our country lacks right now. We no longer have love for others. Public policy today encourages people to be more selfish in our current society. ”
From the top of his seven years, this little boy orders the other children to sit quietly in front of the steaming pot. Like him, like hundreds of others, it will be the only significant meal of the day.
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