Coronavirus in Italy: in Lombardy, the specter of poverty extends
Audio 01:21
View of the city of Brescia, Italy.
© Wikimedia Commons / Luca Giarelli
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
In Italy, exceptional support for the economy is still helping to cushion the crisis.
But poverty is spreading.
First confined, and more heavily bereaved, the wealthy region of Lombardy is no exception.
In Brescia, an important industrial hub, charities are still active almost a year after the start of the pandemic.
“To eat for everyone”, a group founded by parents of students, helps families in difficulty.
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With our special correspondent in Brescia,
Juliette Gheerbrant
Behind the gates of a former school, are the premises of the association "To eat for everyone".
The volunteers came to tidy up, some with their children who are delighted to see that mountains of toys collected for Christmas are still there.
Boxes folded under his arm, a young man of 27, confides that he cannot take this pandemic any longer.
“
Before, everything was fine and the Covid-19 destroyed everything, ruined everything
,” he says.
I was looking for something to do, the social worker took me here
”.
Help
The young man has found a job as a gardener, but he continues to help.
This is also true for Karima Abid, a volunteer very involved in the association who has lost her full time and who says: “
I work, but no longer as before.
I'm only doing three hours a day right now.
I take everything: driver, worker, even cleaning lady.
I have a degree in Arabic literature but I would have to go back to university and as I am raising my three children alone, I cannot afford it
”.
Generosity
Next to the oil bottles is a used washing machine.
The generosity of the inhabitants is there.
And Anna Aberna, at the origin of the project, notes that the number of families in difficulty is not decreasing.
“
At first, it was emergency situations, of people losing their often informal jobs
,” she recalls.
Now there are families who have exhausted their savings.
Suddenly, we would like to continue the distributions until March ”.
Or even more, because at the end of June, the bans on layoffs and partial unemployment will no longer be there to cushion the crisis.
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(Re) listen: Bergamo: bitter lessons from the first wave of Covid-19
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