Heatwave: marauding to help the homeless cope with the heat

Chloé Lagadou, edited by Romain Rouillard 10:59 a.m., August 06, 2022

The mild temperatures, following the new heat wave last week, will not last.

The mercury will start to rise again next week, provides Météo-France.

Conditions from which particularly homeless people suffer, who can however count on the marauding carried out by several associations. 

For a day, Europe 1 roamed the streets of the capital with "The ride of the fireflies", which distributes drinks, food and clothing to the homeless.

It is with large plastic shopping bags filled with sandwiches and water bottles that René and his team of volunteers criss-cross the streets of Paris to meet the homeless, who are very numerous this summer. 

"We think less about it" in summer

"Right now, along the Seine, there are about thirty in all. Whereas this winter, there were about ten tents", observes René.

In his wheeled trolley, 50 bottles of water are to be distributed.

"We try to be vigilant about hydration, but knowing that, as we are on foot, we cannot walk around with 300 liters of water. So when we finish the marauding, we are always short of water "

On the way, the marauder encounters the homeless, sitting on a bench facing the Seine.

Jean-Luc has lived on the streets for 30 years and to escape the heat, the man with the long graying beard has his technique.

"You have to get in the shade, especially in the morning under the fig tree and there, behind the bench in the afternoon," he shows. 

In summer, aid is rarer, but remains just as necessary as the rest of the year, recalls Antoine, a volunteer.

"People who live on the street in winter still live on the street in summer. But we think about it less because we see them less, we say to ourselves less 'ohlala it's cold, it's hard for people who are outside'. But when it's hot like that, it's just as hard."

In Paris alone, around 3,000 people live on the streets, summer and winter alike.