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HOW POOR CAN YOU GET (2)
Does Brussels have a place for people without work, house, prospects? Trying to find out the answer, Anna and Mehis visited Brussels’ train station at night.
| Mehis Pärnamets. (VILJANDI). Brüsseli Gare Centrale metroopeatuse koristaja ütles, et trepist alla ja paremale on kaks kodutut. Tänasime teda viisakalt ja astusime vapralt edasi. Vaatasin kiirelt kella ja veendusin, et pool üks öösel on õige aeg uute sõprade leidmiseks.
Alla jõudes vaatasime ringi ja arvasime, et oleme kesköises allmaaraudteejaamas üksi. Veel mõned meetrid edasi, ja nägime, et eksisime — nurgatagusel pingil istus kaks räsitud välimusega purjus meest. Mina jäin hetkeks kõhklema, kuid Anna seadis sammud julgelt nende poole.
„Tere, mina olen Anna,” ütles ta nende ette seisma jäädes. „Ma olen Poolast ja kirjutan kodututest Brüsselis.” Minu üllatuseks oskas üks neist veidi inglise keelt ja jäi nõusse, et Anna talle mõned küsimused esitab. „Täna oli pöörane päev ja homne saab veelgi pöörasem olema,” ütles 47 aastane Tony lauses, mis kujutas endast keha ja vähemalt viie eri rahvuse keelte segu. Enda sõnul on ta aastaid päevast päeva tänavaelust viimast võtnud ja naudib seda.
Küsimusele, kas ta sooviks oma elujärge tööga parandada, vastab mees, et ta oleks nõus, kui talle seda pakutaks.
Nähes, kui avatuks kodutu mees Annat vaadates muutus, taipasin, et minul kui meesterahval poleks temaga jutule saamiseks võimalust olnud. Ma muigasin hetkeks ja jätkasin huviga vestluse vaatlemist. „Sul on ilus naeratus,” ütles Tony äärmiselt flirtival toonil Annale, justkui minu mõttekäigu kinnitamiseks.
Kui Anna oli küsimustega lõpetanud, hakkasime me lahkuma. Järsult tõusis püsti kogu vestluse aja vaikselt kõrval istunud haisev tätoveeritud mees. Ta nägi ärritunud välja ja rääkis midagi, kuid kumbki meist ei mõistnud prantsuse keelt. Sellel hetkel adus ta, et me temast aru ei saa ning võttis kasutusele rahvusvahelistelt tunnustatud meetmed — sirutas välja avatud peopesaga käe. Vaikselt tagurpidi eemaldudes ütles Anna neile, et meil pole raha kaasas. Seejärel keerasime kiirelt ümber ja astusime tempokalt trepist üles. „Kõik räägivad eurodes,” muigasin ma enne, kui jõudsime metroost väljuda.
Kuna olime juba kaks tundi hämaratel tänavatel ringi kõndinud ja mitmete kodututega rääkinud, mõtlesime, et läheme tagasi külalistemajja magama.
Kõndimise ajal rääkis Anna mulle oma kogemustest Poola pealinnas Varssavis. Sealgi on kodutud enamasti kõigega rahul. „Metroojaamades on neil turvaline olla, neil ei ole tavalise eluga kaasnevaid muresid ja kohustusi,” arutles ta. „Aga nii riiklikud kui eraorganisatsioonid aitavad neid erinevatel viisidel.” Näitena sobiks tema sõnul, et kui abivajaja ennast registreerib, otsitakse talle ajutine kodu ja ka võimalik töökoht.
Mina ütlesin, et ka maarjamaa kodutud on oma eluga piisavalt rahul, et ei pinguta sotsiaalse arengu nimel. Ma vestsin, et näen selles tahtmatust, sest igaüks peab ise parema elu poole püüdlema.
Peagi jõudsimegi külalistemajja. Enne kui jõudsin uinuda, tunnistasin endale, et kodututel külas käimine avas mu silmad elu tumedamale poolele.
English version:
The janitor of the Gare Centrale metro station in Brussels said, that there are two homeless people downstairs and to the left. We thanked him and continued to walk bravely. I took a quick look at my watch and ascertained that half past twelve in the night is the right time to find new friends.
Downstairs we looked around and thought, that we are alone in the subway station. Just a few meters further and we saw, that we were wrong — there were two rough looking drunken men sitting on a bench. I hesitated for a second, but Anna started to walk towards them courageously.
“Hi, my name is Anna,” she said. “I come from Poland and I am writing about homeless people in Brussels.” For my surprise one of them spoke some English and agreed to answer to questions.
“Today was a crazy day and tomorrow will be even crazier,” said 47 year old Tony in a sentence, which was a mix of six different languages, body language was one of them. He told us that he had lived on the streets for years and is enjoying it.
When Anna asked, whether he wanted to make his life better, he answered, that he would accept if someone would make a work offer.
When I saw how the man opened up when looking at Anna, I realized, that I would have not had a chance to interview him, because I am a man. I smiled for a second and continued to observe their conversation. “You have a beautiful smile,” complimented Tony Anna in a flirty tone. He confirmed my thoughts with that.
“Everyone speaks in euro,” I joked
When Anna had finished with the questions, we started to leave. Suddenly the stinging and tattooed man next to Tony stood up. He looked irritated and told us something, but we did not understand French. That moment he realized it and took on a measure, which is internationally known —he reached out his open hand. Anna was slowly walking backwards and told them, that we do not have money with us. Then we turned around quickly and walked up the stairs quickly. “Everyone speaks in euro,” I joked before we were out of the metro.
As we had walked around the dark streets for a long time and talked to quite a few homeless people, we decided to go back to our hostels to sleep.
While walking, Anna told me of her experience in Poland’s capital Warsaw. The homeless are quite happy with life there, too. “In the subway stations they feel safe. They don’t have problems and obligations, which come with regular life,” she discussed. “But both state and private organizations help them in different ways.” A good example is that when people register themselves, they will be offered a temporary home and a job possibility. I added, that Estonian homeless are also quite happy with their situation, so they do not try to evolve socially.
Soon we reached the hostels. Before I fell asleep, I admitted, that visiting the homeless opened my eyes to life’s darker side.