" I need legal papers to be able...







"I need legal papers to be able to live normally and to be able to go to Morocco to see my wife. I've only seen her through video calls for the last 12 years. I would like to go back to Safi, but I have to stay here and look for whatever kind of job, so I can help them. Life is very hard there."


Mohammed


MOHAMMED
(74 years old, Morocco)

user of the solidarity pantry
in La Villana de Vallekas


Mohammed came to Spain 12 years ago on a tourist visa. Someone proposed him a job as a street advertising deliveryman, paid €100 a week. As Mohammed says: “in Morocco it is a lot of money. With this I could live normally, rent a room and send money to my family ”. In Morocco (Safi) he has his wife and two children, the third - eldest son - also lives in Spain.

For some years, Mohammed has lived in an occupied house, a building managed by the Platform for People Affected by Mortgage (PAH) in Vallecas (Madrid). At first, he shared the apartment with his son, daughter-in-law and grandson, but when his daughter-in-law found work in Guadalajara, they moved and Mohammed was left alone. Her son has papers and currently works looking after elder people. Mohammed’s son found his job during confinement, when hardly anyone wanted to risk working in a nursing house for the elderly. Now they meet whenever they can, and also Mohammad, who suffers from diabetes, goes to his son's doctor for tests and to obtain a prescription for medicines. - "For these things, if you don't have papers, no one will attend to you in public health, if it wasn't for my son, I don't know what I would have done."

Mohammed tried to fix his administrative situation, and, requested papers alluding to roots in society he has in Madrid, but he received a negative response. He does not understand it, he has his son and grandson in Spain, he is very involved in the life of the neighborhood and many of his colleagues from the PAH supported his demand.

Now Mohammed does not have any regular job and during confinement he was left without any resources. Sometimes neighbors or colleagues from the PAH assembly help him to cover the costs of medicines. To eat, he goes to social centers and food pantries like the one set up in Villana de Vallekas.

* To learn more about the center and / or support the solidarity pantry enter here: LA VILLANA DE VALLEKAS


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Hanna Jarzabek - Photography & Documentary Storytelling

Documentary photographer and Multimedia Storyteller specialized in projects addressing discrimination and societal dysfunctions, with accent on Europe.
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