Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
The water has already frozen here this winter
Even in this bottle
So the temperature was quite law
Grzegorz
I walked through the city
On this street
I passed this building and after 100 meters it clicked
I passed the empty building
I came back and noticed, that the fence was taken into pieces and partly destroyed
I came in, the house was open, the doors were unlocked
I walked on the property, looked around
I decided to stay here for a night
Then I brought my personal stuff and a sleeping bag
That was my first night here
Besides, you can say sometimes "stay here, stay there", just like while taking photos
There must be some sort of screen-play in the film
Before winter, so that the wind wouldn't come in, I put some rags here
Windows are broken, so I curtained it a little bit
I isolate myself from the cold, then the room looks like this
And then it's quite warm in here
When I'm in my sleeping bag and all that traps, it gets warmer
I've got two sleeping bags and a quilt
Sometimes I cover myself with all of them
When it's really cold
But normally, I use only one sleeping bag and a quilt. That's how I protect myself
Besides, I only used to stay here for nights
Only to undress and go to bed
When I wake up, I immediately set off
I only sleep here
So how do I manage
I spent my days in libraries, clubs, internet cafes
Creating something on the Internet I create the Constitution of the Earth Inhabitants
I hope the politicians and the majority of people could accept it
One big country would arise
It's only about accepting certain rules
They would be the base, the agreement of all inhabitants of the Earth
How to treat the others
It would guarantee, that everybody would fight, so that everyone could live
No matter who
To make research to heal people
From every disease, to assign all forces to that
So that the huge population would give the maintenance to everybody
No matter if he's reach or poor, if he works or not
For everybody, because if we find the cure for a terminal disease
Then we can hope, that when we get ill
We will be able to cure it
I look around. There was my poem here
I can't see it anymore, someone must have taken it
Grześ, for how long have we already known each other? Several years, right?
- I need to print something. - OK, OK
Are you in the same situation?
Exactly. Lack of home.
I live mostly at my friends' places
Mainly at womens'
When drinking a lot and knowing that I have a place to stay
- Guess the rest - I see
Are you also spending time in libraries?
Yes, sure, that's essential to live through the winter
It's sometimes hard.
I want to get a job, to become self-contained, to get a house
But there are no many possibilities on our labour market
When your're searching there are some. But the alcohol is an obstacle
Grzegorz is surfing the Internet
Grzegorz, tell me what are you doing?
There is a Constitution here
I brought it, like I did before and I'll still be doing
I put it into the mail boxes
That's how it looks like since the Constitution was created
I used to post my poems before
Some proposals of changes in ruling the country
What other plans do you have?
I had an appointment with you
Didn't you write it down?
I did, Monday, 7th March
8 am breakfast at Hoża street...
But I didn't go, I was too tired
I woke up only at 8.30 am
I went to Agricultural Library
I sent you an SMS from the Internet
Then you wrote back, that you were waiting
And I wrote that I would be there in a moment I came to the library to meet you
I planned to stay with you until 4 pm
At 4 pm I have a meal at nuns
At 4 pm Center of European Information
To get the plan of lectures
At 6 pm Coffee House
Come, if you can
I told you about that
I'm supposed to get a social pension
I also fight about the normal one
- Don't you have one now? - No, I don't, I try my best
Do you have to pay for the shelter?
Yes, 5 PLN in the summer (1,20 Euro) per night
- Do they take 5 PLN from you? - Yes, per person, in the summer
But you don't pay in the winter
- And do they give the receipt? - I have a certificate
There are two social workers, manager, doctor
The nurse is the best
188 people were there in the winter
The dinner was good, bearable
- What's your name? - Janusz
- I know you by sight. - I know you too, from the shelter
From Burak or from Przyce?
- From Przyce. - But it was like 5 years ago
I spent there two winters, it was good too.
- I also lived at "Countess" Sarkowska. - At Sarkowska?
Yes, at Mszczonowska street, behind Carrefour and West Railway Station
I worked as a supplier, I delivered food
She has 4 houses. I helped her to deliver bread and vegetables
It was good
It depends on how one arranges his life
Now I sell some things, I help to one Arab guy
The guy has been living here for 10 years now, with a Pole
She works as a clerk and I help him to sell things
He has some stuff. That's what I live from
Now I'm going to have a bath and to shave
Do you know, that you hurt yourself doing that?
I bought a razor yesterday for 2 PLN (0,40 Euro)
You can have a beard, but how do you look like? Like a sailor
- It's healthier with beard. - But you have to be a sailor
- Bye. - Good luck.
The main activity of the laundry is offering help to homeless shelters
From the territory of Warsaw
Individuals with certified status of a homeless
Can use the laundry service on certain terms and conditions listed below:
Valid certificate of a homeless
It's valid for 1 month and must be shown at every appointment
The service is open: every first and third Wednesday of the month
From 8 am to 10 am
The clothes and the underwear
Must be taken back in the fixed time: on Monday at 8 am
So you will have to wait till Monday?
Till Friday, I think, they changed it to Friday lately.
Clothes not taken back for 3 days will be passed to the homeless shelter
I learned about the laundry a long time ago, but I didn't use it.
Jacek told me,
That's my friend from a storehouse with clothes for people in need,
He told me to use it
I went to get a referral from Social Welfare Centre
I got the referral
I came here in February for the first time
Today it's the third time
I brought ten pieces of clothes
I have to take it back on Friday, clean and fragrant
You can smell the sweater. It's been laundered here
The service quality is perfect, the smell also
- Yes? - Hello. The Social Inspection of Humour. - Come in.
When a person needs something, we try to give it
Coat, trousers, pants,
Food too, of course if he have it
Mainly we have our own beneficiaries
Poor inhabitants of our and neighboring districts,
Because not in every district you'll find a storehouse of Polish Red Cross
And homeless, but only exceptionally,
'Cause we can't help everybody
Otherwise the homeless would take everything from us
But if he comes once or twice...
It's enough for some time, we help as much, as we can
And Grzech is a good guy
There's always some food or drink for him at our place
- What do you need? - Something that suits. - That's a decoration
It suits
I need a hooded coat, the spring has come
I'd like it to be made of this kind of fabric
Hard thing, we have some track suit coats
But this kind...
I'll check in the fridge, what you've got for me
Good impression
3 ice cubes
- Do you have whisky? - Do you have whisky, he?
- No. - Then why do you need ice?
Today we don't have anything. "Damy radę" association told us, that there are some yoghourts
But they also give as they want
Unfortunately that is how it is
Today I showed to Paweł, that I had some Easter packages.
But they are for those from our district
It seems, there are a lot of things here
But only for women
For women
There are even less clothes for children
- It seems cluttered. - They took away clothes for children
You know that Jola is dead, don't you?
I don't even know, when her funeral will be
- Maybe it already was. - Maybe
Probably social welfare took care of it...
It might be done already, it's been a week
She went to the "Old Man", the one taking care
And she ended her days
At his place?
He came to us, very frightened
And said: there's no contact, I don't know when funeral will be
That daughter came from the social welfare
They closed everything. Nobody knows nothing
I'll give you the example of a good Christian. Think about Christians...
From different groupings, the committed ones, who know Bible very well
If you made them seat by the table together they would start to quarrel
But if you heard them, you would understand that there's no reason to quarrel
They would quarrel only because they used to do it
They all say the same, but using different languages
They want to communicate the same, just using different words
- Diversity. - That's why they don't understand each other
Diversity in unity
They say the same, but using words in different meanings
They quarreled without any reason
Do you visit different Christian communities?
Different religions
We live in difficult times and...
I would like to convince people from different religions
All religions should stop fighting with each other, 'cause there's one God
I tell to people, that there's enough place in the Universe
We can all live in peace
Those who believe and those who do not believe
Different religious and non-religious groups
Besides that, I get to know people this way, I gain some knowledge about the world
About how to live, how to behave
I stood here one day
I was a little bit depressed
It's hard to understand for people, that I might need help
That I'm not the person, I'm supposed to be
So I stood and said:
Peace be with you
People, please understand that
Killing anybody is a shame
They killed Jesus, why do you want to kill me too?!
Come to your senses!
If you want to kill me, you hurt yourselves!
If you save me, then maybe in the future
I will save you, when you need it
I was talking to myself like that. It's good to talk from here, from the top
You talk with God and with people
But there are no people
And you can't see God
In fact you talk to yourself
I'm in such a mood, that I could start crying
Why?
You would like this moment to come
The guy who is 50 years old, has 7 teeth,
Who actually lies and dies
He says that he wants to live forever, that he will be healthy one day,
That they kick him, not literally, that they don't want to help him
Or want to help in the other way, the way that he doesn't accept
But he's full of optimism, that he can do something
In prison I was told, that people like me have to be criminals
That actually there's nothing I can do, only kill, steal and ***
Because that's who I am
But for the last 10 years I've been proving, that it is not like that
I gave up drinking, smoking
I act in totally different way
There is still something that I did wrong
But I can fight with myself
You have to find only one enemy: yourself
And try to be a better man everyday
Translated by Joanna Wilczak