HUNGER KNOWS NO SHAME

The First Communal Kitchen in Nis

"We were forced to open the kitchen, because the Republic of Serbia has practically abolished social appropriations and owes the users about four million German marks", says assistant director of the Social Welfare Centre in Nis, Nikola Dokman.

AIM Belgrade, 16 June, 1997

The spent money for social welfare has for the first time after the Second World War forced the authorities of a city to admit that there is poverty and hunger in Nis. Contrary to the previous local authorities, which in their name had the attribute "social", the new authorities which have taken over the care about the city after a few months of street protests, are trying to help the poor citizens by offering them one meal a day in the first communal kitchen.

Nis could have had the communal kitchen back in 1993 when international humanitarian organizations assisted opening of kitchens in all the cities in Serbia. Although all the expenses were taken care of by international humanitarian organizations at the time, the authorities assessed that Nis did not need such aid.

"I am not ashamed that my children and I are eating in the communal kitchen. These kitchens should have been opened before. They are useful for the elederly who cannot cook for themselves. I could cook for myself and my children but I have nothing to cook", says Milivoje Jamnik, beneficiary of the communal kitchen.

He is employed at the Institute of Nis Machine-Building Industries, in the technical documentation department. Although the Institute is officially working, Jamnik is on forced leave for five years already and has not received a single dinar of salary. Relief is his only source of income.

Jamnik is just one of 1100 citizens of Nis who belong in the category of the most vulnerable groups according to criteria of the Social Welfare Centre. Meals from the kitchens established by this Cente in Nis are received by beneficiaries of the relief fund, pensioners and the unemployed.

According to the evaluation of the Social Welfare Centre, there are about three thousand needy people in the city who are entitled to free meals offered by communal kitchens. "We are great consumers of the money from the social welfare fund. There are 1387 families which receive relief, 445 persons receive allowance for assistance and nursing of other persons, and there are 452 elderly persons in Nis living in old people's homes", assistant director of the Social Welfare Centre, Nikola Dokman, presents the social identity card of Nis.

"This has brought salvation to my family, because I don't know what I would do if it were not for the free dinner from the kitchen of the Centre. I have three little girls, and neither I nor my husband are employed anywhere. He receives relief but mostly irregularly", says Mirjana Stanojevic, queuing with a dish in her hand.

Due to inadequacy of the premises and dignity of the people, city authorities of Nis have decided that beneficiaries of free meals offered by the Social Welfare Centre should take the food at ten locations in the city in their own dishes.

In front of the offices of local communities where food is distributed, pots and pans start tinkling around noon every day. Beans, spinach, green peas are poured into them... The food served in the communal kitchen in Nis meets all the necessary quality requirements. Out of the seven meals a week, meat is served in five, which some of the beneficiaries have not tasted for years.

"Thank God that the authorities have decided to help the part of the population which needs help. There are a lot of people in the city who are hungry. These authorities made up of ordinary and clever people are aware and ready to admit that there is hunger in Nis. That is why the Church is supporting them", says father Zlatan, a priest of the Serb Orthodox Church of St. Nickolas in Nis.

Work of the communal kitchen in Nis is also assisted by the humanitarian organization of the Catholic Church, Karitas, which has provided resources for at least six months of operation of the kitchen.

While the International Federation of the Red Cross is announcing that it will withdraw donations for communal kitchens in Yugoslavia, which will directly affect the needy and unprovided for persons in about thirty cities in Serbia, the kitchen in Nis will continue to work. "The kitchen in Nis does not depend on donations of the Red Cross. In Nis, money is provided by donors", says the second man of the Nis Social Welfare Centre.

It is not easy to be forced to get one's meals at the communal kitchen, but in a country where poverty has become part of everyday life, communal kitchens are indispensable for a considerable number of people. It is necessary to tread upon the last crumbs of pride and stand in queue in front of the cauldron in order to get the badly needed meal.

"There is no shame when there is no bread", says a middle-aged woman waiting with a pot in her hands for the beans soup which was on menu that day.

Zoran Kosanovic (AIM)