A few weeks ago, I posted a picture on Facebook with a caption saying "You say you're poor. What about him?". It shows a makeshift dwelling abutting on a fencewall, just opposite the apartment building where I currently live.
A couple of days ago, I noticed that the owners of the fenced property were preparing to do some building work.
The shack had to go.
But not very far. Very soon I saw that something looking like foundations was being dug alongside another fence wall, about 50 meters farther on the same street.
I decided to document the effort.
How does someone who has virtually nothing manage when the place they call home is destroyed.
There was a heap of plastic bags and bedding packed alongside the opposite wall for the duration of the rebuilding. Decency prevented me from taking a picture.
Within less than 48 hours, a "new" shack was built with the bits and pieces retrieved from the previous one.
This is my neighbour's new place of abode as of this morning.
I felt it important to document extreme poverty. My wish is that in a few years we will all look at these pictures shaking our heads and wondering how it was possible at all, because we won't even remember such situations. But I'm a daydreamer.
