On our own doorstep.

In our endeavour to help the poor and vulnerable in this world we discover that we do not have to go very far from our own beautiful island of Mallorca, from our very own dear Calvia, a paradise for part of the population. We discover though that there is a less fortunate part of the population, an "invisible" part. "Invisible" because nobody wants to see it.

There is a part of the population which lives in overcrowded flats. The jobs they had in construction companies or in hotels has come to an end due to the recession. They have no income, no means of returning to their country of origin (there is the possibility for some to return home voluntarily and they may even be better off  and have a better quality of life than they have found here) but many do not have that option because their families or villages are in debt for money which paid to send them here in the first place and then there are the mafias threatening others who brought them to this country.

These people have no help from social services, only certain organisations help them as much as they can.
They are not eligible for a social security doctor's services and when in need must go directly to the emergency unit in the local hospital, and when they are given a prescription often they do not have the money to buy the medicines with. We are gradually beginning to identify these groups of people living in such precarious circumstances and are trying to help them as much as possible. It's hard to believe that this is happening on our own doorstep, such poverty alongside such wealth.
On the 27/10/09 we had a meeting with Father Eugenio, an intelligent priest with a good sense of humour who is very active working to fight  all types of social problems. Together we will be setting up a "Solidarity Chemist",  in order to make available medicines and medical supplies for those immigrants who have no National Health coverage, for his church projects in Peru and for our own Mediterranea programs.
We will also be collaborating with Father Eugenio in his feeding of those in need in Calvia project.
So far one restaurant has offered us frozen food  packages for those in need in the area.