16
Carelinks | Riga Winter Feeding
Scheme | Latvia ...continued ~
You will notice in some of the pictures that
several of our number have walking sticks.
Quite a few others are in need of them- many
have suffered strokes, or with lack of medical
care have been unable to fix breakages or
sprains, resulting in mobility and balance
problems. Such problems of basic stability
when walking are made many times worse by
the fact that many pavements aren’t free of
ice, and at these very low temperatures the
ice is like glass and very slippery. We are
providing walking sticks and related aids,
health care is not free and so when you have
no pension, it’s hard to get such things. So you
are welcome to donate towards the provision
of such assistance.
Pictured above: Entering the
hall frozen; brother Vyacheslav
[pictured with his bag of
possessions] was once a guard
on the Berlin Wall in Germany, and he gave a
lovely reading of Revelation 21 at our New
Year's gathering.
Pictured top right: Taking free clothing; note
the brothers with walking sticks [and they
must carry what they possess in bags as they
can’t leave bags at the night shelters].
We’re so grateful to all who enable this effort,
and especially to Bro & Sis Jim and Anne
Barton from Canada who worked for two
months at the Centre. The strong winds and
moisture in the air mean that temperatures
such as -26 feel like far worse than that.
Mucus freezes in the nose and breathing is
difficult for many of our folk; they have to be
out on the streets much of the day as the night
shelters work from 8 p.m. up to 8 a.m. only.
We’ve also been buying and delivering
firewood, grateful for Brother Maxim’s assis-
tance. Some of our brothers and sisters live in
property which they are effectively squatting
in, and electric bills haven’t been paid so
there is no electricity. There are not many
hours of daylight at this time; it’s hard to
capture the darkness, lit at best by a candle;
and the dampness and general cold. Using flash
photography makes everything seem different;
note in the photo below our sister wears full
outdoor clothing indoors all the time.
Bro Maxim with Sis Brigita in her ‘home’.
Sis Brigita was found squatting by the owner but
as she had gone to such efforts to make it homely
and tidy, for now the owner has allowed her to stay
as a caretaker. God’s providence in action.