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INTERNATIONAL STORY Continued from page 3 impairments, that they hardly bear witness to many issues in the media - not even a series of violent crimes that seemingly terrify them. THE HORRORS OF LIFE ON THE STREETS Information about the attacks interested almost all my contacts, but their reactions hardly correspond to what you may expect either. No one single person expressed fear of a potentially threatening paint attack. Not Markus, who claims he’s already afraid enough as people kick him, spit at him and threaten him with all kinds of things. Nor Harald, who exclaimed that a paint attack sounds humiliating, but he’s been set on fire before. He explained that he was under a bridge and some boys came from both sides – he would have had no escape route even if he’d woken up in time. There were burn marks on the concrete like in the war, from the melted plastic of his sleeping bag. Many of the reactions of homeless people surrounding the paint attacks may even irritate a lot of people in mainstream society. Justus has been living on the streets for twenty years and snorts at the idea. “Paint? What a joke. Anyone who does that belongs in the circus!” Only one thought makes him angry: “Paint is expensive, I could use that money to buy lunch.” Experiencing violence and worrying about where the next meal comes from seems so normal for Justus that he’s hardly affected by the news. The same goes for Sabine who is at particular risk as a homeless woman: “If I’m sitting begging, guys press up against me or sit across from me drooling. Guys come after me, even if I’m on the move, as soon as I look just a little bit homeless – which happens quickly when the toilets are closed. Homeless women are just fair game.” A SAD TRICK FOR DETERRENCE Sabine knows all the possible methods of self-defense well. However, things don’t always go to plan on the streets. “Pepper spray also blows back in your face sometimes, so I never trust that. But when I was still on heroin, some friends told me a trick to scare off attackers – keep a syringe that is still bloody. Everyone is so afraid of HIV that when you show them the syringe, even angry young guys give you a wide berth,” Sabine explains. So, could this be a solution for more safety? “Of course not, that’s absurd,” she reassures. “The drugs destroy you. Once addicted, you suffer from your own fears, for example, fear of withdrawal on the street without medical help, which can easily be fatal. In the end, you never have a good chance of defending yourself out here. Unless you want to carry a machete around in your backpack? Whoever has the bigger knife, may be attacked less often. I used to know someone like that but, at some point, the police checked him and that was the end of that”. So, if not paint attacks, what’s on homeless peoples’ minds? For Carlos, it’s apprehension towards strangers passing by: “You lie there and just see shoes and you know that people are looking down on you both physically and morally.” Nadine worries about being treated unfairly by law enforcement officers: “They have me on their radar because I look different.” Tarek is afraid of exploiters and fraudsters, such as recruiters for illegal employment (in the construction sector for example): “There are guys who make us promises but break our bones rather than pay us.” For Alan, it’s the frequent panic when loud footsteps approach in the dark: “If you are alone, you can never sleep in the same place more than once, otherwise someone will be waiting for you. And when you’re somewhere new, you don’t know who you’ll provoke there - shopkeepers, residents, or psychos - and what kind of trouble you’ll soon be in. HOME ISN’T BETWEEN FOUR WALLS Homeless people of course also talk about the stress of never being able to come home to their own four walls and constantly fighting for their sheer existence. Dunja says she worries about where she can get some warm food, where the next toilet is, and whether she’ll be attacked there. She says: “If I am sick, how do I cure my cold before it hits my lungs? Where do I wash my underwear when I don’t want to go back to my drop-in center because someone is hostile to me there? Will I see my family again and will they take me in?” So, there are many fears for people on the streets, yet they often remain in the dark – just like many homeless people themselves. Most of the worries of those affected don’t even make it onto television and at best here in our street paper. Now, however, it’s come to light that the suspected perpetrator of the paint attacks was homeless himself. Sabine’s take on it is that if other poor people are beating each other up, there’s no solidarity. However, she’s not surprised: “Life on the streets can break you. Sick people become even sicker, some become numb or even go crazy. If, like the victims, the perpetrator too was homeless, society has two reasons at once to help us more.” ■ Translated from German by Naomi Bruce Courtesy of Trott-War / International Network of Street Papers MARIACHI BANDS FIRE UP FADING MEMORIES OF MEXICAN ALZHEIMER PATIENTS BY ALBERTO FAJARDO MARIACHI BANDS HAVE LONG BEEN A STAPLE OF MEXICAN CULTURE, and now their lively songs are finding a new use: reawakening the memories of people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. The Mexican Alzheimer’s Center is promoting the therapy, hoping the music will stir up recollections of times past among patients with the degenerative illness, encouraging them to sing or even dance to familiar old tunes. “It makes me very sad because I remember my husband, but apart from that, I listen to the music with joy because it brings back many memories that make me very happy,” MARGARITA RAMIREZ, SUFFERING FROM ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE, SINGS WITH MARIACHI BAND MEMBER AS PART OF THE THERAPY BEING PROMOTED BY THE MEXICAN ALZHEIMER’S CENTER, WHICH HOPES THE MUSIC WILL STIR UP RECOLLECTIONS OF TIMES PAST AMONG PATIENTS WITH THE DEGENERATIVE ILLNESS, IN MEXICO CITY, MEXICO OCTOBER 9, 2022. REUTERS/HENRY ROMERO 4 DENVER VOICE February 2023 said Leonor Camacho, a 90-year-old with Alzheimer’s in Mexico City. Songs with links to her husband, relatives, and friends are played to Camacho to complement her daily therapy, which includes saying tongue twisters with other patients online and performing manual exercises to stimulate her memory. The course of therapy led by female guitarists, violinists, and trumpeters in cropped jackets and wide sombreros began in September and will continue until mid-November, encompassing performances throughout the city that patients can attend. The shows take in ballrooms, boats on the waterways of the southern Xochimilco district, and the capital’s traditional mariachi hotspot, the central square Plaza Garibaldi, in the hope that venues will fire up patients’ memories. Regina Altena, head of the Alzheimer’s Center, said studies show that music stimulates neurotransmitters in the brain, creating a mental and emotional connection that helps patients remember and conjure up significant events in their lives. Originally developed in Germany 11 years ago, the therapy was given a mariachi twist to adapt it for Mexican use. Camacho, who has had Alzheimer’s for five years, is one of an estimated 1.8 million people with dementia in Mexico. Of them, around 1.3 million are thought to have Alzheimer’s. During the afternoon, Camacho likes to peruse photo albums with her daughter Maria del Rocio Maya and keeps her mind active by preparing food and doing other tasks around her home. Since Camacho began the mariachi therapy, Maria del Rocio said her mother had become livelier and taken up a more active role in family life again. Before, Camacho tended to sit alone in an armchair by the window, her daughter said. ■ Courtesy of Reuters / International Network of Street Papers

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