The Soup Kitchen

Feeding the elderly homeless

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A woman at the soup kitchen, with a cook in the background
Food being carried out of the kitchen to the dining area
A woman cook holding big plates of bread
The dining hall from a low angle, with tables and chairs left and right
An older maneating noodles in the dining hall
A woman in the dining hall
A woman in the dining hall
Leftovers on a table after the meal

albania

About The Soup Kitchen

Albania has one of the youngest populations in Europe. Despite this, there are many elderly on the streets of Tirana. The collapse of social securities after the communist rule causes many elderly to have to make due with meagre pensions. Many who were not allowed to own property during the communist era, can now no longer afford their apartments. Those who do not have children to take them in or to help them pay for living space, end up on the streets. The church has started a food programme where volunteers feed the elderly twice a week.

The elderly struggle to survive in the new Albania.

About the groundwork project

Groundwork is a photographic project that focuses on those who do fieldwork for aid organizations. The idea is to balance the images usually seen of NGO’s, which typically revolve around those who receive the aid. Our aim is to humanize these organisations and the work they do. We want to show the hard work these men and women do, with great courage in often dire circumstances. And we hope to lessen the scepticism and preconceptions concerning aid operations.