The soup kitchen is a part of the Orthodox Church in Belgrade. The people who work in
this soup kitchen prepares food for the homeless and for the people who don’t have anywhere or anything to eat.
What is interesting about this place is the fact that only volunteers work within this little space and by working and traveling together they became friends. People who volunteer are mostly retired or they have some other income and they spend their free time here working hard out of goodwill.
Most people don’t have the possibility to volunteer and in general, people don’t have to volunteer. The point is that many people waste their time and surround themselves with dissatisfaction which is justified, but at the time it cannot be justified.
Unlike many, these people made a decision to spend their time in a different way. Although they have their own troubles and problems within their four-wall-world, they chose a job that makes their life better (and sometimes worse) through which they meet people, hang out, have fun, but also work hard. Most importantly – the result of their decision shows that a few people’s works and a bit of goodwill can feed hundreds of those who cannot and don’t have where else to eat.
If everybody gave just a little, maybe that would mean a lot to somebody else.
A big thank you to Vasilije and all these people for making me feel like a part of the team and letting me document part of their time and work.
Photo & Text by Anđela Petrovski
Narodna kuhinja se nalazi u sklopu pravoslavne crkve u Beogradu. Njihov posao je da prave hranu za beskućnike i ljude koji nemaju gde i šta da jedu.
Zanimljivo kod ovog mesta je što se u toj maloj prostoriji kuhinje nalaze isključivo volonteri koji su postali prijatelji, putujući i radeći zajedno. To su ljudi koji su u penziji ili imaju neke druge prihode za život, a svoje slobodno vreme provode ovde i rade jako naporno, isključivo iz dobre volje.
Mnogi nisu u mogućnosti da volontiraju, niti bi svako trebao. Ali poenta je da ljudi provode vreme jako nekvalitetno, okružujući sebe nezadovoljstvom koje je delom opravdano, ali delom i nije. Ovi ljudi su birali da svoje vreme drugačije provedu. Iako imaju svoje muke i probleme u svoja četiri zida, odabrali su da imaju posao koji im ulepšava, a nekad otežava život, kroz koji upoznaju ljude, druže se, zabavljaju, ali i naporno rade.
Najbitnije – ishod tog vremena je da rad i malo dobrog dela od nekolicine ljudi, hrani stotine koji ne mogu i nemaju gde drugo da se hrane.
Ako svako da po malo, možda će nekome značiti mnogo.
Veliko hvala Vasiliju i svim ovim dragim ljudima, što su učinili da se osećam kao deo ekipe i što su dozvolili da dokumentujem deo njihovog vremena i rada.
Fotografije & Tekst – Anđela Petrovski