Kirenia with her baby next to her mother
In 2015 I noticed that most of the sheltered people at Máximo Gómez 27 were of African descent . In my last visit , Kirenia points out that , in addition , the majority are women and many of them have children . When will they have an apartment ? It seems indeed that very soon , before the end of 2017 .
A hope is born In November 2016 , Kirenia tried to reach me by phone to tell me a breaking news . The eighth issue of the magazine Identities , where my first article on the shelter was published , had been scanned at the Municipal Government Palace . For that reason , she thought something had happened to me , because we weren ’ t in contact since the last interview . Fortunately , nothing has happened to me so far . " Everyone from the shelter went to the Government Palace to complain . We said we were going to occupy an empty building . The president came and stated this shelter is uninhabitable . A meeting was held and they said they were going to get us out of here at the rate of three cubicles a month . Every family would get an apartment . The first cases were Vivian , Alina and a lady who has been here for over twenty years . It should have started by the end of December , but today it ' s the 27 th and they ' re still here ." Normally , all the end-of-the-year procedures are difficult . It is understandable that these people did not receive their homes in December 2016 , but they will certainly receive them in January or a bit later . For those who have waited decades , one month is not a big deal . If the planned distribution — three cubicles per month — is fulfilled , as it was said at the meeting , it should not take more than six months to grant the apartments for all the people sheltered in the fourteen cubicles at Máximo Gómez 27 . At the latest in August there would be no sheltered people here . " The lady who broke into the cubicle next to me was on the brink to be evicted , but the neighbors strongly opposed to it and the officials in charge left . She will be
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