For the first time in 15 years there are soup kitchens in Uruguay. In the Corona crisis, many residents are dependent on food donations. However, support does not come from the state, but from neighbors.
Peter Sonnenberg and Verena von Schönfeldt, SWR
When Jaqueline Recalde leaves home, she still doesn’t know how many food donations she will come back with. She had previously advertised and drummed on social media to make it worthwhile. Because the people in Uruguay are no longer used to the fact that others are dependent on food donations. The country had recently gotten a grip on extreme poverty – until Corona came.
The donations that the 37-year-old mother picks up from neighbors are intended for one of the soup kitchens in Montevideo, the country’s capital. Recalde works there on a voluntary basis. “There have been no” ollas publicas “in Uruguay for 15 years,” she says, no public pots, as the soup kitchens in Uruguay are called. “There are many people who have unofficial jobs and are not registered as employed, but actually all of them manage without help,” says Recalde.
Unemployed overnight
But that changed last year. Recalde herself had lost her job in March. She had worked in a restaurant for 17 years. When the pandemic began and Uruguay was a good example in Latin America for a long time with very low corona case numbers, most of the restaurants closed. Recalde and all of her colleagues were laid off overnight. That is why she not only works for the food distribution, but also benefits from it.
She has a ten-year-old son at home – and since she has been left without a steady income, it has not got any easier in her small apartment in the “La Union” district. A different soup kitchen is open every day. The ways to get there are sometimes very far from your home. But when she speaks you can clearly hear that she is proud to be able to help. Five to seven other volunteers work with her so that the families in the neighborhood can be looked after. Older people in particular, but also single mothers and children, lend a hand, often whole families.
From Corona role model for problem child
From the outbreak of the pandemic in spring 2020 through November, Uruguay was the least affected country in all of Latin America. The number of cases remained low; by July, just 1,000 people had been infected with the virus, 30 had died. Because the government reacted quickly.
Contact rules and tests have existed in the country since the first Corona case. A health emergency was declared and people voluntarily stayed at home – even without an official curfew. President Luis Lacalle Pou cut salaries for himself and his ministers and supported a relief fund for those in need. Because Uruguay’s most important source of income is tourism – and it gradually collapsed due to the pandemic.
The tourist country lacks tourists
Now it is summer in the southern hemisphere, tourist season in Uruguay. In the coastal town of Punta del Este – also called the “Monaco of Latin America” by the locals – it is actually high season. But the guests stay away. “It is true that domestic tourism has increased by 14 percent compared to the previous year,” says photographer Marcelo Umpierrez. “But 300,000 visitors from Argentina and Brazil are missing, and of course the guests from Europe.”
The borders with neighboring countries are closed. And the local tourists mainly come on the weekends, which by no means covers the costs. Because Uruguay is half the size of Germany – but only has 3.5 million inhabitants. Many hotels have therefore announced that they will close completely at the end of January. Few of them only open on the weekends. “Our economy is very dependent on tourism,” says Umpierrez. “During the Corona crisis, a lot of people became unemployed at the same time. The incomes of the remaining employees have fallen and inequality is clearly visible again.” The indicator for this: the soup kitchens.
If there are soup kitchens, the country is doing badly
“We currently have a lot of refugees from Venezuela and Cuba in Uruguay,” says Jaqueline Recalde. The situation on the labor market is difficult. “They have exactly the same right as we to work and to feed their families. But most of the time they are paid less than locals. And if the employers are not doing well either, they must of course save where they can,” she says .
Recalde estimates that 180 people come to serve food every time. Most of them would have lost their jobs and could no longer look after themselves. “Unfortunately we get next to no help from politics,” says Recalde. Everything that goes over the table in the soup kitchen are private donations.
Increasing numbers of infections – and no vaccinations in sight
The number of people infected with corona has risen dramatically since November. The country currently has more than 30,000 cases, and almost 300 people have died from or with the virus. “Here, too, at some point the fear of Corona fatigue gave way,” says forographer Marcelo Umpierrez. People are more revealing during the vacation period. In addition, adds Jaqueline Recalde, the malls and trade fairs have reopened. “The Prado in Montevideo can fit 15,000 people at a time,” she says. Many Brazilians also came across the border in buses and trucks when it was still open. And in Brazil, said Recalde, there is hardly any corona fight.
At the moment, the hospitals in Uruguay still have capacity, says Recalde. But the economic and health crisis all at once, that is a lot for the small South American country. Now the people in the country are waiting, as in many other countries in Latin America, that there will soon be a vaccination in Uruguay. Politicians are already promoting vaccination – but it is not yet clear when it will start.
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