Fundraiser: The Shame in the Table Serpent
Created: 2022-12-08Updated: 2022-12-08 10:27 am
By: Dorit Caspary
Out of shame, many table guests wish to remain anonymous, so the names in this story have been changed.
© Jens Hartmann
Should I or should not I?
Can I or can't I?
Eva sits in front of her cell phone and cries for seven hours.
Then she takes courage and dials 089-2441363.
This is the number of the Munich food bank for people in acute need.
Together against poverty
Poverty can affect anyone.
Suddenly and everywhere.
With our aid campaign "Together against poverty" we would like to support people in poverty, especially families from the Ukraine - together with the "Münchner Tafel" here and with Unicef on site.
Today we tell Eva's story, which she would never reveal herself.
But the Münchner Tafel asked her to give other people in a similar situation the courage to accept help.
Sometimes the need is so acute that it cannot continue without support.
Yuliya, who just made it to the basement of a clinic to give birth, knows that too.
Acute need means that the fridge is empty and there is no financial means to fill it, that people are left with absolutely nothing at this moment.
Here's how you can donate
With your donation - no matter how small - you support the tz aid campaign "Together against poverty" in favor of the Munich food bank and Unicef.
In concrete terms, the proceeds go to people who, despite all their own efforts, are dependent on help in Munich, especially families from the Ukraine who had to leave their homeland from one moment to the next with nothing.
And to needy children and families on site who need support so urgently in Ukraine and neighboring countries, especially now in winter.
Together with our partners and you, dear readers, we would like to help both here, right on our doorstep, and in Ukraine.
Poverty can affect anyone.
No matter where.
Through war, through personal strokes of fate.
Therefore: Please support our relief campaign with your donation.
Would you like to donate by bank transfer?
First, please select the organization you would like to donate to.
When making the transfer to the respective account, be sure to include poverty
as the keyword
.
For donations of up to 100 euros, the deposit slip serves as a receipt for the tax office.
For larger amounts, you will automatically receive a donation receipt from the respective organization.
Please be sure to enter your name and address in the intended use field, otherwise we will not be able to send you a donation receipt.
The recipient is either the Münchner Tafel or Unicef.
The donation accounts
For Unicef
Commerzbank
IBAN: DE78 7008 0000 0326 9000 00
BIC: DRESDEFF700
For the Munich table eV
HypoVereinsbank
IBAN: DE37 7002 0270 6850 1933 10
BIC: HYVEDEMMXXX
Would you like to donate directly online?
Here you will find direct access to our donation accounts:
- for the Munich table
- for Unicef
Now another important promise that tz has kept for over 30 years: Every cent that you donate goes 100 percent to the children and families.
All administrative costs are taken over from other pots and by sponsors.
"Unfortunately, we have more and more cases," says Axel Schweiger, Head of Human Resources at the Munich food bank.
Eva wishes to remain anonymous.
Her family knows nothing of her great need.
Not even that she is now asking for help from the board.
And she really needs it.
She lived on a pack of sliced bread and tap water for five days before she dared dial the emergency number.
One thinks that this cannot be in a city like Munich, in a country like Germany.
But sometimes, fate just doesn't mean it very well.
Eva (40) comes from a wealthy family.
The father doctor, the uncle doctor, the rest of the family studied.
Only Eva gets pregnant at 20.
A catastrophe for the family, which originally comes from another country.
The mother wants to persuade her to have an abortion.
The daughter refuses.
Even when the child's father makes off.
She is doing well for herself and her daughter.
"I had to put Anna in a crèche when she was eleven months old, but I was able to support us," says Eva.
The young mother is modest and hardworking.
She studies business administration and makes her living.
The contact to the family is already manageable.
When Anna is a teenager, her grandfather dies and Eva inherits a large sum.
Among other things, she uses the money to help a poor family who cannot afford furniture.
There she meets Miro.
he is a seller
nice and helpful.
He supports the then 33-year-old, but turns out to be violent.
And he lives on ever larger feet - with Eva's money.
When everything is gone, he wants to get rid of mother and daughter.
But then Eva is pregnant.
Miro doesn't want the child, checks Eva at every turn.
And abuses her.
When she wants to separate, she has to pay for it in the worst possible way: she is raped.
In fact, the baby dies.
Covered in blood, he throws Eva out of the car.
She is rescued by passers-by.
Charges have been brought against Miro.
The process is ongoing and the trial is scheduled to take place in 2023.
Miro doesn't want the child, checks Eva at every turn.
And abuses her.
When she wants to separate, she has to pay for it in the worst possible way: she is raped.
In fact, the baby dies.
Covered in blood, he throws Eva out of the car.
She is rescued by passers-by.
Charges have been brought against Miro.
The process is ongoing and the trial is scheduled to take place in 2023.
Miro doesn't want the child, checks Eva at every turn.
And abuses her.
When she wants to separate, she has to pay for it in the worst possible way: she is raped.
In fact, the baby dies.
Covered in blood, he throws Eva out of the car.
She is rescued by passers-by.
Charges have been brought against Miro.
The process is ongoing and the trial is scheduled to take place in 2023.
My family knows nothing of my need
Eve (name changed)
Ever since that day nothing has been the same in Eva's life.
That was almost two years ago.
Still, she doesn't give up.
"I'm fighting for my daughter so that she can live her dreams." In Anna's case, that means she wants to become a doctor.
The Munich native passed her Abitur last year with a grade of 1.1.
In August she moved from her mother's one-and-a-half-room social flat to a room in a shared flat so that she can study in peace.
Because Eva has panic attacks at night.
And pain.
She now also suffers from heart disease and has to take heavy medication.
Anna doesn't have a laptop.
And not much else either.
Tuition fees, rent, food – Mama Eva paid for all of that.
The student's BAföG application is ongoing.
Average processing time approx. six months.
The loan application to the social welfare office has so far been rejected.
That is why mother and daughter are in this position now.
Anna can hardly work.
She has lectures all day, has to study and catch up on the online courses at nights and weekends in the library.
It's no different without a laptop.
Sometimes learning comes in handy.
After all, she has a reason why she can't have a beer with her fellow students.
She has already considered giving up her studies.
"I forbidden her to do that," says Eva.
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Her family knows nothing of the great need.
Her mother rarely sees her anymore.
Out of shame.
"I'm the black sheep anyway.
You don't get pregnant at 20.
And if a man does violence to you, it's your own fault.” Even if today is only December 8th, Eva's budget is exhausted.
She has also dispensed with an Advent wreath and a candle.
She would have loved to give Anna an advent calendar, but there was no money left for that either.
Coming to the board now pushes Eva to the limit.
“I am so ashamed that I need this support and at the same time I am so infinitely grateful for it.
I had no idea how nice it feels to have a stocked fridge.”
Axel Schweiger knows the needs of table guests.
© Klaus Haag
Hidden poverty and acute need in Munich
In the city of the rich and beautiful, the shame of having to go to the Munich food bank is particularly high.
Axel Schweiger, Human Resources Manager at the Tafel, experiences this every day.
"Imagine driving through the city on the tram, seeing the people in the cafés, shopping, going to the theater and you know that you can't do any of that, it creates an infinitely lonely feeling."
That is why some of the table guests dress up as if they are going to an opera premiere when they come to the table.
They never want to be seen as needy, they hide their poverty.
The neighbor should never see how they are really doing.
The number of people affected by hidden poverty is increasing – according to Schweiger.
That's why leftover bread has been handed out in the Lehel for a few months.
No proof of need is required for this.
“We have academics, managers and former entrepreneurs who have fallen into the poverty trap, for example through burnout.
These people find it very, very difficult to overcome their shame.” But they dare to stop by for a snack.
Some say they're helping a neighbor...
Around 40 percent of all table guests know the feeling of shame.
Refugees sometimes find it easier.
"They are used to having to accept help," explains Schweiger.
He knows: "The more someone was integrated into society, the worse the feeling of falling and then overcoming the shame."
Yuliya is happy to have made it to the clinic at the last moment.
© UNICEF/Ratushniak
Birth between explosions and smoke: Yuliya (38) gives birth to daughter Vera in a clinic basement
Yuliya (38) walked to Kyiv for two days to give birth to her baby in safety.
She almost didn't make it.
“But thank God and the doctors that I now have a baby and am alive,” says the young mother gratefully.
She cradles her Vera in her arms.
She is only a few days old, but their lives are in danger every day.
"We're stuck in the basement and crying a lot."
The maternity clinic to which Yuliya fled is supported by Unicef.
For example with protective gowns, oxygen, hygiene products and baby food.
Without the aid deliveries, operations could not be maintained.
The damp and dark basement is now being used by more and more women as a temporary home.
You can no longer go home after the treatment - because that no longer exists.
It is last resort in great need.
The last time Yuliya went outside for a breath, leaving her young daughter alone in the basement, she heard new explosions outside.
Since then, she has remained almost exclusively underground.
tz editor Dorit Caspary.
© fkn
Your contact person
Do you have any questions or would you like to become active yourself, for example organizing your own fundraiser or auction?
Then call or write an e-mail.
tz editor Dorit Caspary got an idea of both the projects of the Munich food bank and Unicef.
You can be sure: every donation euro is urgently needed.
You can reach our reporter on Tel. 089/5306 512 or by email at dorit.caspary@merkurtz.de.
