A helping hand during the crisis

Every second week Alice Östberg, 83, gets help to do her shopping.

– I can't walk, it's very painful, she says.

– So it's good that there is help to be had.

It was in the spring when someone from the municipality rang Alice Östberg up.

– They wondered if there was anything I needed help with. PRO has been in touch as well, she says.

– One of my children is in Tollarp and one in Sölvesborg. They're very good about helping me, but during the corona crisis it's out of the question for them to come and visit me. That's really hard.

She lives alone in her flat at Sommarlust, where she has lived for four years.

– I'm very happy here.

She gets warm lunches sent home to her. So she doesn't have to do so much shopping.

– He gets a list of what to buy, a shopping-bag and some money. Then he goes and does the shopping at Konsum. That's just about all the contact I have with him, she says.

Loui Alkafri is the man who does the shopping.

– My own parents are old. When I came to Sweden, I was given a lot of help. So now I want to help other people, to show my gratitude, he says.

Loui Alkafri has a wife and three children and lives at Söder. He works as a supply teacher in classes 1-9 and is in the process of having his training validated (he taught English) at the university.

– I don't have much time. I work, read and study,, and I have a family. I don't want to make any promises I can't keep. But when Alice phones I go and do her shopping, .

– It's enough to make someone happy. It's not so much how much you help as that you help, he says.

What do you think about this help?

– It works well, says Alice Östberg.

– It's a pity he doesn't get paid, petrol is expensive. The first time he got twenty crowns for petrol, but he didn't want to take any money.

Being isolated during the pandemic isn't easy.

– I don't have any friends either, they're all dead. I just meet the people who live in these flats. A few of us usually get together. We take our walkers and meet outside, she says.

– Although we haven't done that for a while now. And a lot of activities have been cancelled. What we still have is bingo once a week and grilling sausages on Fridays, out of doors.

– But that's too cold, says Alice Östberg.