At the end of the morning shift, volunteers have lunch in the communal dining area. Clients share food but only occasionally their stories. A few will quietly reveal hard times they have traversed, scares are hidden. It is a given that intrusive questions are avoided, keeping physical and emotional safety is implicit.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs places food, water and shelter as the most basic of human necessities. This often referred-to theory, developed in the 1940s, not long after the Great Depression devastated America, continues to draw attention for its basic logic. It is a way of understanding what humans require to grow to be their best, the factors that humans need to become fully functioning adults. At the heart of his model are physical and emotional safety, love, nourishment, self-esteem and achievement. These comprise the fuel that helps people develop to become self-actualised, at the peak of who they can be, completely capable of fully functioning in most circumstances.
Winter slowly gives way to warmer weather and longer days. Food supply pickups from the storehouse depot are less harsh for clients and volunteers. Juz continues to arrive alone. He follows the same pattern each time, although now he sometimes smiles, just a little, when he sees me. I tell him he can take more than six kilos if he wants. He replies, “Nuh, I’m grateful for what I’m given”. I once more ask him to stay for lunch, he says no, then carries his supplies to the car park. He is a solitary figure, loading his small, grey motorbike but, regrettably, he is far from alone.
