Chanllenges of Europe

Challenges of Europe

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Challenges of Europe

European Scapegoat

“Like when the Nazis put the star of David on the Jews?”

International semester Photo 2010 Editors in chief: Amy Johansson and Julia Ajanko Editorial Editor: Lone Theils Photo Editor: Jesper Voldgaard Graphic Consultance: Henrik Meller and Susanne Sommer Print: Damgaard Jensen Copies: 15

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Will Lounsbury

12-19

Amy Johansson

Out from da hood

High on conspiracy

The slip of life

Bethanien

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Nina Weymann-Schulz

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Aino Salmi

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James Njuguna Mwaura

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Corinna Sauer

At home with Else

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Legally illegal

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Hanna Lenz

Julia Ajanko

Dance with cancer

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Anita Haugland

Danish School of Media and Journalism Olof Palmes Allé 11, DK-8200 Aarhus N www.dmjx.dk Oktober 2010 2

- Danish School of Media and Journalism - International Photo Journalism I - Autumn 2010 3

European Scapegoat The Roma of Romania

story and images: William Lounsbury 4

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During the summer of 2010, the French government began a campaign, which consisted of the dismantling of Roma campsites, as well as the deportation of Roma residents. Groups from NGOs to the European Union have criticized the actions of France. EU commission has threatened legal action against France for the expulsion of the Roma from their homes. Many of the 1,000 or more Roma expelled from France have been sent to Romania.

As paved roads wind into dirt streets, the town of Baneasa slowly loses the feeling of a modern town as it stretches into countryside. Here, unpaved streets are filled with hand-pulled carts and horses. Baneasa, which lies 100km south west of the Black Sea city of Constanta, Romania, is home to the Roma community of Carpini.

The Roma, commonly known as Gypsies, live alongside the rest of the Romanian population, and yet their lives seem to directly contrast the lifestyles of other Romanians. Romania, which has one of the largest populations of Roma in Europe, has recently been at the center of a discussion over how the country should help improve the socio-economic status of the Roma people. The vast majority of Roma in Romania, estimated at 80 percent according to a report compiled by Roma Civic Alliance of Romania, live in poverty.

Entering Carpini, the difference between the town at large and this community is immediately apparent. The majority of the homes are old and decrepit — many do not have electricity or running water. The roofs are old and do not always keep out the elements, and water still leaks through roofs from previous days’ rain.

The result of living in poverty for centuries has led to problems for Roma in areas such as education, employment, housing and health care, said Nicu Ion a member of Roma ACCESS. ACCESS is an NGO that works with Roma communities in and around Constanta. Ion himself is Roma.

Poor housing quality can lead to the growth and spread of disease, while a lack of education prevents people from finding better, more lucrative jobs. These low-paying jobs often prevent access to acceptable housing and health care.

As a result, a noticeable lack of men can bee seen in Carpini. Although some still live within the town, many have left for western European countries such as France, Germany and Spain in order to look for work. One woman complains about the roads, saying that despite having asked the mayor numerous times to make improvements, but have received no help.

For Roma living in these small communities, far from the larger cities, jobs are scarce. Mr. Ion said that this lack of jobs has driven many from their small towns to the countries of Western Europe.

“I’m not saying Roma don’t go beg on the street, but that is a small percentage,” said Mr. Ion. “If you are Roma you face a lot of discrimination in trying to get a job.”

In a suburb of Constanta, the Bolmandir family lives among other Romanian families. The family is a musical one; the three brothers perform in a band and make their living this way. In some ways, the family is a traditional Roma one; however, unlike many Roma they have not isolated themselves from the rest of Romania’s population, but rather they participate in the larger community.

Felicia Bolmandir works in the family’s kitchen all day, preparing large dishes comprised largely of beef and pork. Even as the family sits down to eat, she continues to cook while encouraging everyone else to eat. The family all eats from a single plate, sharing everything that is set out. The men sit and smoke cigarettes, talking around the table.

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Despite the family’s better economic conditions, they still face discrimination because of their ethnicity. Although they make a living from performing, the band has been refused jobs because they are Roma, Daniel Bollandir said.

tors work to convince Roma living in small isolated communities to come to hospitals for childbirth and medical help. “I speak magic to the family,” Låcråmioara said, in reference to talking with the families about traveling to hospitals.

Some efforts have been made by the Romanian government to help the impoverished Roma. Government programs in health care and job training have been created, and these programs work in communities to provide access to basic essential needs.

Job training programs have also been developed in order to help train Roma to work. Yet in a sagging economy where jobs are difficult to come by, these programs have seen little success, Ion said.

One of the more effective policies enacted in order to help Roma is the creation of health mediators. Individual Roma, hired by the state, act as liaisons between the national health services and Roma communities.

Ion feels that to solve the problem one must attack all causes of poverty, not just one or two. He and his organization Roma ACCESS work to fight one of these problems. They work with education.

Since many Roma cannot read, the mediators help Roma with documents such as birth certificates. This service is important because illiteracy often causes many names to be misspelled on official documents, said Georgeseu Låcråmioara, a health mediator.

Due to the societal emphasis within Roma communities to learn a trade, as well as a lack of resources which makes affording basic supplies difficult, many Roma children do not attend school. Organizations, both Romanian and international, work to provide Roma children with basic school supplies necessary for them to attend and succeed at school.

As well as helping with births, Låcråmioara and other media-

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The programs developed to help improve the socio-economic conditions of the Roma people both by the government and private groups have had successes; however, public perception both in Romania and Europe as a whole still remains quite negative.

“The Roma are used by the politicians as scapegoats,” said Iulian Stoian, Public Policies and Advocacy Senior Adviser for Roma Civic Alliance of Romania.

The incident in France over the summer was not the first time Roma have been expelled from a country. Across Europe Roma camps have been dismantled, and oftentimes the people are sent to countries such as Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia.

“It’s not about improving their image, it’s about improving the lives of the Roma,” said Ion. “That’s the key.”

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Malmö, Sweden, October 2010.

“LIKE WHEN THE NAZIS PUT THE STAR OF DAVID ON THE JEWS” Is Sweden getting out of hand?

“In 20 years from now it will be complete chaos..I am telling you, complete chaos. If we are talking here in Malmö, then in twenty years, we will have civil war.” Swedish politician claims.

The police in Malmö fear a lonely shooter is targeting immigrants in the city. Hiding in bushes he shoots people at bus stops and through windows of their homes.

This happens just after an anti-immigration right-wing party entered the parliament with record levels of votes as well as a nazi party getting a seat in a local election, events causing big anti-xenophobic protests all over Sweden. Elected politicians are receiving threats, and a politician is comparing the accusations against Sverigedemokraterna with the Nazis persecution of the Jews. Is this the new reality in Sweden, traditional known for it’s safe social democratic society, belief in peoples equal value and strong human rights tradition?

We head Malmö to investigate the climate and what really goes on here in the hunting grounds of the shooter and one of Sverigedemokraternas strongest holds.

Text and Photo: Amy Johansson 12

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“THEN I SAY: FUCKING NIGGER BITCH”, AND I ASK: HOW DOES THAT FEEL TO HEAR? NOT SO NICE RIGHT?”

Racial killings and mud-throwing in a divided Sweden The police in Malmö fear a lonely shooter is targeting immigrants. During two days in October there were four new incidents raising the number of unexplained gun incidents towards people with immigrant background since October last year to nineteen.

These new shootings happen in a time when the immigration and xenophobia debate in Sweden is heated after the far right anti-immigration party Sverigedemokraterna for the first time got seats in the parliament in the election in September. Media is making the connection to another series of shootings against immigrants, at that time in the capital Stockholm. John Ausonious, a lone shooter got the nickname “the Laser man” when he in 1991 shot 14

nine people and killed one, all with immigrant background. Then the incidents started after a party known for its anti-immigration policies and racial statements, Ny Demokrati, got into the parliament, only to be thrown out in next election.

The Malmö police is now getting help from the National Criminal Investigation Police to catch the gunman.

Sverigedemokraterna in Malmö has offered a reward to whoever give the police information leading to the arrest of the shooter. A move that might give the party an extra push towards the image they are working on creating; as a party surely critical towards the immigration politics, but certainly not xenophobic. They blame the ruling political parties for an immigration

policy they feel are going out of hand.

The news of Sverigedemokraterna entering the parliament caused a big outrage in Sweden among Swedes not voting for SD, creating a wave of demonstrations against xenophobia all over the country, still continuing more than a month after the election. On the election night the two biggest parties leaders assured live on TV they would not cooperate with the SD under any circumstances. The reasons for the election result upsetting many Swedes are several, one of the main being the Sverigedemokraterna was founded and headed by people with Nazi roots, and though the last party leaders for over a decade have worked on creating an image as a democratic, nationalistic party free from xenophobia and racism,

most of the established media as well as all the other parties in the parliament is claiming their right face is still not clean. An undercover reportage broadcasted party members throwing harsh racist comments as recently as last year. During the election campaign Sverigedemokraternas official TV-commercial, showing an old retired woman not receiving any money since women in burqas overtake her, got banned by a Swedish channel for being racist. Jimmy Åkesson, the current party leader has stated in an open letter the Muslim expansion in Sweden is “..our biggest foreign threat since the World War II”.

Malmö - 174 nationalities and a strong hold for the Sverigedemokraterna.

In Malmö people from 174 countries

are represented. Thirty percent of the inhabitants in Malmö are born abroad of which 58% come from Europe.

Sverigedemokraterna has traditionally had their strongest hold in south of Sweden in the region Malmö is situated.

Christer Voight is leaving the office at the city hall in Malmø. He does not want to be photographed at home. His sambo does not like to invite visitors, and she does not want to be on the picture. “It’s something one has to respect”.

In a neat looking traditional café and bakery in central Malmö next to a school with 600 students from many nationalities as well as a preparation class for newly arrived immigrants, a woman working there has had a lot of trouble. She says she is so tired of having all the school kids running there all the time. “I have been in numerous fights with them”, she says. “I have been lying on the floor fighting them and they have pulled hair off my scalp.

I have been threatened and called ‘the 15

H-word’ (whore). Then I say: ‘You fucking nigger bitch’ and I tell them ‘how does that feel to hear? Not so good, right?’ She says she has gotten reported to the police several times and the school has talked to her about it, but she thinks this is her place where she decides here. “If they (the kids) come in and just drink a coffee but write on the table and destroys for 100 kronor by writing on the tables, what is the benefit for me?” This day there is no sign of writing on the tables and the four kids in the café, out of which three have immigrant background seem very joyful and tidy. The woman also adds they are among the nice ones.

The Sverigedemokraternas address to the local office is not official due to high number of threat against the party and the risk of vandalizing, according to their press office. Christer Voigt is a member of the party since 2001. He works part-time for the SD in the municipality as a secretary and has another full time day job.

“The malicious portrait is that it is the undereducated, young, unemployed men that are voting for us, but I think the voters now are the average Swedes”. “We are not racists, we even have immigrants voting for us”, Christer says. Though when I ask him to verify it he can’t, he says does not really know that many voters except the ones that are party members. He says they have many other areas of their politics but immigration, school, healthcare etc., but it all branches out from the immigration politics, “it is all connected” he says, however during the two meetings and several hours we talk he only talks about the immigration politics. Christers phone ring, it is the police who want him to pass by to leave a witness testimony. Before the election the party had a street meeting in Malmö. The anti-SD protesters threw things against them, and they had to break off the meeting.

The Sverigedemokraterna have received threats and parliament members have had to get their identity information clas“People feel the immigrants come here as our guests and we feed them, and they behave like this. My god, here is a party who puts the foot down, of course they vote for us!” Jørgen Grubb says confidently. “In 20 years Sweden will be in civil war if things don’t change”.

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“The immigrants bring so much good. The respect for elders for instance, the kids show so much courtesy.” Björn Poppius openly admits to being one of their voters does not want his picture taken.

Björn Poppius lives in Almgården and worked as a social worker in the immigrant densely populated area Rosengård for 40 years before he retired. “I think next year they won’t get more than maybe fifteen percent in this area. I believe people will realize what they really voted for.” In his block there are about fourteen apartments and he is the only one with a foreign sounding name. Björn suppose the neighbours would not dare to tell him if they voted for Sverigedemokraterna, since they know he used to work with foreigners. He feels Sverigedemokraterna are lying in the statistics and live in a very narrow mental world.

“I think it would be better to vote for that magpie” Björn says and points at a magpie in the tree, “it seems so pleasant”.

“They hear things about immigrants but they haven’t even met any.” Kushtrim & Liridon, 18.

sified by the special police.

The municipality representative Jörgen Grubb waits at the door to the Irish pub ‘Pickwick klubben’ where he has suggested to meet. He is clearly engaged in the situation in Malmö and speaks animatedly about the situation and about the party. Jörgen animatedly forms his had to look like a gun, “There is so much gang violence here, it is like tombstone.”

He thinks it will be difficult to find voters to photograph, because people are afraid to show they are Sverigedemokrater due to the mud-throwing in media. “Just like the Nazis put the star of David on the Jews, Sverigedemokraterna has gotten the mark we are 18

undereducated, dissatisfied and have problems.”

Jörgen lives in the city district Fosie, an area where he says criminality is growing and which is likely to become the next Rosengård, a ghetto area in Malmö with many immigrants. Many people have moved from Fosie, but he intends to stay.

“I am a bit crazy like that, I’m gonna stick it out and be the last man standing. I am not kidding.”

Jörgen claims to have seen more than 100 kids in his garden doing antics and not one of them have been Swedish.

“The scary thing is as a kid if you are caught by a grownup doing pranks,

you disappear, but these people they don’t. It is a damn strange attitude, I just don’t get it.”

Sometimes he has caught the kids: “We are not stupid, we have learned how to catch them, through the schools yearbooks.”

He thinks the parents have been quite good though, one mother came and helped washing eggs from the window, “That one I like” he adds.

He feels he is definitely not a racist.

When asked about adoption he says when a “Negro child” is growing up in a Swedish family and learn Swedish values, it is a completely different thing.

“That proves there is no such thing as

races”, Jörgen says vividly, “Can you call me a racist then? Can you?”

Two immigrants in Malmö are Kushtrim. They did not vote in the election, however Kushtrim says he will do so in the next election. They believe one problem is it is too segregated between the areas and the people. They believe the voters come from “backwater villages” who hear bad things about immigrants but in fact never really met any.

Almgården is a quiet residential area outside the city centre. Even a gray and rainy day Swedish flags are on display in some of the residents, a very unusual sight in Sweden. Some people here do not want to talk about Sverigedemokraterna and a store owner who 19

Out from da hood Photo and text by Nina Weymann-Schulz

Segregation or ÂťghettorisationÂŤ is a well-known phenomenon in Berlin and other european cities with high migration rate. The city divides into areas or neighborhoods by nationalities or ethnic groups. But some youngsters are bucking the trend.

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When I looked up from the ground there were three guns pointed at my head. And I saw my mum crying. I saw the pain I caused her. I felt so ashamed. When I saw my mothers tears I swore to myself to change.« Mahmoud remembers the day in January 2007 well, when a 10-people SWAT team in full gear breaks the door of their flat in Berlin-Neukölln, pushes him to the ground, his arms tied behind his back. Mahmoud was found guilty for aggravated assault. He and his cousin got into a fight with a group of ten Lebanese guys in one of the central squares of the neighborhood.

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»Everyone is armed here, they carry knives, blank guns or even loaded guns. I don’t carry a weapon, my weapon are my fists« explains 46-year-old Yilmaz from Neukölln who has several scars in kidney, shoulder and hip from fights. »Crime-supporting risk-factors are low school education, poverty, lack of future perspectives, violent experience within the family and the growing up in socially problematic areas.« says the representative for integration and migration of Berlin.

Gökhan is the same age as Mahmoud. He has turned away from the neighborhood earlier. He took long travels to attend highschool in another district. »There where not so many migrants in my class and the education was better. Later on I was the only foreigner.« , he says. He saw how his friends turned towards drugs and crime. He took a conscious decision that has probably changed his entire lifeline. » There is also migrants that are smart.« he emphasises and has to smile. His dream now is to move to Charlottenburg, one of the nice areas. Next year he will take the entering test to become a police officer.

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Facts on Neukölln •300.000 inhabitants •40% migrated or have migrational background •160 nationalities •80% of the under-18-year-old grow up in migrated families In the northern part of the district 25

Mahmud got out of jail after two years and nine months. His wife, who he met before jail, and him moved together -to a better area. In half a year he will finish his apprenticeship as a motor mechanic. He quit the contact to his old criminal friends. »I made my decision. Family or friends? Without family I got nothing.”. His eyes are sparkling from pride: Two weeks ago him and his wife got a baby girl. And he is certain of not moving back into his old hood in Neukölln: »How could I want my kids to grow

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Rick doesn’t go school or to work. He doesn’t really move anywhere from his room. He sits behind his computer, smokes seven joints per day and investigates the conspiracy theories.

text and photos aino salmi

High on conspiracy ”Reality? That is boring.” says a 23 years old, pale boy behind the computer in a dim little room.

Rick spends most of his time in this 12 square metre room, curtains closed. His room has become his tiny dark universe of empty energy drink cans, smoky air and conspiracy theories. Everything seems to be possible in this realm: human-like alienlizards, symbols of ancient freemasons on the buildings or secret entrances into the bowels of the Earth.

Heavy smoke fills the air as Rick walks back and forth in his room looking bemused. He stops, blows away a cigarette smoke and takes a sip of a energy drink. He has got deep shadows under his eyes and his voice is stable but timid as he talks about history, politics and aliens. He looks almost vulnerable in his too short jeans.

He puts out the cigarette, sits back on the chair, starts roll28

ing a new roll and lights it up. This time he added some hash in it. Conspiracy theories are everything to him, but on the other hand, he doubts even them. ”It might all be just rubbish” he says, and hold his breath for a while. ”But I still enjoy thinking it’s true,” he continues, and blows a long thread of the smoke.

Usually he tryes to keep his head cold and not dive too deep into the world of humanoids and conspiracy, but occasionally it is too hard not to let the theories take over his mind. ”Sometimes it can get really scary if you get too deep into these theories. You kind of start to see everything through a certain theory. Like reptillians for example. You might start to look for signs on people’s faces and think that some of them might be reptillians.”

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Reptillians are alien-lizards who, some believe, live among us in disguise, looking just like us. There are certain signs of what one can recognize them: continuous lip licking, instantaneous eye blinking with the second eyelid and unusual shapeshifting skin structure. They are believed to seek their way to powerful positions and try to influence political decisionmaking for the purpose of destroying the civilization on Earth. ”Most of the theories make more sense when I’m stoned. When I smoke I can be more into what I’m thinking about and it makes my mind more creative. I can crawl inside my own head a bit more and it is easier to understand things.”

In the conspiracy theories, there seems to be a recurring element of something or someone trying to disturb the daily lives of normal humanbeings and sometimes cause a disaster. Rick enjoys

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to think of himself in a role, where he can understund complicated theories very deeply, and maybe stop some disaster, by making up a solution for that. ”I like to attach a lot of importance to myself in that way,” he says quietly. ”I’m also generally a bit delusional, and occasionally I think I’m something else that I am. Sometimes I think I’m an alien myself.”

Fearing people Conspiracy theories affect Rick’s life a lot. Digging into them is practically all he does. He sleeps on daytime and stays awake at night. He wakes up around three or four in the afternoon and might stay awake til eight o’clock in the morning.

He doesn’t like to go out, or be around people, because he is suffering of heavy social fears. ”I dont like to go out to the streets because I’m not really good with people I don’t know. All kinds of social interaction is very very difficult to me.”

It is even hard for him to go to the supermarket, but he does it because he has to. Usually he goes there just before the closing

time, and buys his frozen pizzas and energy drinks and cigarettes in a hurry.

Smoking weed has made the social anxiety worse. ”When I’m stoned I become more conscious about myself and the contact with the other people. And because I’m already very conscious about it, it makes it even worse. I just keep thinking about it all the time when I’m in the situation. I think that’s why I’m so bad at being with people. ” Rick’s solution to the problem is that he just doesn’t hang around with people. It is easyer to escape from this reality. ”I usually just walk away from reality. I do it a lot. And I go pretty deep.

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”I’m generally a bit delusional, and occasionally I think I’m something else that I am.

Sometimes I think I’m an alien myself.”

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THE SLIP OF LIFE The story of drug addiction

STORY AND PICTURES BY JAMES NJUGUNA

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aking up every day with a craving for a substance which has not only destroyed your life but has also taken away your brother,everyone’s trust in you, and puts you in the same categories as the lowest members of society,ever wondered what is it like?

Claus Mogensen 45 years old is a chronic drug addict who lives in Arhus,Denmark.He is noticeably shaking and restless as he sits down on the mattress in the small, dirty living room.The surroundings seem to lack everything, as if all the valuables and appliances that once sat in this small, deteriorating room has been used to barter for more drugs.Claus goes to his empty fridge and removes three small bottles of Methadone dosage prescribed by his doctor which he has to take everyday.

Methadone is a narcotic pain reliever, similar to Morphine. It reduces withdrawal symptoms in people addicted to heroin or other narcotic drugs without causing the “high” associated with the drug addiction.

“Drugs have definitely become part of my body system and I cannot do without. I don’t even fear the police or fear contracting diseases any more.

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Then it wasn’t long afterwards, he started buying for his own.

Soon he was doing it every weekend. It became the main focus of all his activities.I liked traveling a lot and everywhere I went with my friends we wanted to have cocaine.It made the experience a lot more fun and enjoyable.Other friends we met really appreciated us having some really good stuff and it made me feel like I was important and gave me a powerful sense of control.

He takes a one minute nap while seated at a chair during the conversation and immediately wakes up and apologizes.

CONTINUED ON THE NEXT PAGE .

Clauses older brother was on heroin and died six years ago due to overdose.

“That shocked the sense out of me,but i haven`t been able to stop using it”says Claus.I remember smoking tobacco when I was 14 and was given cigarettes by my friend.During lunch hour at school we used to sneak out to smoke. I continued smoking until i was 18 years old then I started using Marijuana.”I did not feel high i wondered why people smoke it” he says.I smoked it because my friends used it,peer pressure you could call it.

His school grades started dropping down because he lost concentration in class due to excess of marijuana.He then dropped out of school and never continued with his secondary education.At the age of 19, during a new year party there were people taking cocaine and some of my friends talked me into trying some.I remember feeling so warm and secure.At this point Claus would do just a little bit of it at a time to make the feeling and the supply last as long as possible.I started out doing it only on the weekends.

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He used cocaine for some years before his taste in drugs turned to heroin.At the age of 24 he became addicted to it.On the 6th December 1989 he was admitted at a psychiatric hospital for mental disorder because of excessive usage of heroin. “I dont know what happened but i became dependant on it and i kept using more” he says.

Claus has been in and out of the psychiatric hospital for many years.The treatment did not only work on his mental health but also his love life,in 2004 while at the hospital he fell in love with 55 years old Lene who was also undergoing treatment on mental disorder at the time. They both fell for each other and have been together for six years now. “I used to feel rejected and lonely but after meeting her ,it made me feel appreciated and loved despite the fact that i have my addiction,”he says.

Both live apart and don`t have kids.

With outburst of emotions,claus plays a piano to a song he composed for his lover.

In February this year Denmark opened its first clinic equipped to distribute free heroin under medical supervision to people heavily addicted to the drug.The clinic is set to serve only 120 of some 300 hard-core heroin addicts.The objective is not to cure heroin addicts, but to help those who are not satisfied by Methadone by providing them with clean heroin, allowing them to avoid disease and the temptation of criminal acts to obtain the drug.

“I dont know what happened but I became dependant on it and I

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kept using more.

He admits that he cannot perform any job without a dose of Cocaine fuelling his system and that does not come cheaply since one dose of the kill-me-slowly powder costs DKK180. “Drugs have definitely become part of my body system and I cannot do without. I don’t even fear the police or fear contracting diseases any more,” he says.

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Clause is one of the beneficiaries.He receives his doses everyday and he prefers methadone to injecting himself but still he sniffs cocaine. He receives DKK 13,000 per month from the government for his upkeep which mostly he uses to buy cocaine. Each cocaine addict needs roughly DKK 300 a day to satisfy his or her crave. This amounts to DKK 109,500 Thousand per year to spent on cocaine alone.

Claus takes a nap after sniffing Cocain.Below, his room and the stained mattress.

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Above.Using a rolled paper,claus sniffs cocaine inside a public toilet.2nd Right.Combination of beer,liquor and Methadone which he drinks after sniffing cocaine.

Below.Claus Play a Guitar which has broken strings.

Globally, United Nation Office On Drug and Crime estimates that between 155 and 250 million people, or 3.5% to 5.7% of the population aged 15-64, had used illicit substances at least once in the previous year. Cannabis users comprise the largest number of illicit drug users(129-190 million people). Amphetamine-type stimulants are the second most commonly used illicit drugs, followed by opiates and cocaine. However, in terms of harm associated with use, opiates (Heroin, Morphine)would be ranked at the top.

According to the 2009 report on the drug situation in Denmark prepared by the National Board of Health, the Danish “Focal Point�,there are an estimated 13,000 intravenous drug users in Denmark.It also states that In 2008, more than half (61%) of the young population aged between 18 and 24 years was admitted to treatment for cannabis use as their primary drug, whereas 17%, 6% and 2%, respectively, of the young population were admitted to treatment for use of amphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy as their primary drug.

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“I used to feel rejected and lonely but after meeting her ,it made me feel appreciated and loved despite the fact that i have my addiction.�

Above.Kissing each other,Claus and Lene show their affection.Below.Clause plays piano as Lene smokes a cigarette.

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Above.Claus looks through a bus window.

Below.Despite the drug addiction and mental disorder claus is a happy man.

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Bethanien photos and text: Corinna Sauer

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In Karlsruhe, South-Germay, a community of 13 people of different ages and personal histories practice and live their own alternative to what most people would consider to be common. They live together on one property, which includes the main-house, that used to be a community hall and is located right next to a small chapel. The people, who live in this place with the biblical name “Bethanien”, try to lead a life, that is spiritual and also rather concrete and they try to find a greater meaning in that.

“Every day I sit here in our garden with a coffee in my hand and think about how great it is to be here and live like that.”, Mark Reichmann (37) says. In October 2008 he moved with his wife and his two children to Bethanien. He has always considered it to be most important, to shape his own way of life and not to accept things “just the way they are”. Mark is an observant christian, whose strong belief is a primary ingredient of his everyday life. His intention was to find likeminded people to share a life with.

right: Alexandra Froels lives with her daughter Coco in one part of the house.

Two years after Bethanien has become a home to the Reichmann family, the community was formed. The inhabitants worked out five principals, they considered to be important for their individual- and as well for their common lifes: spirituality, beauty, community, responsibility and righteousness. According to Mark, Bethanien is a place, one has to decide for consciously.

This decision should be for commitment and for being consequent.

For most of the community members, the day usually starts with an early morning prayer. It is still dark outside when Mark and some of the other inhabitants walk down the road to the small chapel. Inside, it is always warm and sparsely lighted. “Lord, open my lips�, is the first sentence Mark speaks out loud in the beginning of each day, before they read psalms together. After this morning routine, they all start the day in their individual ways.

Bethanien is very quiet throughout the day.

The house offers a lot of space, that is partly not in use. Long corridors, with spartan furnished rooms on the sides and accessory, the former owners left, shape large parts of the house. The property is located not far away from the city, but it is surrounded by nature and the spur of the black forest.

The street, that leads to the town, is outside hearing-distance and hidden behind large trees hundreds of meters away.

The evenings give usually room for spending some time together as a group. The people meet in the kitchen, they all share and cook and eat together, or have some wine, that comes from one of the many vineyards in this certain area. Besides talking about common matters, they also use that time of day for discussions about the community, religion and possible developments within their certain way of life. Sometimes they sit together until late at night. And even, if there will be not much of sleeping left in their seperate rooms along the corridors, they will meet at seven sharp in the morning to start another day of the life at Bethanien.

Above: Tyler Savage from Texas, USA, who wants to become a permanent resident in Germany and in Bethanien; right: Mark Reichmann founded the community in 2008.

Mark Reichmann and his wife Nadine have been dreaming about founding a place like Bethanien for many years.

at home with else photography and text by hanna lenz

“Ninety-seven is an age to which one doesn´t congratulate.

You shouldn’t become older than ninety at all”, says Else a few days after her birthday.

People in Europe are getting old. According to the most recent UN projections Europe’s population will continue to grow older. Life expectancy has risen as high as 80 years. The steadily increasing number and share of older people in European societies is putting pressure on the social security systems and the rising costs for elderly care.

Else Riper Engling is an example that you can still live independently at home when you are above 70 if you are surrounded by few caring people. So we don’t need to “replant the old trees” into some nursing homes, they are a part of our communities, a part in the chain of life that connects past, present and future to one another and thus forms a united whole.

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Today is a good day Else says. 13 miners were saved from death in Chile. She knows a lot about what is going on in the world. Most of the day she is sitting in front of the radio, listening to the news or classical music.

Else doesn’t have a TV, so when she doesn’t sit in her favourite chair, looking out the window or taking a nap, she reads a lot of books. She finishes two books a week with the help of a huge lit reading-glass which she inherited from a departed relative. The large printed books are delivered once a month by the library. This is one part of the little network which makes it possible for Else to still live under her own roof and not having to move to a retirement home. What also makes it possible for her to still live in her own flat is a 19 year old girl who does her shopping and sometimes stays a bit longer to have a conversation with Else. Another woman helps her clean the flat. An employee of the local retirement home washes her hair once a week and takes the garbage down to the street after the waste chute was closed some time ago.

Recently she joined a “visiting circle”. So once a week a student comes for one hour to talk to her. Her only daughter visit her every two weeks and takes her to the doctor if needed, that’s almost the only occasion where Else gets out of her flat. Else would like to have her daughter more around, but she knows that she is very stressed and Else doesn’t want to urge her.Once a week her neighbor Mrs. Rasmussen, who is “only” 90, cooks a meal for Else, sufficient for three evening meals. Mrs. Rasmussen told her that she would otherwise just eat a slice of bread, so by cooking for Else she also takes better care for herself. Besides that they share the expenses for the food. Rasmussen has been living for 30 years in the apartment below Else. Else is living in her apartment, in Aarhus for 55 years now. The house used to be owned by her parents.

The flat hasn’t been renovated since she moved in and she also kept some of the red wallpaper with golden ornaments from the former tenants of the apartment throughout the years.

Every thing has its place in the two-room apartment. And every little thing is a memory and tells a story for Else. Like for example the cup she always drinks her tea and milk from. She gave it to her neighbour and good friend for his 80th birthday because he was so impressed that she had a favourite/ personal cup. Three months later he died and the cup was returned to her.

So she changed her old personal cup to the one of her departed neighbour.

Maybe this is also the cup she used to drink her “love tea” from. The tea with the name “love tea” she used to buy in a little corner shop. “I drank it alone, but my thoughts were with someone else”, she giggles. Love. That’s what Else`s live made liveable. She mentions very often that she received so much love in her live and thus was able to give a lot of it. She adds “I have loved many times, but the love that will always endure is the one for my grandson Andreas.” He is living in Copenhagen, so he doesn’t visit her that often, but he is represented by many photographs on her walls next to other relatives.

For many years Else`s mother used to live in the same House, four floors underneath her. She used to take care of Else’s daughter when Else was teaching adults German at the evening school; later Else returned the favor by caring for her mother until she had to move to the hospital shortly before her death. It was something like a circuit of help between the generations.

Today Else herself is at the age where the body is getting more and more fragile. Without support, she is not able to stand on her feet for more than a few minutes. Her eyesight is becoming worse and she is already deaf on one ear. But two pills in the morning is all her medication.

Between 12 and 2 o`clock at night Else goes to bed after carefully pushing Andreas` old baby bed in front of her own bed so that she won’t fall out. n

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Legally illegal

The -used to be a squat - sauna on Schinkelstraat is filled with colours, smell of chai-tea and harmonic music on the background.

Photos & text by Julia Ajanko To have your most important belongings packed in a bag waiting behind the door for a possible unannounced eviction, lock the door with a barricade for the night and cover windows with bed spirals or even nail them tight with planks. If possible save one room empty for those who are actually fleeing from their own home where they just got evicted from. Or just imagine yourself coming back home in the afternoon only to realize that the home is not there anymore, nor the things you used to call your belongings. Does this sound like a normal everyday life and a normal cosy home everybody is looking for?

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Compared to most European countries Netherlands have had exceptional laws about occupying houses. It has been more or less legal, under certain unwritten laws, to squat a house in a need of a home. But in January 2010 a new law took affect which criminalizes squatting, and from the 1st of October Amsterdam decided to use the law. This meant that all of a sudden up to 2000 people turned into criminals overnight. According to the City Government of Amsterdam there are around 200 occupied houses at the moment and all of these will be gradually emptied of the squatters in the future.

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And who cares about about the cats?

Lien works as a part time journalist for a dutch web journal the office of which is in Amsterdam. When moving from her home country Belgium she first spent a period of weekly pendling between Amsterdam and Gent (Belgium). After a few months she by coincidence met a girl in a party who was just about to move away from her room not too far from the city center. Next week from this Lien moved into her first squat.

Getting into a social housing in Netherlands requires nine years in average of being in the waiting list. Private rents in Amsterdam then again are very high, and with her part time salary, that was not an option for Lien. So now she shares a house with six or seven other persons, having housemates from the Netherlands, U.K, Austria and Ireland. Yet it’s hard to keep track on the people in the house, who lives there and who’s just crashing a few nights over, because people keep coming and going all the time.

The implementation of the new law forced Lien and her house-

mates to sit down and to re-think their situation. What followed was some construction work in the house like covering the huge glass wall leading to the backyard with bed spirals, double-checking the barricades of the door at night and thinking where to store the most precious things in a case of an eviction.

What didn’t change are the sticky floors, the things that seem to have no owner in every corner, the stains and dishes on the living room table, the cat food on the floor, the broken sink in the toilet and the glass pieces in the kitchen. The feeling that nobody cares and that this is nobody’s home really. Lien either doesn’t have the energy to mind, since she isn’t planning to stay in Amsterdam anyway. She, as many others like her, just came for a short period to work, which doesn’t tie her to anything.

The feeling of momentariness in the house is stronger than ever.

Culture via court Schijnheilig is a collective of 20-30 persons who squat buildings or parts of buildings in the city to provide spaces for different cultural initiatives. The collective has existed for six years, and during that time six different spaces in the city have been occupied. It’s only one at the time, and this latest place which is a part of an old school, has been under their command since January 2010. The purpose of the squat is to provide space for different cultural actors to organize art exhibitions, movie screenings, poetry nights and parties.

When passing by the Schijnheilig squat on friday evening there’s no question about how fragile the situation is at the moment. Listening to the conversation between the doorman and a group of loud five people who are trying to get into the party, you immediately sense the tense of the bouncer. He can’t let anymore people to get in, since the place is already more than full, but at the same time leaving the arrogant group to stand outside the doors might have other, much more serious consequences. Not least the possibility to getting the police to arrive on the place, knowing exactly what their intentions would be.

1. Traces of anybody 2. Lien’s room on the top floor of the house is cosy but cold 62

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Wessel, one of the collective members, reminds that the whole essence of squatting is based on solidarity.

“First of all you can’t squat a house on your own”, he says, but points out that especially when it’s a question about fighting against the societal system and its intention nowadays to favor the private real estate owners and the market value of land and buildings, you need other people beside you. For the same reason there is also an alarm chain among the squatters. A system that works from cell phone to cell phone, the fastest way to mobilize people in a case when immediate support from others is needed,.

Solidarity can also be sensed on the stairs of the court house on Parnassusweg on the 14th October. Schijnheilig has raised a court case against the state, claiming that the new law violates against the basic Human Rights for shelter. Around 50-70 squatters and their supporters have gathered in front of the court house, waiting to get in to follow the first round of the court. Yet, when talking to the people not everybody even knows what the case is exactly about. Just being there and showing a physical embodiment of support is enough of a reason for their presence.

“We will for sure take the case as high in court as needed”, says Wessel decisively, even though he doesn’t seem to stress about it. He knows that the first round is just the first round, since they are ready, and no doubts that the state is too, to go forward with the case if needed. Speculating the results of the court-case is that why quite meaningless at this point, yet there is one vision that gets Wessel and his mate Floris (also member of Schijnheilig) excited. And that is the vision of one day taking the case all the way to the European Union Civil Court and being part of the process of (re-)adjusting laws of squatting even in an international level.

(The first round in the court was ran after the interview. The verdict of the case was in favour of the state.)

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Extended family Frederik Hendrikstraat 111 looks as any other of the old stairways along the same road, except that just there, there is a yellow banner hanging on the wall saying “This would only have been possible because of the squatting movement.” For this residential stairway talking loud about its existence is not an issue anymore, because it has been legalized since the 1990’s. This means that the 25 people who live there today don’t need to wonder whether they will have a home tomorrow too, since it is the association of the residents who owns the building. To put it short, Frederik Hendrikstraat 111 is an example of where squatting can sometimes lead to.

Jurgen has lived in Frederik Hendrikstraat for two years, and at least at the moment he couldn’t imagine a better home. His own room, reconstructed half of an old class room, provides the private space for him and his dog in the collective where kitchens, corridors, toilets and even lives are otherwise shared with others. Everybody in the collective belongs to one of the five kitchens, and so the kitchens build smaller unities in the whole collective. All the kitchens have their own decoration, rules and

dinner times, and even though it’s not compulsory to participate in these shared moments, it is still more or less expected that everybody does that, at least a couple of times a week. That’s why when a new resident is about to move in, the whole collective gets together and makes the selection out of the applicants.

“It is not a casting”, Jurgen says, and explains that Frederik Hendrikstraat 111 is not only a place with reasonable rent but a place with a strong sense of collective, and to make sure it will be that in the future too, it is important to find the right kind of people to live there. Most of the people living there at the moment come from outside Amsterdam. Either from other cities in Holland or from abroad.

Once in a month the whole collective gets together and discusses what ever there there is to discuss considering their home.

Three week-ends a year they use maintaining the place, and besides that everybody has their own responsibilities all year around. Somebody takes care of the crafts room, somebody of the bicycle storage and someone else organizes the laundry room.

Rent in the collective is individual and depends on one’s incomes.

1. After 11 years of squatting Marcha has finally got an apartment through social housing. Here in Joe’s garage, the autonmous social center in Eastern Amsterdam 2. Common spaces in Hendrik Fredrikstaad are decorated with creative intuition 66

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Dance with cancer In Europe 229.030 men got colorectal cancer in 2008. 1.443 of them were Norwegians. I didn´t know until it hit my own grandfather.

Text and photos: Anita Haugland

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and now I´m here. Grandfather picks me up with his silver metallic Mazda car at the bus station. With this car, we are driving further to Rosendal, about one hour. The dance is for old people, a mix of swing, tango and waltz. They also serve cake, sandwiches and coffee. The room has got high ceilings and the floor has parquet. In the hall there are many tables covered with white plates, cofee cups, candles and napkins.

Jorunn and grandfather is the first couple on the dancefloor when the troubadour starts to sing. Eventually the other people also come, about 90 people. They look like pensioners.

Grandfather has put on 6 to 8 kilos since I saw him in August.

In the time that has passed, he has recieved radiotherapy and chemotherapy at Haukeland University Hospital. At Haugesund hospital, he was operated for volvulus, but the doctors later found out that the pain stemmed from a painful tumor in the coSverre Arnolf Duesund lon. The tumor has now been treated. In December my grandfater is going to have a new operation to remove this. In the meantime, relaxing and dance is part of his programme. I´ll have even been allowed to go with Jorunn and grandfather to a dance evening i Rosendal. Just two days after he is finished with the radiotherapy. Nowadays they dance more than they ever have done before.

"When I had time off from radiation in Bergen, we have took the chance for going out to dance," my grandfather tells me.

"Thank you for the dance!" I say to him, and drop down on a chair.

However, my grandfater is still going on. Most of the time, he dances with Jorunn, but also with me and other women. He dance to the last song in the evening from the troubadour.

"Its the dance and the truck that keeps me up," my grandfather says to his best friend at the dance.

"And Jorunn, she´s number one".

“It´s the dance and the truck that keeps me up”

Treatment: Grandfather, Sverre Arnolf Duesund, has got 25 treatments with radiotherapy in Haukeland University Hospital. Once only take about two minutes. Frode Gald, the radiation therapist on the right side .

"Im sure it will be okay, Christina," I say to my sister.

Neither she or I have coins to put in to the meter outside Haugesund Hospital. The rain is beating down on the asphalt. We hope that the parking guards are just as unhappy with the weather as we are, and we decide not to run out to pay the parking fee for the car. With the rose bouquet in the nook of the left arm, we take the elevator upstairs, and go into a long long corridor.

Colostomy: In the start it was difficult, but now its okey for him.

Previously, I have never had a close relationship with my grandfather. He has worked around the clock, and besides, he left my grandmother a few years ago. But I have seen him more satisfied the last years. He and his new girlfriend, Jorunn, dancing and going to trips with the camper. Many times, I have thought that also I want to drive the truck, grow tomatoes and fix the house when I´m 74 years old.

"If I´m as fit as you are when I´m 74, I´ll be very happy, I say to him.

“If I´m as fit as you are when I´m 74, I´ll be very happy”

We look in the windows in the corridor, leading to a communal room for patients. There are seating areas and television, and in one of the chairs I see my uncle. I feel a knot in my stomach, and an inexplicable stabbing trough the whole of my body. Because here is also my grandfather. Sverre Arnolf Duesund. But he is so thin that I have problems recognizing him. I think about him as a wandering skeletal, but I didn´t tell him. My energetic grandfather is reduced to a helpless patient in a few days. Even the voice is tenuous. I have never see my grandfather like this.

"Thank you", he whispers.

He gives us a hug when he gets the orange roses. He needs help to take off the cellophane, and to read the card. The tears are rolling down his cheeks, and he can´t thank us enough because for the visit. Something has happened. He has never shown his feelings for us in this way before. And he has never been so interested in his relatives before.

"I appreciate that you came today," he whispers again.

Its really diffiucult for him to speak.

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"I can´t understand patients who smoke outside the hospital," says grandfather one day when he is waiting for the radiotherapy.

I wonder what he thinks is the difference between smoke here compared with elsewhere.

"They are ill. They don´t want to fight enough for it when they are doing this", he says.

Anita Haugland

3 months later

"Would you like to dance?" my grandfater ask me, with a big smile on his face.

He waited for a swing song before he asked me, because earlier I have told him that I love to dance the swing.

"This is getting better and better," my grandfather tells me.

He leads me with a strong arm, like a man should do. Around and around and around and around. It tingles in my whole body, but I know it will bee good with a break. The sweat has started trickling on my forehead.

He has called me many times to ask when I´m coming to Odda,

Girlfriend: My Grandfather and Jorunn dancing together. This is in Rosendal, one hour from Odda where they live together.

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Grandchildren: Grandfather has 19 grandchildren, and Tonje is one of them. In this moment they dance together in the hotelroom for patiens, were grandfather stayed when he got radiotherapy in Bergen.

Facts:

- In 2008 it was 229.030 men who got colorectal cancer in Europe. 1.443 of theese was Norwegian men.

- The same year more than 9 million people in Europe died of cancer.

- While the emergence of new cancer cases, the life expectancy increases in Norway and other countries in Europe.

- In Norway 13 percent of the population is more than 67 years old. The forecasts show that the number will increase to 17 percent in 2030, and to 21 percent in 2050.

- From 1998 to 2008 the life expectancy for men in Norway increased from 75.58 years to 78.40 years.

- In EU-countries the life expectancy for men has increased from 74.51 in 2002 to 76.07 five years later.

Card: From me to grandfather.

Children: Ida Kristin is one of his eight children.

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Berit: My mother also visit her father in Bergen.

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- Danish School of Media and Journalism - International Photojournalism I - Autumn 2010 74