‘Zayo’ from afar

We end with a critique of contemporary injustice.

According to Tsveti, this is a semblance of her home—her neighbors have flooded it three times, and now she must repair it herself. Her husband, who died eight years ago, loved to build, and he made these beds for them, modeled after those in the Vereya Hotel in Stara Zagora.

The situation is difficult, but the neighbors are well-meaning. Tsveti sometimes helped people by keeping in her home their belongings, which the neighbors considered trash. That is why they angrily wanted to kick her out. One day, they glued the lock on her door and left her outside, unable to get in. She sat in the cold and cried for Zayo, her cat, who had been left inside the cold apartment.

Neighbors have become a problem for many people who live in poverty or in similar situations. Some in Kukuryak know people who have been evicted from their homes because they had accumulated too many belongings and their neighbors complained about it.

For others in the collective, this photo is a reminder that Bulgaria is one of the poorest countries in Europe, and Sofia is, ironically, a European capital which takes little care of its citizens. And the homes in the city reflect this general trend. Some say that other cities in Bulgaria were cleaner in the past, but now they have become polluted. Similarly in Sofia neighborhoods such as Lyulin, where a rooster has a home, people shout in the evening, music is played, and it is extremely dangerous.

Tsveti wants the media to come and see her almost home. They need to see this reality. Cornelia also has this desire—let everybody see what is happening: the fraud, the difficulties, and the truth. Maybe then someone will pay attention to issues that are important to many people.