It was around 15:00 pm when we knocked on the door of Maria Santos, 88 years old, who was already looking forward to the visit of Ivone Lampreia, Social Educator at the Silves City Council, and Isabel Martins, technical assistant.
The conversation started right at the door of the house, in Armação de Pêra, with D. Maria remembering the time when she was still going to «the [education] centers», a place where several elderly people from Silves get together to develop activities, or just spend the day.
It was talking that we headed to the living room, where the conversation went on for another hour.
Ivone and Isabel began by explaining the project “Come knocking on my door” to Maria Santos, who was full of praise for the initiative, for having felt firsthand how the pandemic affected the lives of the elderly who, for fear of infection, stopped socializing.
“Even now I rarely go out. I go to church, but it's when hardly anyone is there, because the lord prior comes here to give me communion. I watch mass on television and, when I feel like it, I go to see the sea, which is right next door”, he said.
Dona Maria's routine, who likes to sleep, starts at 9 am. She gets up, prepares breakfast and, after the meal, takes care of the food for the rest of the day.
“Fortunately, I can still make the food. I have a girl who comes here and helps me with other tasks: she makes my bed, helps with the cleaning and brings me the supermarket groceries, but I make the food, in my own way", she said, with a smile.
In the afternoon, he sits on the sofa to watch TV or talk to the flowers – which he says is the secret to keeping them “alive and beautiful”.
As Ivone Lampreia explained, “Come knocking on my door” usually prepares some games to make the elderly less “active and talkative, but with D. Maria it was not necessary to resort to these games due to lucidity and willingness to collaborate.
After explaining the day to day, there was still time to recall memories and introduce the family, through the photographs scattered around the house.
Thus, more than an hour of visit took place, which made Maria Santos get out of her routine and get to know each other – the main objective of “Come knocking on my door”.
«We thought of this project with the aim of reaching those who do not come to us. Often, if there is a possibility, we even refer them to other projects, such as education centers, if the elderly are able to do so», explained Ivone Lampreia to the Sul Informação, stressing that “Come knocking on my door” was actually created with the aim of allowing technicians to go to the home of the elderly.
«This is a 'post-pandemic' project that has been very well received. There are people who haven't been out on the street for months, someone will take their things: some because they have mobility difficulties, others because they really don't want to go out”, continued Isabel Martins.
Despite noting greater freedom, Ivone and Isabel stressed that many elderly people are still afraid of the pandemic and of returning to active and social life.
“Even for us it has been difficult to get back together, let alone for these people who were so instilled with fear. And we're not just talking about people who are isolated and out of town. They are also people who often live in the center of cities and who are alone, without leaving home”, added Ivone Lampreia.
According to the Social Educator, since January, the project has accompanied a dozen elderly people, but the idea is to «make more frequent visits», he concluded.
Photos: Mariana Sedge | Sul Informação
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