Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi listens to the stories of Londoners, living on the poverty line, who struggle to survive. Photo: Illustrations: Patrick Koduah.
The Fox Report: Squalor in London
Friends in Britain have spoken out about the effect of cuts on the most vulnerable in society. Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi listens to the stories of Londoners, living on the poverty line, who struggle to survive.
Mahder Redie has not slept since finishing an eight-hour cleaning shift at 7am. It is noon on Thursday 3 April. Since 8am he has been waiting for the repairman, as arranged with his landlord. Mahder, thirty-five, prepares lunch for his pregnant wife and daughter in the closet-sized kitchen. His wife Hiriti tries to relax on the sofa. One-year-old Merken wants to play, squealing happily. Hiriti is subdued. ‘I want a fresh start,’ she says. Speaking a mixture of Bilen, her native Eritrean tongue, and English, Hiriti says the thought of raising another child in the mouldy flat is depressing. Above the dining table is a framed photograph of thirty-year-old Hiriti, wearing traditional Eritrean clothes. Her dark hair is pulled into thick braids that fan out into a luxuriant mahogany cloud. Her face is decorated and her expression carefree. The Redie’s one-bedroom flat is infected with mould. They can’t afford to move. Spooning sweet white rice and salad into a bowl for Merken, Mahder says that since the start of the year his housing association landlord has sent seven inspectors to the flat and, each time, ‘They do nothing’.
