Maria Apaza Machaca, Occupy Dame Street, camp cook
Do you think you have a healthy lifestyle?
The lifestyle here is fairly healthy. I seem to have been slotted into the role of cook. I’m cooking vegetarian, some vegan and some meat-based food. We’re eating well.
I’ve been sleeping rough for a long time, so I know the hazards. You get new people in who don’t know and those who are old hands teach them how it works.
How often do you exercise?
Here, I’m never off my feet – building things, cooking. There is always something going on, there is always something to participate in.
There are people here who have had issues with sleeping, but we’ve beefed up security to make sure people feel safe. Currently my bed is made of palettes and several sleeping bags.
Do you get your five a day?
I most certainly do. Sometimes I’ll make stewed apples or make a drink out of lemons and cloves for people who have bad throats, and I’ll make sure the vegetables keep getting pushed out, though there are some complaints from some of the meat-eaters. Breakfast here would be porridge normally, lunch is soup or chilli and then dinner is a mix of whatever is left over.
Do you worry?
Not a lot, just making sure everything functions. I’m blind and my main problem is when people move things. I don’t worry about my health, I know how to handle my health.
What do you do to relax?
I play music, various flutes and drums; I was just in my shack playing them now. I also play a South American flute called the quena.
What’s your unhealthiest habit?
I would say the unhealthiest thing here is the cold, that and probably the pollution from the buses. The pollution brings down your immune system and the cold will do the rest. There’s a bar across the way that lets us use their toilet, clean our teeth, brush our hair and make ourselves look presentable.
In conversation with
JOANNE HUNT
