By Neena Bhandari
Sydney, 25.06.2010 (IPS): Devina Celeste, 50, waits in a queue of about 40 people at the Neighbourhood Centre in the inner-city suburb of Newtown for the only hot meal she will get on this cold winter night.
The queue, comprising 40 percent teenagers and students, is growing. Many have formed strong bonds of friendship while sharing this only meal a day together on weekdays. There is a brief cheer as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) `Food for Life’ van arrives. Chris Smith, an IT analyst and volunteer driver is quick to lay the stall and start serving the meal on bio-degradable plates.
“This is my only nutritive meal. Almost 50 percent of my earnings go in rent and the rest in bills and the basics”, says Celeste, a massage therapist, as she relishes the hot “Khichadi” made of lentil, rice and vegetables and the semolina desert. She is amongst a growing number of “working poor”, who are unable to earn enough to support themselves.