"Because you are, we are": the experiences of women in charge of care
- Sometimes, the need to care for the dependent person "is not chosen and comes suddenly", points out a woman who has participated in the project; another who has abandoned her life project to take care of her mother; a third who says that they are letting their grandmother die of grief... Antxeta Irratia's "Zaretelako, gara" project has had countless experiences. It is clear to the interviewees that there is no quantitative cost to care because what these women do "is unpredictable, unsustainable, as it is currently proposed".
“Take care of the caregiver”
It is no coincidence, care is an absolutely feminized work, and in these times when we repeat that life and care have to be at the center, the burden still falls on women. “When it comes to putting life at the center, what kind of life are we talking about? What model is promoted?” says the project. Therefore, the members who dynamize the groups of caregivers and have participated in the project have highlighted the need to care for the caregiver: “You have to teach the caregiver to take care of yourself.”
Aitziber Zapirain, speaker of the radio Antxeta and one of the project leaders explained this to us. She also found what the interviewee Irene Colon says significant: her grandmother is in the nursing home and complains that in times of pandemic the elderly are leaving dying of grief in the residences; she prefers the grandmother to die before she is next to her, than to die with a feeling of loneliness.
Care is a hard experience, but it also allows for other reflections. Kontxi López has reported that “men have avoided the responsibility of care and are losing part of a relationship and tenderness”.
Care, present in all stages
In short, the aim of this project is to talk and debate about care, because we only do it in situations of need, “but in all stages of life we have to take care of people: children, parents, friends, friends…”, says Zapirain.
You can listen to the interviews on the project website.
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