Aliaksandr Frantskevich: Why do we need «Food No Bombs»

Minsk is so colourfull, invitations to the “holiday” with photographs of famous sportsmen are everywhere.

It is yet more showy than it used to be, more gloss on the facades, hiding an ugly police dictatorship. You can walk with a cheerful smile, starry-eyed, praise clean streets and
nice “Soviet architecture”, but if you live here a little longer, you'll get to know that Minsk has already become a dead city where everything is always done according to the state plan, and the initiative is punishable.

Perhaps, many people have already read about the campaign "Food Not Bombs” (FNB) in Minsk, there were several good reports on this topic. For those who have not read: it is a weekly initiative, in which young men, at their own expense, serve hot food and tee to homeless and needy people. But it is not just charity. The action has a purpose – to show the terrible inequality in living standards of our citizens. And despite the fact that the action originated in the United States, the problem of poverty and the distribution of funds exists almost everywhere, and even in our distant grave kingdom, "stable social state".

Many homeless people, with different fates, come there. Some became vagabonds on their own will, for others it was just bad luck. Sometimes it happens that other people, sometimes even friends and relatives, may push others to abyss.

The young people have carried out this campaign for nearly eight years by now, without attracting any sponsors or making any report – just for the sake of the idea.

However, as you might guess, in our kingdom of necrotic welfare there are no homeless and needy people, there are palaces, criminal policemen in crimson shirts and our greatest hockey player.

They started to disperse the guys, ban concerts in support of FNB and imprison their participants. The campaign faces with waves of the absurd police plans to prevent and ban the actions at any cost! There is no wonder that the high-rank officials reacted to the high-profile reports on the eve of the World Hockey Cup in the same vein, ordering to disperse the food dispensation.

One could, of course, submit to it and try to dispensate food quietly, non-publicly, trying not to make any noise.

However, the youngsters decided to continue – to overcome this "party course" and draw attention to the acute problems in the ostentatious days of preparation to the WHC. Each of you can come and support them – they need your support as never before. If you are a journalist - come with the camera. If you're a human rights activist - come to assess the situation. If you just sympathize - come, maybe even with warm clothes for the homeless , it will help them in severe frosts. Show solidarity!

Remember, there were many cases in the history, when people just kept silent until somebody came to their homes to take them away.