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每日跟讀#540: In Spain, Nourishing the Body and the Soul

巧思助貧 神父創「羅賓漢」餐館

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每日跟讀#540: In Spain, Nourishing the Body and the Soul

Angel Castillo once worked as a restaurant cook. But after losing his job and struggling with alcoholism, he has been sleeping on the streets for most of the last 16 years. It has been a while since he has worked in a restaurant, let alone eaten at one.

Yet there he was one recent evening, among the diners who crowded into a new restaurant in Madrid. It was a simple space, with red-tiled walls and paper napkins, but there were tablecloths, chandeliers and water glasses, and even someone to serve you.

“It’s special to get your food in a restaurant,” Castillo said, satisfied.

卡斯提約曾在餐館當廚師。在他失業且為酗酒所困之後,16年來大多露宿街頭。距離他上回在餐館工作已有好一陣子了,更別說進到餐館裡用餐了。

然而,就在最近的一個傍晚,他和其他用餐者擠進馬德里一間新餐廳。這是個有紅色磁磚牆面、使用紙餐巾的簡樸空間,不過桌上可舖了桌布,還放著玻璃杯,屋頂有枝形吊燈,甚至還有人為你服務。

卡斯提約滿足地說:「在餐廳裡享用食物很不一樣。」

The restaurant is one of four named Robin Hood that opened in the last November in Spain to serve those who cannot afford to dine out.

The minichain’s novel business model is not to steal from the rich, but rather to use revenues made by serving breakfast and lunch to paying customers to cover the costs of preparing free evening dinners for homeless people.

這間餐廳是去年十一月在西班牙開張的四家「羅賓漢」餐館之一,專門招待吃不起館子的人。

這個迷你連鎖的新奇產業模式不是劫富濟貧,而是為付費客人供應早餐與午餐,以營收支應提供遊民免費晚餐的費用。

It is the brainchild of the Rev. Angel Garcia Rodriguez, 79, one part clergyman, one part innovator and nonprofit entrepreneur, who has spent a lifetime working with the needy.

Unconventional down to his attire, Father Angel, as he is universally called, prefers a suit and loose tie to a collar, unless he is saying Mass, and is just as likely to hand out his business card as communion. “The priest habit is like my gala outfit,” he said with a chuckle.

這是79歲的羅德里格茲神父想出來的點子,他既是神職人員,也是富創意的非營利創業家,他這一生都在幫助窮人。

大家都叫他天使神父,他不遵從傳統,連穿著都不例外,除非他在主持彌撒,否則他偏愛穿西裝並打上寬鬆領帶,勝過神父的白領圈。他宛如發放聖餐般遞出名片,咯咯笑說:「神職人員的服裝就像我的節慶服。」

Rodriguez has had long experience finding new ways that sometimes push the boundaries of how to serve the poor.

He is president of Messengers of Peace, a nongovernment organization that employs 3,900 people and 5,000 volunteers. It runs homes for older people, orphanages, centers for drug addicts and other social services.

羅德里格茲對於尋找新方式來服務窮人很有經驗,有時會挑戰極限。

他是非政府組織「和平使者」的會長,該組織有3900名員工,5000名志工,經營老人院、孤兒院、戒毒中心,並提供其他社會服務。

But what all of his projects have in common is that they have helped sustain the most vulnerable Spaniards at a time of near-record unemployment and deep public spending cuts amid the lingering economic crisis. His organization also runs projects in about 50 developing countries.

These days, it is his budding string of Robin Hood restaurants that animates Rodriguez. On top of receiving basic help, he said, poor people need to regain a sense of dignity and purpose that is hard to achieve when eating in a soup kitchen.

“To get served by a waiter wearing a nice uniform and to eat with proper cutlery, rather than a plastic fork, is what gives you back some dignity,” he said.

不過他這一切計畫有個共通點,就是在這經濟危機徘徊不去,以致西班牙失業率逼近紀錄且政府大砍公共開支之際,協助西班牙那些最脆弱的人活下去。他的機構另在約50個開發中國家經營多項計畫。

這些日子,羅德里格茲草創未久的羅賓漢連鎖餐館讓他充滿活力。他說,窮人除接受基本協助,還需重拾尊嚴與人生目標,這是在慈善廚房用餐很難做到的。

他說:「接受穿著整齊制服的侍者服務並用適當的餐具用餐,而非塑膠叉子,能夠還給你一些尊嚴。」

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/309696/web/

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