BRUSSELS - In the three-part podcast If the roller shutter stays closed, we tell the story of Philippe and Peter. Two regulars at De Harmonie, a social restaurant for elderly local residents in Brussels' North Quarter. During the lockdown, however, the doors remained closed. What does this mean for Philippe and Peter, two Brussels residents from very different backgrounds
At De Harmonie, you can eat a hot meal for a few euros, there is an endless stream of slack coffee and you can play cards all day. It is a meeting place in a neighbourhood where the social fabric is very fragile. But during the lockdown, many older neighbourhood residents no longer had a reason to leave their homes and meet their neighbours. How do you ensure that people here do not disappear between their four walls, get lost in the multitude of concrete or sink into their armchairs never to get out again?
Illustration: © Emily Lefebvre
PODCAST
- Als het rolluik dicht blijft, Apache, 24/02/2022
- Als het rolluik dicht blijft, Zandman, Radio 1, 19/04/2022.