cold walls

Giovanni di Luca Age 78 Length of stay: 36 Years

My life as a beggar on the streets of Milan was not easy. I was happy for every piece of bread I got and during the nights I often couldn't sleep for fear of being robbed or freezing to death. When the policemen took me away one day, I thought they were taking me to prison, but no, they took me to Voghera to the Manicomio. Here I have been for 36 years now. They gave me insanity as a "diagnosis". Just like many others here that I still know from the streets. They just wanted to get rid of me because I don't fit into their society where I never had a fair chance.

Now I am lying here in my room, which I only got because I am so old. But I will never forget the bad nights in the dormitories where we lived with sometimes 200 people.

Madonna Mia, if I had had the choice, I would have lived further on the street than to vegetate slowly between bare cold walls.