“When you applaud the caregivers, you must not forget all those who intervene before to avoid the hospital or after to allow the return home. »All these” little hands “, carers, home help, family workers … Benoît Vorms knows them well. He’s leading the association of personal services Alys (ex Afad) which employs over 900 people in Moselle and Meuse. Employees who had to adapt to the epidemic and also remain on the “front line”. “They are there every day, alongside addicted people in an environment (at home) that they cannot control. “
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Invisible
However, home helpers sometimes had the feeling of being forgotten, invisible. “At first, when we asked for masks in pharmacies, we were refused,” says an employee of the Metz sector.
Auxiliary for twenty years, Nathalie Negrente has never considered stopping. Behind the protective mask you can guess his continual smile. “At the start of the crisis, the lack of equipment frightened me,” she admits. “We go from house to house, my fear was to transmit the virus to fragile people but during confinement they need us even more. “
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Continuity of life
For Nathalie, over the weeks and with the necessary equipment, the anxiety subsided. “We are taking all the precautions, it has become a routine and we have to see life from the good side.” An optimism shared by Léonie Louis. This sparkling, “almost” nonagenarian fameckoise never gets bored but she can not do without the presence of a carer. Her legs no longer work. Constantly bedridden, and even if the family takes turns to prepare their meals, they must count on Nathalie for three daily toilets, “gestures that we cannot do from a distance! “
For other elderly people, Nathalie also does the shopping, cooking, sharing crying and laughing, etc. The time of confinement, she improvises herself as a hairdresser for Léonie. “We have a very varied role,” she explains. “The one to maintain a continuity of life”, underlines Benoît Vorms.
“When Nathalie is not there, I am lost,” says Léonie. “You immediately feel that she loves her job. For five years, I can consider her as family. “A recognition that sincerely touches the carer. A graduate, she earns a little more than the minimum wage and works with a dozen people. And for Léonie, “So yes, she deserves a better salary! ”
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