Joelene (23/10/07)

I’ve enjoyed it, I’ve really, honest enjoyed it, the only way to describe it is that the government, well the… the authorities made it a nightmare, they made it a misery, an’ they made it so you wanted to sit down an’ cry on a night. Not necessarily… you wasn’t doing anything wrong, but they… they’d just be coming an’ moving yer all the time an’ like, but what, two year ago I ‘ad these… was only one an’ he was a newborn, an’ I ‘ad the other two as well, an’ so it was like, I ‘ad a lot of small children an’ we was just gettin’ moved an’… they’d just come bang on yer door an’ like, ‘right you’s ‘ave to move’, just intimidate them, they made it a night…, it was ‘orrible, that’s why I moved on ‘ere, it was like, I don’t particularly like… It’s nice that I’m ‘ere an’ like the fact that I can go an’ put the kids in the bath without somebody… a baliff knockin’ at the door sayin’ ‘you’ve got to move’ which ‘appened, I think the night before I came on ‘ere. I took ‘em to my sister’s house to bath… an’ I took them to ‘er ‘ouse to bath them, put them in the bath and the phone rang… ‘You’ll ‘ave to come back, the baliff’s is come’, so I ‘ad to come home, I ‘ad to leave the kids in the bath and… just basically, ‘ad to just leave them with me sister an’ come home now. Kind ‘o thing, when you get told ‘you’ve to come now you’re gettin’ ripped off’ then you ‘ave to come an’ put yer stuff down’ you’ve to come home they’ll just rip yer off… and so the Leeds auth…, awll the authorities do it, but the Leeds one’s they was just moving us everywhere… two an’ three times a day… an’ they wouldn’t let you stay anywhere, they wouldn’t let you stay on council property, an’ so it was a nightmare. They made, they made my life a misery, that’s all I can say about it and that’s why I moved on here. I’d prefer to move around, and just stay somewhere for a few days, a week, a fortnight… whatever and just move on.

Joelene’s story continues in a documentary film in which she speaks about her experiences (made during the Showing: Expectations project). This short text is taken from Joelene's film.

Note: Joelene contributed her documentary film. She was unable to curate.