Interview with Sophie

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How did you get involved in the project?

At the moment I work as an assistant in a pediatrician’s practice. But four years ago I used to work in a collective practice, shared by four women doctors of different specializations and their assistants. One of them was a gynecologist, though I was not her assistant. The woman who used to live here in the house before me was a regular patient of this gynecologist’s. This whole story started out in a quite funny way for me. One day, while at a checkup sitting on the gynecological chair, this said woman asked the doctor whether she knew about a single mother who might show interest in the project and who would at the same time fit into the community. The woman for some personal reason had to leave the project and was looking for someone to suggest as her successor in the house. As we were working, at some point the gynecologist cried out: “Sophie, come quickly, I need you!” I was worried and didn’t know how to react, since I was busy with other work. I was assisting with a surgical intervention and in the chaos I had not understood what it was about. I thought the gynecologist was calling me to help her with something, and I had to react immediately. After this, I had the opportunity to talk with the woman in detail about the project. It turned out that I had been living nearby, in the same neighborhood one street over, and that I had not known anything about the project all along and had not even suspected its existence. All night after this I was too excited to fall asleep. The explanations of the woman had left a strong impression on me. I thought a lot about my life and things around me, and the same night I decided to come here if they accepted me, to move into the house, because I understood even then that the quality of life here is incomparably better for a single woman with a child. That is why on the very next morning I found myself at this address. This is how everything started out for me.

What does all this mean for you on a personal level?

I had been living for six months in Zurich. I was continuously running this place and that place, without ever finding time for anything. I had to work a lot, over 80 percent. I was constantly tired, and my time was never ever enough, neither for my child nor for myself. Before I moved into the house, my daughter Emi used to spend half of the time with me in Zurich, where she was going to a day nursery, and half of the time with my mother in the countryside. This entire chaos was making me nervous. It was good neither for the child nor for me. Through the project, I mainly found much calmness both for me and for the child. Now we are together at all times. I even find time for my hobbies, which I love. I sing, and I make sculptures in stone. I am also involved in Yoga. We have a Yoga teacher who comes here to us, and we practice collectively. I feel very well as a part of this community.