Fake beard, worn-out clothes, and no bodyguards in sight. That is how Vaguinho Espíndola, mayor of Criciúma, Brazil, took to the streets to spend nearly a full day living as a homeless person without anyone knowing who he was.
For 20 hours, Espíndola walked about 40 kilometers through different parts of the city. He asked for coins at traffic lights, sought help from passersby, and shared real conversations with people who sleep on the streets. The day ended when the municipality’s own social assistance teams approached him on the public street, without suspecting that the man they were helping was their top boss.
The goal was not a media stunt: Espíndola wanted to identify specific failures in care protocols and measure firsthand whether his staff acted with empathy toward the most vulnerable people. What he experienced during those hours, he said, will give him direct information to redesign Criciúma’s social policies.