This is dedicated to many people in this world, plenty of us who think to be smart, good, and helpful for the society, but fail to be human.
How many times you have seen a homeless in the street?
How many times you really did something to help?
How many times you talked to this person?
Did you ever ask any of these questions to yourself?
Many, too many, are left in the streets carelessly. Too many are abandoned to their destiny. While you worry about buying a new car and call yourself poor because you can’t afford the last model.
Which is the bottom?
Reaching the bottom of the bottom.
Sometimes you feel unhappy because something negative happened to you. Well, feel released, feel lucky to have just one bad thing happening:
– Four-five persons assault me, fighting, to steal my phone.
– Finances go down steeply.
– The bag where I have everything, since years, my only bag, gets stolen in Finland, the safest country of the world.
– I start to lose sight on my right eye and I probably need an operation.
– Rain comes straight inside my house in through the roof. After repairing it, and three other contractor’s interventions, still rains inside.
– My father falls down and breaks his hip, risking his life.
– I get to know that my father didn’t pay taxes for years and now I may have to pay for him.
– Backhome, our minibus goes on fire by itself the day after we were about to sell it
– I make an accident with my bicycle and I destroy both mine and the bike of the guy who was driving in my direction.
– I discover to be an actor for a pro-War pro-Russian propaganda television.
– My friend commits suicide before I am able to talk to him.
This is what happened to me lately, still, I am lucky, because I always end up having a place where to sleep finding people who would help me. But not everyone has the same luck as me and you. Neither same social skills.
Want to know what it means to be unlucky?
The man in the video has been living in the streets for six years, once he shows his legs you can see his skin completely open.
In all those years neither the institutions, neither the people have helped him enough.
Why don’t we reflect more about the problem of homelessness and search for solutions? We could help each other and pretend from our politicians the basic, fundamental, right of shelter, food and healthcare for the weakest.
“Life is heavy“- is his most used sentence.
I met Mikhail–which is not his real name–in a subway and felt directly that he is a really kind, sensitive, human being; he is an artist as well: painter, philosopher and dreamer.
He ended up in the street because he left his country, hostile to him, having major health issues: sight problems, huge legs ulcers, weakness.
He has no family to back up on.
When I asked him about his problems, and his too heavy bag to carry with his sick legs, I said: “your bag is too heavy”, he replied: “live is heavy”.
“You are a good human”, Mikhail was repeating often to me, I was simply replying: “I am a normal human, while the people that don’t care is unhuman”.
Is the homeless the cancer of the society? or is maybe the wealthy one the real problem?
The rich sucking up all resources for the benefit of himself and few others.
Mikahil needed medical help and also psychological support. His legs were almost not able to sustain him anymore. I walked him to the hospital to search for help, I hoped they would be kind to him, but I was wrong. After a long walk under the rain, many slaloms around holes in the sidewalks and cars driving straight to you, we arrived at the hospital.
Mikhail pointed to a Pharmacy and told me that we should first buy some medicines. I thought it was a way for him to avoid the Hospital and I told him: ” I am not that naive to believe that we are supposed to go to the hospital needing to provide ourselves medicines…”.
We had a long discussion in front of the pharmacist, the saleswoman started even to get annoyed and was screaming something in ukrainian hinting that Mikhail was right.
Once we got to the hospital room, I finally believed Mikhail, because the first thing that the doctor asked about was medicines, and money, in black.
After a while in the street you get inevitably an odor. I could judge the distance between me and him by this smell. In the hospital I get a disturbance of this smell-distance-feeling, because all the clinic smells, exactly as someone who has been in the street for a while. Then I understood in what kind of place I was.
They helped a little, with a lot of hesitation and without much will. We were kicked out immediately after, as I was asking some more informations about Mikhail the medical staff started threatening us to call police if we would not leave.
-At the we ended up learning how to cure his ulcers by ourselves. Thanks to the help of two wonderful friend of mine, which are nurses: Margo and Pati, we managed to do some self medication.-
We adopt dogs, cats, all kind of animals, we adopt people by distance and we can’t adopt or help a homeless 100 meters away from us?
You,
You sleeping in a bed every night, you that have always had food and a place where to stay. You passing in front of a homeless thinking that it’s not your problem.
You are the problem,
You are the issue, by being indifferent to the one who needs the most, the smelly one in the street. Your indifference is the cancer of the world and I have no respect at all for you. You are worthless and disgusting.
The wealthier you are, the more disgusting you become.
The rich richer and the poor poorer.
This has to change.
Soon!
As Mikhail, many others in the street are searching for humanity. When they ask you for a coin, they are not pretending to be rich at your damage, they just ask you to consider them as living things. If you don’t want to give them a coin, give them the chance to exist, talk to them and ask how you can help them, even just that.
SOLUTIONS?
We should simply be human and talk to the one asking for help, even if they ask just for money, still we should see how we can help.
Why not invite them at home for lunch? for a shower? or even to sleep?
You can start by asking him what he needs and give him maybe a gift.
Arsenalna – Nadia
RESOURCES FOR THE HOMELESS IN KIEV
(ordered from Useful –> Useless)
From this list you can actually understand that there is no real shelter for homeless in Kiev. Many of those organization provide extremely limited services and often just to locals with the right papers.
- UKRAINIAN CHARITY FUND
(Social Partnership)
Lobachevsky lane 8-a, 02090
www.socpartnerstvo.org
info@socpartnerstvo.org
044 591 5443
044 591 5444
0679117911 (service with car) – Called: speak english, friendly.
I Visited them:they are friendly, providing normally help to people with documents, but are flexible. They have no sleeping place to offer but they offer free food, showers, washing clothes, medical support, clothing and some paperwork service.
- DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL POLICY
Ave Komarova, 7, m. Kyiv, 03165
https://kievcity.gov.ua/content/89_departament-sotsialnoji-polityky.html
I visited them: they were friendly, got explained that they just provide help for homeless from Kiev, with documentation.
STEFANIA
0679117911 – Called: not speaking english. - MUNICIPALITY SHELTER
Суздальская, 4/6
18.00- 20.00 cost 20 gri.
1551 – Called: not speaking english
I wanted to visit them, but: they are located at one hour from Kiev with public transport, you probably need documents and you have to pay.
Mikhail told me: there are bandits there, it’s dangerous - CENTER FOR HOMELESS PEOPLE
(Центр обліку бездомних громадян)
Lane hyperbolic 8a 404-08-99
https://sites.google.com/site/centroblikubezdomnihgromadan/
They just help to make documents.
It’s not Hyperbolic, but Hyper Bureaucratic, not welcoming, just for locals, and you have even to pay. - CARITAS
Ivana Mykytenka St, 7Б, Kyivs’ka oblast, 02000
info@caritas-kiev.org.ua
044 512 00 85 – Called: They don’t speak english.
I visited them: Really warm and welcoming, but no services for homeless people, they help only families escaping from war.
- EVANGELICAL MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION
Valery Kupriy
Zacrevscogo str. 7-182, 02217
044 5461039 – Called: no answer on saturday and on tuesday
Wanted to visit, but nobody knows where this place is.
This place is still listed as resource for Homeless but it actually does not exist.
This may sound as a really harsh article about this topic, but I can’t keep those words from myeself, I really can’t when I see these people in the street and at the same time so many luxurious cars and posh people walking around like in a modeshow.
Thanks Margo’ and Pati to be nurse by distance helping Mikhail a lot.
CyclOrbit: Bike - Travel - Theater 