Homeless

HELPING THE HOMELESS

By Stephen Wilson

          

The fall was therefore not serious, even as i fell I heard the door slam. Which brought me a little comfort, in the midst of my fall. For this meant they were not pursuing me down into the street with a stick, to beat me to beat me in full view of the passers-by'.

 

            

The main character recalling his eviction from 'The Expelled', Samuel Beckett.

And who thinks of what it means not to be able to have a proper wash for days and weeks on end? One's skin becomes so stiff that it stops one from making any but tough movements even supposing one wanted to make gentle living ones - the soul sets and hardens under such a crust'.

             

The Man without Qualities , Volume 1 , Robert Musil

 

            

As I was going up the stair

I met a man who was not

there. 

He wasn't there again today.

I do so wish he'd go away.  

            

Antigonish William Hugh Mearns

 

            

Moscow, for all her faults, promises folklorists an inexhaustible treasure trove of legends. They are absolutely abundant! One legend tells of how a 'saranick' or religious wanderer, came up to the gates of a monastery. He asked for a place to stay the night.The weather was windy, rainy and stormy.The miserable man was drenched by the rain. For some reason the monks refused him shelter. Being affronted, the wanderer cursed the monastery with the words "Let the monastery be swallowed by the earth-the walls of it crack and fall into ruins." And this is what subsequently happened. The monastery later collapsed and on the same spot was built the three railway stations which greet many homeless people: the

Yaroslavski, Kazanski and Leningradski stations. A superstitious person might claim that the homeless who first set foot here are cursed right from the start. For many of the homeless come to Moscow to seek a much better life. However, like the wanderer, they don't always receive hospitality or help. On the contrary , like the person in the poem by Mearns , their hosts chant, 'I do so wish he 'd go away.' The Russian authorities often resort to crude and ineffective methods of rounding them up and deporting them.

            

Yet Moscow remains an irresistible beacon to people coming to Moscow. In contrast to many impoverished and run down regions of Russia, Moscow represents a vibrant, thriving and energetic city 'promising' a better life. It is a magnet for migrants and Russians seeking a more exciting and enriched life. For many, the grass  definitely seems greener on the other side.

            

During last year's World Cup the city was 'cleansed of the homeless' so as to make Moscow more presentable in the eyes of the World. The homeless are often deported beyond 101 km. But the notorious anti begging laws, police harassment, detention and deportation never works. Like ghosts, the homeless come back to haunt the living.

            

The attitude of Moscow to the homeless varies. It can vary from insensitive amusement, callousness, and intense fear to sympathy. When some English teachers mention their plight some students erupt in laughter. They immediately imagine a drunken homeless person snoring away on a seat on a metro train.

However, I came across some who were terrified of them. While working with Jim Vail to feed the homeless I recall that there was one young Russian volunteer whose hands were literary shaking. She told me, "I'm scared of them ". I had to ask her, "Just concentrate on the job on hand by filling the cups of coffee and do not think of anything else." She soon learnt that though many of the homeless looked different they did not have horns coming out of their ears. Now often we were feeding alcoholics, ex-prisoners and people with mental health problems.

            

But they still needed help. As one volunteer Daniel Ogan stated, "We still have to help them. If we can just bring a little comfort to those people it can be something". Much of the hostility to the homeless comes from the fact that some are unkempt, unwashed and smell unpleasantly. It never occurs to some people that if it is very difficult to wash yourself you begin to smell badly. If those offended people handed a homeless person a towel, soap or a change of clothes it might alleviate alleviate the situation. One of the central problems is that the homeless can't attain  access to a laundrette or a shower. Unlike a city such as Dublin, Moscow does not provide a system of relatively cheap washing facilities.

           

            

However, organisations such as 'Charity' or rather {милосердие} , based at 55 Nikoloyamskaya ulitsa, in the Taganski district of Moscow, through their Angar Spasehi, provide much badly needed help to the homeless and the poor. I dropped into their center and was guided around their center. I was ushered into a huge shelter tent where I noticed some homeless people either reading, sleeping or watching television. I was shown the showers they could use, a place where they could get new clothes and even a haircut. Alena, a spokesperson told me that, "The homeless are all different. The reasons for their situation are often complicated. Our aim is to make the homeless more presentable so that they people are not so alienated by their appearance. We have around 26 specific projects such as helping pregnant women, and invalids. We can buy the homeless train tickets to return home and be reunited with their families ... We can also help them restore their passports". I ask Alena, " How can people help your efforts ?" "They can offer donations! "Indeed, I can't help fail to notice the charity group conducts a massive publicity campaign where you can see published appeals for funds by famous Russian actors and actresses in Kommersant newspaper. You see a huge photo of an actress saying: 'I am a friend of Miloserdiya'. It is all a far cry from the situation 20 years ago where it was highly problematic to persuade many Orthodox churches to directly aid the homeless. Many churches viewed them as 'unwanted intruders' and a 'threat'. So it could be argued that the level of awareness and assistance to the homeless has increased. More and more people understand that being rendered homeless is not a crime or because those people 'are evil'. The main reasons for homelessness lie with the collapse of the Soviet System, the mass closure of so many factories leading to mass unemployment, non existent job prospects in many Russian towns, a divorce where one partner has no alternative room to go to, mentally ill patients who are discharged from hospitals, newly released prisoners, an unexpected job loss or increase in rent. Another great problem is that those coming to Moscow can't obtain a permit to find work.

            

They are forced to work illegally. But the high cost of rent in Moscow makes it almost impossible for even some Muscovites to rent a room! It is not uncommon to find an apartment where grandparents, parents and children all live together. As in Europe, often children live with their parents into their thirties. One of the saddest situations is to encounter homeless children who have fled from orphanages or drunk parents who abused them. I met some and was taken aback by how distrustful they could be. But I recall I ordered a coffee and was surprised to hear one orphan frankly tell me his story of how they had fled. I gave him instructions on how to reach our center of help. This was 20 years ago. We can never forget poor Galina, a homeless French teacher who had been cheated out of her apartment by criminals.

            

She had a drinking problem, but a heart of gold. She once intervened and stopped two policemen from taking me to a police station.

 

            

The charity organisation states that up to a maximum of 150 homeless visit them on a daily basis. Alena told me how they were helping a Sudanese woman with 2 kids.

            

While I was speaking to Alena I was interrupted by a lively and talkative man asking, "Where is Maria? Have you seen Maria anywhere?" We answered "No ,we had not seen Maria". "This organisation has changed. I don't recognize any of the faces".

      

Alena politely answered " No, we have not changed. We are still the same". After leaving the building I again found this man. He asked me for a cigarette. I don't smoke. So I decided to buy him some cigarettes. Alexi was forthcoming about his life. He told me he was from Belorussiya, and from a family of ten children. "I have lived for five years in Moscow. There is not much work where I come from. A lot of the factories and farm collectives have closed down. I remember when you once could make money from doing all kinds of chores like fixing things or sweeping the snow, but now this work is not so available. I'm the youngest of the family ... My mother died of cancer ... I was once detained by the police who informed me that one of my sisters had been looking for me. She asked me, Did you get the money I had sent you?' She always treated me as if I were a son because I was the youngest in the family." Alexi could talk about everything. I had to decline a drink with him because of an English lesson. But I certainly did not want to make him drunk. There must be many people such as Alexi roaming around Moscow. I promised or rather felt we might meet again. Whether he has ever met his beloved Maria is anyone's guess.