The homeless and Marks & Sparks
Hello again.
I’ve spent the last two weeks traveling. I visited a Jesuit mission in Zambia and met my father in Livingstone. From there we went back to Lesotho together and I got a chance to introduce him to life there. I think I’m beginning to forget some of the little things about life in Ireland as I begin to see life in Lesotho as normal. I no longer notice the women carrying the buckets of water on their heads or the poverty which surrounds us. I think when you live in a place you begin to become blind to much of it.
I am lucky then that my father has been able to come and be shocked by this place. His reactions help to remind me of how different it really is here. One of the reasons I haven’t written much recently is because I forget what is worth describing, what is extraordinary for Ireland. [If there's any part of life here that you'd like me to write about please let me know.]
There’s an orphanage in Maseru, the capital city, that I’ve been in and out to in my time here. I’m going to use some of the funding we raised to pay for one of its orphan’s secondary education. Anna is a very bright girl who wants to be a nurse. In this country I think that goal should be supported.
The orphanage is on the edge of a small cliff in an area just outside Maseru- Maseru East. It consists of two small shacks made of spare pieces of scrap metal. It is cold, dank and completely open to the elements. When the wind blows it is close to collapse; when the rains come it is flooded; and when winter sets in there is nothing to shield its inhabitants from Lesotho’s blisteringly harsh cold. The two small shacks are about the size of an average Irish bedroom but they are the home to ntate Vincent (’St Vincent’ as he is known to us in Ireland), his twelve orphaned grandchildren and fifteen other orphans. The range in age from a four month old malnourished little girl to the older group of thirteen, fourteen and fifteen year olds.
When I brought dad to see the place he reacted like everyone does who comes for the first time. He was shocked into a stunned silence that lasted for about a week. In the following days he kept saying that he didn’t know such poverty existed anymore. We brought food when we visited. They had none, and rarely do. Many of the children have swollen stomachs from malnutrition. Dad kept saying that they live ‘with the rats and like the rats’ and they do. They live in what looks to us like a rubbish heap. Their current lives are all about survival. It’s not a real way to live.
I still maintain however that there are poorer people in the world…but just one group which is poorer, and many of them live in Dublin. These children have absolutely nothing materially but they do seem happy. They have each other and they have Vincent. They are clearly a family. After all that I have seen in the last few months I still think that there is no group worse off than the homeless. They are stripped of their very humanity. This takes nothing from the very real and cruel poverty of these orphans and others…They are treated by the world, in a very real way, like animals.
Think about it though. Ireland’s homeless are disregarded completely as rubbish which needs to simply be moved on – off Grafton street and O’Connell street – not to disturb the Christmas shopping. The real question is where would Christ be in this picture? Buying presents for Mary and Joseph in the top stores?…Or sitting alongside the man on the street who sits on that odd piece of cardboard with one black bag by his side?
I wish you all a very happy and joyous advent. Don’t allow my musings to bring you down. You deserve happiness like everyone else and I know that the minimum needs in Ireland are high. In this time of preparation do think about it though. If I remember correctly this time has something to do with a child born into a homeless family, no?
Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 and is filed under Messages from Africa.
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Valerie Kennedy Says:
I spent the last two days calling around to every Dublin homeless shelter I could find. I am trying to donate a holiday gift to an Irish woman in need. I was turned away, every time. I am so confused about the situation at this point. It’s very upsetting. I have a diamond ring that’s worth about 1800.00 euro that I would like to give to someone in need. A young woman or mother would be ideal. My thought was that the value of the ring would defiantly cover rent for a few months for a homeless girl.
Not one homeless shelter would help me. Every single agency I contacted wanted to keep the ring as a donation to the agency. They told me it wouldn’t be fare to the other homeless people they have at the shelter if I gave the ring to one girl. Fair? Life’s not fare that’s why these people are in the homeless shelter in the first place. I can’t imagine an organization refusing a gift because I said they can’t have a cut out of it.
If anyone can help me please email me at valeriemank@gmail.com
December 23rd, 2008 at 12:00 am