Homelessness Awarness Project.
Students at a Canadian university recently finished an interesting project: spending five days of their lives as a homeless person. Students slept outside on the streets from Sunday Mar. 15 to Friday Mar. 20. They had to give up their usual lifestyle, such as cell phones, income and showers and only eat and drink what was donated to them. During the day and night they begged for change. Participants roughed it during night two and three by sleeping outside in -35C weather with wind chill. Students were also expected to still go to class and withstand the stares and looks from their classmates.
“You never really realize how heartless people are to the homeless. We have some people who avoided eye contact with us or avoided us altogether,” said Krissi Bucholtz, a student who participated in the project.
Blogs were set up so that participants could tell what each day felt like. Most became emotional as their nutrition level dropped, their hair became matted and their body sore from sleeping on the concrete ground.
Jaclyn Bell wrote that the experience caused her to re-think her situation: “I am so lucky to be able to flick a switch when I need light, or adjust the thermostat when I’m hot or cold, or turn the water on when I need to shower, or turn the TV on if I’m bored. All these things I had absolutely no choice in doing today. The lights (sun) went out and I was stuck, left there in the dark with nothing to do about it.”
“Obviously it is nothing like actually living out on the streets but it’s kind of like doing it with training wheels on. Getting somewhat of an idea what some people have to go through.” said Connor Welsh.
-Do not sleep with other homeless people unless you are in a shelter. It's nice to have faith in your fellow humans, but a desperate homeless person can be very dangerous.
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