Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Ayja’s Experience on March 24th 2013

I was only able to participate in the homeless challenge for one night because I attained a fever the second day because I got wet from the rain and it was cold at night.
I learned so many things from the challenge that naming all of them would take forever but one thing I learned that I didn’t think I would was just how much it actually hurts when someone doesn’t recognize you as a human being. I can honestly say I have never experienced indifference on a level like that before. Also how low you feel when you are shut out by society and no one wants anything to do with you. Something connected to this that my guide Andre told me was that many people do not become homeless because of drug use, but start using when they become homeless to deal with the pain and loneliness. This shocked me because it never had occurred to me how lonely being homeless actually is/must be. Before this challenge I was just like any other member of the housed society; I always saw homeless people but never acknowledged them because it is a social taboo and like most people, I didn’t know what to do. Many don’t know how to address homeless people and I learned that we should just speak like we normally would to any other person. We should not let the stigma against the homeless population dictate who we come in contact with and connect with, because we are truly just shutting ourselves out.  After participating in the challenge my outlook has completely turned around, I learned that we should not be afraid of homeless people because people are just that; simply people. There is nothing in the world that makes any housed person immune from being homeless. Anybody could end up on the streets; it just takes a series of unfortunate events.  I also did a lot of self-reflection during the challenge and realized that I was never truly afraid of the people that were homeless but society itself. I think what scared me most was what society could have possibly done to put someone in a situation like not having a place in world. I don’t think I wanted to acknowledge that. These are just some of the insights that I learned from my one day on the homeless challenge but I will take these insights with me for the rest of my life. 

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