RE: Photography exhibition that makes you think...
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I think the best thing we can do is connect on a human level and learn the culture and lifestyle from the inside if possible. It’s really easy to criticize or to think we have a solution to help someone when we come from different set of experiences and world view but sometimes those solutions don’t fit the situation or values of the people, and sometimes we over complicate things by trying to help without making a true connection. Sometimes suffering is caused by small minded thinking and not what we expect.
I want to be able to live and think like someone before I make any suggestions about how their lives might be improved.
One thing that really moved me was how easy it was to make friends with a few homeless people in Hong Kong compared to how difficult it was in Japan. Most people would consider Japan a place with a higher standard of living (although Hong Kong has a lot of money and a large middle class). One main difference between the two for a homeless person is that Hong Kong has free public showers.
I couldn’t even get close to the homeless people I met in Japan, the smell was overwhelming (lol no offense to them), and I imagine not being able to shower only compounds shame and depression. This kind of thing makes it a lot harder to interact with people who live in society.
I’ve heard many people in many countries talk about helping homeless people but no one ever brings up things like free showers. I don’t even think HK has better policies towards homeless people, it’s just that this one feature of the city makes life a little less difficult for people on the street.
In both places it’s difficult for homeless people to find a job because they have no official address. Wouldn’t the easiest thing in the world be to have a free address that homeless people could use on their job applications??? It’s rare to hear ideas like this thrown around, only typical answers like food and education when often it’s not an issue.
The guys I talked to said they could find food easily and they had skills from previous jobs but no phone number or address were the big hurdle for them. Most people didn’t know that because within the NGO’s and govt organizations they didn’t have a chance to chat with these people, only give them food and greet them quickly.
Long answer 😆 this is something I think about a lot because I’ve been so surprised by how different many things were from my imagination on many occasions.
Oh, wow, such a great opinion, thanks for reading my post and expressing your thoughts.
It is spot on, the best is when we can act upon the experience we get from knowing the cultural and social situation from the inside. That is why I also think it is sometimes better to help your neighbour, to help someone you know from your society as then we know what really that person would need.
I didn't know the difference between the situation of homeless people in Japan and Hong Kong. So, yeah, showers should be available, but I guess not many countries care that much. Here I see always the same homeless people, for years, they have their places where they spend the day and each one is close to the entrance of a supermarket. They kind of respect it and they talk to the passers-by and some of them also say they are fine with that lifestyle. Can it be true, they just accepted that so as to be easier to deal with the situation or indeed they don't want to change the situation they are living in?
I just have to highlight this sentence, I agree with you!