Thursday
Got thrown out of a shopping arcade, near Bourke St Mall, one minute after sitting down on a bench, because the security guy said 'he didn't like the look of me.' I asked him what was it about my appearance that concerned him? and he said 'he wouldn't say because then he would be liable..'
Was with the crew and met a 200 pound openly gay indigenous man and chatted with him about his favorite movie scenes. As I left he hugged me and started crying because he said he was affected by meeting 'such a good person..'
Visited some new friends for the first time. Enjoyed some pizza and talk about what we(personally) would be like if we lived in caveman times. Stayed the night.
Friday
As I left the next morning there was a lady on Oprah talking about how she went to live on the streets as a learning experience (for 3 days). She made a good point about giving out money to beggars. She said 'she doesn't always give money, but she always acknowledges them.'
Stopped and sat next to Bandok and had a chat about what movies he wanted to see. He had a bottle of port and after a few minutes said 'Brother I love you but it's time for you to leave. I'm going to be drinking now and I don't want to Red Light you..' (draw the cops attention to you)
Met a man unsure what to do with his life after he had been rejected from joining the Franciscan Order after the application process. (In St.Francis's day there were no requirements, although some people were expelled.)
While sitting on the steps an indigenous girl came up and kissed me on the cheek and said 'Hello uncle..' ('Uncle' is an indigenous community generic name prefix for someone you respect, or just Uncle if you don't know their name. I am sure there is a more intricate understanding as to how and when it apples, so I'll keep sussing it out.)
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Monday, March 05, 2007
Wed 21st Feb 07
Jason has been away for a couple of weeks, I am told he has been picked up by Social Services and is in a 'secure' juvenile center. This highlights one of the problems with relationships on the street. People just come and go without any warning or explanation. They can be picked up(jailed), taken to hospital or they might just head out of town for a while. Often when they head off it's not that they don't have time to give you advance notice, just that they don't think to do so. Compared to normal Eastern Suburbs life where knowing your family and friends locations and movement plans is a very high priority, it's quite a difficult change to get used to.
Wednesday
I got talking to a guy(BJ) who had just got out of prison yesterday, after a few years. BJ spent all his time working out and had plenty of bulk, a shaved head and a light high pitched voice that contradicted his physical image. At first he was a little concerning as, half drunk, he kept hugging, slapping, and pushing us around but it was in a friendly way. He said he would probably be out for a few months before he mucked up and headed back inside. I always thought it was a bit of a cliche about ex cons not being able to cope with the freedom and responsibility of the 'outside' but he said that was exactly how he felt. He liked the ease of routine and structure provided there, and thought there was no possible life he could build out here. This is an issue I come across more often now. Even if someone wants to change, then what future can I/we/society offer them? All their friends and life experience are in another system of culture and to make a solid attempt of change would mean leaving that(and friends) all behind. Then there was his despair that there wasn't any jobs he thought he could do. I suggested physical trainer, and he seemed to like that. He asked me about God and we chatted for a couple of hours and he just could not believe you can't get into Heaven without Jesus. He asked me at least twenty times "So if you live a really good life helping people and never do anything wrong then you can't get into Heaven without Jesus?.. that's mucked up!??" shaking his head. Before he left I invited him to come to Alpha and (as he had nothing else to do, and nothing to loose, before heading back 'inside') he accepted the invitation. (He stopped me last night to confirm it was still on this Wednesday :)
Warren was feeling crook again and asked me to call the ambulance for another try. While we were waiting the Salvo outreach van pulled up and we went and talked to them. Warren asked them for a lift to hospital and they were happy to do so when they were finished, which was good. So I canceled the ambulance and they took him up there where he got some treatment.
Late in the night I was sitting with some people and I heard screaming from across the road. As I got up I saw an adult guy(indigenous) walk away from the area and his girlfriend (14yo white street girl) stumbled across the road and collapsed at our feet. He had attacked her and been kicking her head, after an argument. She was convulsing on the ground and it looked like there was a sharp dent in her forehead. I went to the pay phone, called an ambulance, and returned to help. There is not much street knowledge of first aid other than 'don't move them', and even that rule is often ignored. I reached down to check her pulse but was really doing it to provide her with a bit of human contact while we waited, as she was in such distress. As I reached another street girl shouted not to touch her, as the boyfriend was watching from across the road, in the dark, like a wolf at the edge of the forest, and she said if I touched her then he would come after me too. She cried out for a cigarette to smoke while we waited, one was lit and passed to her. After the ambulance took the girl away I asked someone what the her name was so I might visit her in the hospital the next day. I was told not to visit her because if the boyfriend found out, again, he would come after me.
Later the boyfriend and his brother came over and the brother said 'it was ok to beat up women but this time his brother had gone too far' and he would take care of it. Then they just played around together (pretend martial arts) and were all happy and smiling. I went up to the brother and asked if I could have permission to visit the girl, and was told to ask the boyfriend. So I went ans sat next to the boyfriend and asked him if I could go and visit her in hospital, and he said if she was in hospital then he would visit her. Then he broke down and started crying and asked me to pray. So we put our arms around each other's shoulders and I spent some time praying for him and the situation, emphasising 'love not hate', 'peace not war' and better relationships.
Wednesday
I got talking to a guy(BJ) who had just got out of prison yesterday, after a few years. BJ spent all his time working out and had plenty of bulk, a shaved head and a light high pitched voice that contradicted his physical image. At first he was a little concerning as, half drunk, he kept hugging, slapping, and pushing us around but it was in a friendly way. He said he would probably be out for a few months before he mucked up and headed back inside. I always thought it was a bit of a cliche about ex cons not being able to cope with the freedom and responsibility of the 'outside' but he said that was exactly how he felt. He liked the ease of routine and structure provided there, and thought there was no possible life he could build out here. This is an issue I come across more often now. Even if someone wants to change, then what future can I/we/society offer them? All their friends and life experience are in another system of culture and to make a solid attempt of change would mean leaving that(and friends) all behind. Then there was his despair that there wasn't any jobs he thought he could do. I suggested physical trainer, and he seemed to like that. He asked me about God and we chatted for a couple of hours and he just could not believe you can't get into Heaven without Jesus. He asked me at least twenty times "So if you live a really good life helping people and never do anything wrong then you can't get into Heaven without Jesus?.. that's mucked up!??" shaking his head. Before he left I invited him to come to Alpha and (as he had nothing else to do, and nothing to loose, before heading back 'inside') he accepted the invitation. (He stopped me last night to confirm it was still on this Wednesday :)
Warren was feeling crook again and asked me to call the ambulance for another try. While we were waiting the Salvo outreach van pulled up and we went and talked to them. Warren asked them for a lift to hospital and they were happy to do so when they were finished, which was good. So I canceled the ambulance and they took him up there where he got some treatment.
Late in the night I was sitting with some people and I heard screaming from across the road. As I got up I saw an adult guy(indigenous) walk away from the area and his girlfriend (14yo white street girl) stumbled across the road and collapsed at our feet. He had attacked her and been kicking her head, after an argument. She was convulsing on the ground and it looked like there was a sharp dent in her forehead. I went to the pay phone, called an ambulance, and returned to help. There is not much street knowledge of first aid other than 'don't move them', and even that rule is often ignored. I reached down to check her pulse but was really doing it to provide her with a bit of human contact while we waited, as she was in such distress. As I reached another street girl shouted not to touch her, as the boyfriend was watching from across the road, in the dark, like a wolf at the edge of the forest, and she said if I touched her then he would come after me too. She cried out for a cigarette to smoke while we waited, one was lit and passed to her. After the ambulance took the girl away I asked someone what the her name was so I might visit her in the hospital the next day. I was told not to visit her because if the boyfriend found out, again, he would come after me.
Later the boyfriend and his brother came over and the brother said 'it was ok to beat up women but this time his brother had gone too far' and he would take care of it. Then they just played around together (pretend martial arts) and were all happy and smiling. I went up to the brother and asked if I could have permission to visit the girl, and was told to ask the boyfriend. So I went ans sat next to the boyfriend and asked him if I could go and visit her in hospital, and he said if she was in hospital then he would visit her. Then he broke down and started crying and asked me to pray. So we put our arms around each other's shoulders and I spent some time praying for him and the situation, emphasising 'love not hate', 'peace not war' and better relationships.
Friday, March 02, 2007
Tuesday 20th Feb 07
Often you see homeless people in completely different outfits from day to day and week to week. For them it is easier to go to a charity, shower, and change into another set of used clothes(free) than to wash the ones they were wearing. The charity will wash the discarded clothes and then pass them onto the next person. So sometimes you think you're seeing a similar garment on someone else, when in fact it the same one that has just been passed on. And then there are those, like me, who never change what clothes they're wearing, and it becomes a part if their identity.
Tuesday
In the evening I was talking to one of the crew called Warren and he agreed to go into rehab. He is a thin white guy from the country that had used switching to alcohol as a detox method to get off Heroin, swapping one addiction for another (hopefully less destructive) one. It think this method had some 'cool' name but I have forgotten it for now, so I'll call it an 'alco detox switch'. The problem for Warren was that his high long term use of drugs and alcohol had damaged both his kidneys and the bruising from their internal bleeding had made both his hip areas pretty black. In reality he is in dire straights and told me he had been on dialysis previously.
He decided he had had enough and it was time to go to a Rehab and dry out, then head home to the country and get away from the city for a while. I had offered to support him and visit him while he was in Rehab and he said he would appreciate that, it would mean a lot to him, and so (as he was also had back pain from the kidney trouble) he asked me to call him an ambulance. I made the call and they said it would be dispatched right away and I went and sat back down with him. While we sat there I asked if I could pray for him and he said that would be good, and so we spent a few minutes in prayer. As we waited a pair of cops came over and told us to move along. I explained to them that an ambulance was coming but they replied that there was no ambulance coming, that the ambo service had called them(the police) to handle the situation as it was not considered a priority for them. Warren showed the cops his bruised hips but they said 'if you want your kidneys to improve then just stop drinking' and again told us to leave the area. Shocked that they didn't see that getting Warren to hospital and Rehab was in 'everyones best interests' I helped walk him away, down the road. I offered to help him tram up to the hospital but, feeling rejected, he was no longer interested in trying to get any other help that night.
Later I was thirsty and went into HJs to get a cup of iced water but they refused to give me one because I didn't look 'trustworthy'. It actually worked out in my favour as I then went next door to McDonalds, where I got a cup (no fuss), and sat down. Sam was there and he kept giving me strange looks, so I invited him to sit with me. He said he was surprised to see me sitting there as I wasn't in the store when he first walked in, and he had been watching the door (without a break) ever since. He said there was no way I walked in without him noticing and was suspicious as to how I got there (he might have been thinking teleport?). We ended up having a good chat for over an hour about politics and all sorts of other things. As he left I noticed his pants were split at the back, which is not an uncommon sight among the homeless (not that I am out here looking at asses all day). I wondered if he knew or didn't care? I decided not to ask.
Feeling like doing some more scrubbing, I got up and asked the manager if it was ok if I used the rest room basin to fill up my bucket. He then offered to fill the bucket himself and went round the back of the kitchen and came back shortly with some hot water. I was very grateful. Heading across the road I started cleaning and there were a couple of street kids at the top of the steps. They asked me all sorts of questions about God, half in jest but also some serious ones as well. Their biggest question was whether I thought Homosexuality was wrong? I gave them my opinion and they said it was the best answer they had heard, and gave me their respect. Then they went off into the night, and I got the whole step finished and felt good.
Tuesday
In the evening I was talking to one of the crew called Warren and he agreed to go into rehab. He is a thin white guy from the country that had used switching to alcohol as a detox method to get off Heroin, swapping one addiction for another (hopefully less destructive) one. It think this method had some 'cool' name but I have forgotten it for now, so I'll call it an 'alco detox switch'. The problem for Warren was that his high long term use of drugs and alcohol had damaged both his kidneys and the bruising from their internal bleeding had made both his hip areas pretty black. In reality he is in dire straights and told me he had been on dialysis previously.
He decided he had had enough and it was time to go to a Rehab and dry out, then head home to the country and get away from the city for a while. I had offered to support him and visit him while he was in Rehab and he said he would appreciate that, it would mean a lot to him, and so (as he was also had back pain from the kidney trouble) he asked me to call him an ambulance. I made the call and they said it would be dispatched right away and I went and sat back down with him. While we sat there I asked if I could pray for him and he said that would be good, and so we spent a few minutes in prayer. As we waited a pair of cops came over and told us to move along. I explained to them that an ambulance was coming but they replied that there was no ambulance coming, that the ambo service had called them(the police) to handle the situation as it was not considered a priority for them. Warren showed the cops his bruised hips but they said 'if you want your kidneys to improve then just stop drinking' and again told us to leave the area. Shocked that they didn't see that getting Warren to hospital and Rehab was in 'everyones best interests' I helped walk him away, down the road. I offered to help him tram up to the hospital but, feeling rejected, he was no longer interested in trying to get any other help that night.
Later I was thirsty and went into HJs to get a cup of iced water but they refused to give me one because I didn't look 'trustworthy'. It actually worked out in my favour as I then went next door to McDonalds, where I got a cup (no fuss), and sat down. Sam was there and he kept giving me strange looks, so I invited him to sit with me. He said he was surprised to see me sitting there as I wasn't in the store when he first walked in, and he had been watching the door (without a break) ever since. He said there was no way I walked in without him noticing and was suspicious as to how I got there (he might have been thinking teleport?). We ended up having a good chat for over an hour about politics and all sorts of other things. As he left I noticed his pants were split at the back, which is not an uncommon sight among the homeless (not that I am out here looking at asses all day). I wondered if he knew or didn't care? I decided not to ask.
Feeling like doing some more scrubbing, I got up and asked the manager if it was ok if I used the rest room basin to fill up my bucket. He then offered to fill the bucket himself and went round the back of the kitchen and came back shortly with some hot water. I was very grateful. Heading across the road I started cleaning and there were a couple of street kids at the top of the steps. They asked me all sorts of questions about God, half in jest but also some serious ones as well. Their biggest question was whether I thought Homosexuality was wrong? I gave them my opinion and they said it was the best answer they had heard, and gave me their respect. Then they went off into the night, and I got the whole step finished and felt good.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Monday 19th Feb 07
The other day I was walking around Federation Square and I noticed all these tents set up behind it. They were of a strong white vinyl/plastic and a couple of meters square in size. I looked inside one and they even had a mat flooring. 'Wow' I thought, 'these are great, the city has finally solved the homelessness problem..' but no, they were there for the Sustainable Resource Festival that weekend. As far as I know Melbourne doesn't have a night shelter for those sleeping rough. I wonder how much resources it would take to set one up? For a couple of days the tents were empty, residents: at least one.
Monday:
In the morning I found the guys at a different place, down by the river. Robbie was standing there, in drab blue denim pants and jacket and bare feet. With shoulders slightly slumped and fists half clenched, he looked like a washed up brawler who still had fight in his heart and carried a long deep memory of events past forgotten but with their history visible enough in his eyes that he would instantly get your respect, even if you didn't know why you were giving it. I wished I had a camera, it was one of those lasting defineing images. In fact as I have come to know Robbie he is really just a big softy. Yesterday I was sitting with him at the meeting place and along came Nora (one of the friendly Credo girls) who sat down with us to say hello and have a chat. Robbie talked about the environment, materialism and how precious young women were, to be looked after as our most valuable resource. He even reached into his jacket and pulled out a pen set (from the souvenir shop across the road) and gave it to her as a gift, and then asked me to find her a flower. He may even be a Christian? as he mentioned there was a particular Church he likes to go to on Sunday mornings (where they give him a bottle of port to start the day.. I guess alcohol[Communion] is served in Churches most Sundays, his just comes in a bigger size..). Actually I have never seen him in a fight, he only tends to get upset when people are inconsiderate or disrespect his indigenous values. He is almost a living statement of 'What else can I do? White man's society hasn't left any room for me (and my people) to exist..' His favorite thing is to pat a pair of little dogs, a lady walks by with most days, he calls them his pupps.
Also by the river I saw the indigenous guy Pete, whom I'd been on the lookout for. I introduced myself, reached into my bag and pulled out the sunglasses his lady friend had left on the seat last Wednesday. Returning them to him he was a bit surprised and it was a moment before he remembered whom he had been with, and thanking me said he would return them to her later. Not long after, I was standing by the river railing, staring at the jellyfish, and he came over to talk to me further. He told me of some issues, and then asked me to pray for him and his family. I put my hand on his shoulder and prayed with him for bit before he returned to sit with the others.
In the afternoon I was sitting at he steps with Dougy and Troy (another indigenous guy of the crew who is usually high and happy but also quick to anger and violence). They were both very drunk and they started arguing together that quickly escalated into violence. They were yelling at each other and standing toe to toe with Troy gripping Dougy by the throat and Dougy standing thee with his bottle of port in one hand behind his back. I decided to see what influence I had gained with them and walked up to them telling Troy to let Dougy go and for them both to seek peace. Unfortunately I got Troy's name wrong and he turned to correct me but remained gripping Dougy's throat with full force. The distraction allowed Dougy the moment to 'bottle' him (smash the bottle over Troy's head) and I was showered with port and glass.. Influence not detectable, and so I stepped back and went to sit down and let them resolve it (I didn't half blame Dougy for his action as he probably couldn't breathe for the last minute and there was no indication of being let go). Troy seemed ok, thanks to his cap, probably more stunned by the action than the actual impact. Then one of the older, most respected indigenous elders, charged Dougy and wrestled him to the ground yanking the rest of the broken bottle out of his hand, and it was over. The cops wandered over and Troy ran off. Dougy waited for an ambulance to arrive to check him out as Alice (sitting nearby) had told the cops that Dougy had hit himself over the head with the bottle. At first I thought she had seen it wrong, and then I realized it was to protect Dougy from being charged with assault, as it's probably not an offence to hit yourself over the head. Interestingly Dougy was later 'punished' by the indigenous community for the fight, as while he generally has more respect than Troy, when it comes to violence the indigenous community rally around their own before anyone else, whether the person was in the right, or wrong.
Monday:
In the morning I found the guys at a different place, down by the river. Robbie was standing there, in drab blue denim pants and jacket and bare feet. With shoulders slightly slumped and fists half clenched, he looked like a washed up brawler who still had fight in his heart and carried a long deep memory of events past forgotten but with their history visible enough in his eyes that he would instantly get your respect, even if you didn't know why you were giving it. I wished I had a camera, it was one of those lasting defineing images. In fact as I have come to know Robbie he is really just a big softy. Yesterday I was sitting with him at the meeting place and along came Nora (one of the friendly Credo girls) who sat down with us to say hello and have a chat. Robbie talked about the environment, materialism and how precious young women were, to be looked after as our most valuable resource. He even reached into his jacket and pulled out a pen set (from the souvenir shop across the road) and gave it to her as a gift, and then asked me to find her a flower. He may even be a Christian? as he mentioned there was a particular Church he likes to go to on Sunday mornings (where they give him a bottle of port to start the day.. I guess alcohol[Communion] is served in Churches most Sundays, his just comes in a bigger size..). Actually I have never seen him in a fight, he only tends to get upset when people are inconsiderate or disrespect his indigenous values. He is almost a living statement of 'What else can I do? White man's society hasn't left any room for me (and my people) to exist..' His favorite thing is to pat a pair of little dogs, a lady walks by with most days, he calls them his pupps.
Also by the river I saw the indigenous guy Pete, whom I'd been on the lookout for. I introduced myself, reached into my bag and pulled out the sunglasses his lady friend had left on the seat last Wednesday. Returning them to him he was a bit surprised and it was a moment before he remembered whom he had been with, and thanking me said he would return them to her later. Not long after, I was standing by the river railing, staring at the jellyfish, and he came over to talk to me further. He told me of some issues, and then asked me to pray for him and his family. I put my hand on his shoulder and prayed with him for bit before he returned to sit with the others.
In the afternoon I was sitting at he steps with Dougy and Troy (another indigenous guy of the crew who is usually high and happy but also quick to anger and violence). They were both very drunk and they started arguing together that quickly escalated into violence. They were yelling at each other and standing toe to toe with Troy gripping Dougy by the throat and Dougy standing thee with his bottle of port in one hand behind his back. I decided to see what influence I had gained with them and walked up to them telling Troy to let Dougy go and for them both to seek peace. Unfortunately I got Troy's name wrong and he turned to correct me but remained gripping Dougy's throat with full force. The distraction allowed Dougy the moment to 'bottle' him (smash the bottle over Troy's head) and I was showered with port and glass.. Influence not detectable, and so I stepped back and went to sit down and let them resolve it (I didn't half blame Dougy for his action as he probably couldn't breathe for the last minute and there was no indication of being let go). Troy seemed ok, thanks to his cap, probably more stunned by the action than the actual impact. Then one of the older, most respected indigenous elders, charged Dougy and wrestled him to the ground yanking the rest of the broken bottle out of his hand, and it was over. The cops wandered over and Troy ran off. Dougy waited for an ambulance to arrive to check him out as Alice (sitting nearby) had told the cops that Dougy had hit himself over the head with the bottle. At first I thought she had seen it wrong, and then I realized it was to protect Dougy from being charged with assault, as it's probably not an offence to hit yourself over the head. Interestingly Dougy was later 'punished' by the indigenous community for the fight, as while he generally has more respect than Troy, when it comes to violence the indigenous community rally around their own before anyone else, whether the person was in the right, or wrong.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
