Yesterday I joined a volunteer group called “Yokohama Spring Homeless Patrol” for the first time.
My dad’s friend, Elena, is an early co-founder of the group. Elena looked after me a lot when my dad was in hospital. And I hadn’t seen for quite a while so I was very happy to see her.
Patrick Curtin and Elena started this group about one and a half years ago. They get food and beverage donations and give them to the unprivileged and homeless people of Yokohama(City in Japan).
When Elena and I got to Kannai station in Yokohama at 17:35 we met Patrick, the founder of the group. There were a few people that came to the patrol meet up for the first time. They were all very talkative and kind. There were 14 of us altogether.
We were split into groups to give out food and drinks. I was in charge of handing out some Cherry Coke and some vegetable juice drinks. There were around 100 people queuing for the food and drinks. They were very patient and I was amazed. Some of them had been waiting there for over 3 hours to be the first to get the food and drinks. This is because sometimes there is not enough food and drink for everyone.
After that we went into the station to meet some people living in cardboard boxes. We handed out crackers and chocolate biscuits.
It was basically what I had expected except that almost all the volunteers were non-Japanese. I wonder why there weren’t many Japanese people helping other homeless Japanese people.
It was a very good experience and I would love to join more of these events. They do these twice a month on Saturdays. Why don’t join or donate some time?
You can get more information about this group, the people in it and see some photos here:
https://www.facebook.com/mutualaidsolidarity/
I think many people want to help, but have some sort of fear about interacting with the homeless. Did you have any of these feelings before trying it and what does their organization do to help get over that fear and do these activities in a safe and helpful manner?
Thank you for your comment. It’s a great question.
I know there are lots of homeless in Japan but I haven’t seen many of them. I don’t usually go to the places where they stay. I didn’t really feel nervous because I can easily imagine what kind of situations they are in. (Although they vary). I have also seen lots of videos of homeless people.
But, probably the thing that had the most impact on me was when I was staying in England with my family and my English grandparents. I went to the local school that both my grandparent had been teachers at. On the way home we crossed this bridge that goes over a big road, and there was this old homeless man asking for money. I was really curious what his life was like and I asked lots of questions to my dad about him. He told me that he probably only stays on the bridge during the day to ask for money and at night sleeps somewhere else. That made me curious about the lifestyle of these people. I was about seven when I stayed in England and I didn’t really view the homeless as people with no personality and life. I’m very disappointed that lots of people think that the homeless are completely different from us even though we are have lots of similarities.
I want people to be open about talking about the homeless and interacting with them rather than feeling embarrassed. Lots of homeless people are honest generous people that want to make the best of the situation they are in.
Dear my mate,
Probably the experience brought various feelings or many questions in your mind.
A great martial artist said “All my life I feel like I have been walking in the clouds.”.
Not too serious all the time but it is good to keep thinking about what you don’t know. So someday you will find your answer and the answer that you found is more valuable than the answers you heard from others… I think…
Thank you for your comment.
Yes, the experience made me think about some things. For example, I wondered what a day in their life would be like. I also wondered if any of them were born homeless or did they all became homeless from an event in their life.
I always feel like I want to experience what another person has experienced so I can understand and know exactly what they are trying to say.