These weekend I kept noticing a homeless man by the bus station in Djvitska (pronounced javitska.) Friday I got him some hot rolls from the local Grocerie for breakfast. I had just taught a lesson to tutor group of being willing to give: not allowing for the dispersion of responsibility and we had watched part of a great Youtube clip:
It hit me just how incredibly hypocritical I would be if I did not stop and help him. He was still there Sunday. This time I got him a loaf of bread, introduced myself. He only spoke Czech. I shared a bit with Kat about it. I can't imagine...starving and freezing...literally being in a different mental state from physical deprivation. Thankfully the pastor knew of some Salvation Army shelters this man may be able to go to. I was reading some of the articles on the homeless last night. They're in the thousands, but local shelters are far to small to accommodate them all and the government doesn't want to provide low income housing, because by many standards a large population of Czech people already live in "low income" housing. There are around 4000 homeless and last year over 20 people froze to death. In New York City you can count on one hand the few who actually froze. I've never worried before about whether I would find an acquantance frozen and dead in the morning. This morning Kat gave me a bag of fresh fruit and rolls for him-I wish I could pronounce his name-and I brought him addresses of shelters I had looked up with some bus tickets. I'm hoping he won’t be on that bench when I go home today.
http://www.praguepost.com/news/11628-homeless-shelters-get-a-boost.html
http://www.praguepost.com/news/11628-homeless-shelters-get-a-boost.html
