2016 Aug 30
by Ridmi Upeksha
Sri Lanka like any other country, is a country with an increasing rate of homeless people every day. Limited governmental help and proper homeless care establishments for those who are homeless have lead their lives to be barricaded of opportunities in the society, specially for those young kids who are on the streets. To live on the streets is not a very easy life, and it is doubtful whoever that hasn’t lived on the streets can even begin to start describing how tough it can be. To live and survive in this current society for a normal person with a family with a home is considered a hard task, having to deal with different people in the society and lead to a better path to live a good life. Corruption, destruction, vengeance, and ownership are running this society where everyone of us are out there looking to rise with it or rise from it. Leaders thriving for more power and equity with the use of goodness or evil, society has created its own leader for all kinds of social groups in this society. Like a CEO of a conglomerate who are at the highest point in the business scene of a society, an area ‘KING’ is there at the homeless social group level of the society who is in control of the ongoing and growing homeless mafia.
Regardless of how tough the life can turned out for those who are homeless, there are some individuals who overcome those critical situations to turn their life into something better. But some decides to take the easy turn and move forward to live an easy, but a bitter life. This rule applies to all of us and will effect in great lengths depending what choices we make, which will lead to a good or a miserable life. Selection of correct and good decisions will lead this society to a better place but unfortunately the different way of thinking in different people have made this society a good and a bad place at the same time.
Homeless divides in to elderly, young children, and middle-aged groups. Firstly, when you look at the elderly vagrants, they are mostly kicked out of their own houses by their children. They have no choice but to be on the street, hoping that they will not get mugged of what’s left with them or be killed on the street when asleep. Secondly, and the younger vagrants come from families who lived on the streets or those who live in slums. Those who live in slums, are mostly let go of their houses at a very young age and left with no choice but to survive their surroundings one way or another. It’s highly unlikely that they will lead a long life if they were involved in gangs. Only a handful of them are getting education at least till the age 13, and later find a small time job to survive. Rest of those young vagrants are forced into drug dealing, prostitution or used by homeless mafia groups as a tool to beg for money. Finally, when you look at the middle-aged group of vagrants most of them have the ability to do work on their own but they just chose to beg on the streets for money. Some of them have lost an arm or few fingers or present themselves as a patient of some decease or approach to you with a sleeping kid in their arms. Most of these beggars are in mafias who are being controlled by an area ‘King’. They are given tools to be used for their act and are assigned with targets and tasks. These vagrants sometimes harm themselves to look helpless just to earn sympathy.
If you carefully observe these vagrants who are at junctions going one vehicle to another, you will not see anyone else other than them at that junction every day. They control and rule that area, and make sure no one else takes on their business in that area. After they complete their daily task, with the money that’s left most of them use it to cover their cost to buy drugs. It’s a petty trick that they use to look helpless and homeless to trick rest of the people in the society into giving them money. For those who are offering money should firstly understand why you are offering money and whom are you offering it to. Observe who is approaching you, more than the sudden sympathy you feel towards that person, understand the reality behind their exterior and offer your money. Its your choice to offer money to whomever you want, but for a minute picture the reality behind the lives of these people. The increasing number homeless on the streets leading it to gangs and mafias in the society is no pretty picture for a better society. If there were programs implemented for those who are homeless, and sent them through rehabilitation there will be some light in their lives with a better perspective of how to live life. Rather than just offering money, if there is a way to initiate this kind of program, later offering them with a chance to get a job to work for themselves will be something that will work out well for our society. This could be one long step taken to eliminate poverty in this society which will affect the betterment of this country.
This article is not written with an intention to deprive homeless of their way of earning, but to emphasise the blinded truth behind their lives.
