We arrived in sunny Washington D.C in the early afternoon on Saturday, March 19. We arrived at our new "home" for the week and we unpacked. After, we went to dinner and then had a panel of formally homeless men come in and talk to us about their experiences. Everyone on the trip was more understanding of the plight of a homeless person, and many were ready to wake up the next morning, bright and early and volunteer at SOME.
If you're keeping up with the blog, you know that unfortunately we did not get to serve at SOME, however, the group did learn many things.
After the disappointment of not being able to serve, the group split up and headed out to D.C to sightsee. I noticed as I was walking around the several homeless people that we just walked right by, no acknowledgement, no dignity, no respect. It was like the several individuals were not even there. This occurrence, made me wonder. Are all of the acts we do for the homeless out of the goodness of our hearts, or an act for society?
When a group goes to a shelter to feed the residents, or hand out blankets, or sell newspapers we are happy to do it. We interact with several individuals and have conversations that allow us to know who they are and what their situation is that led them to us meeting. However, have you ever followed that group outside? Walked behind them for a couple of blocks? Did they walk right by the homeless woman sitting on the steps of a building? I have.
It seems that when groups come out of the shelter and into the "real world", the hospitality, the exuberance for helping the greater good and really seeing who people are, fades away as we think about our next destination, our next meal, or heading back to the hostel for a long nap.
It will be interesting to see if this group dynamic changes as the week progresses. To see if we start noticing people who go unnoticed by the majority of citizens. To walk down the street and actively think about what we have done that day, and how we as individuals can continue the learning...outside of shelter walls.
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