STREET PEOPLE UPDATE

DURING December 2017, I contacted virtually all the street people I had interviewed in the last series – 13 of them. Mostly they were quite cheerful and looking forward to receiving something or other, no matter how small.

Assisted by various generous friends, I was able to pass on a few Pick n Pay Christmas hampers, which were gratefully received.

However, the overall plight of these unfortunate street people was continually brought home to me when I compared their mostly sad lives with the lives of people who are better off – people caught up in festive season pursuits like buying presents, going on holiday, arranging dinners and so forth. As I reflected on the incongruity between these different kinds of lives in our society, I had an overwhelming sense of futility and despair. The problem just seemed so huge. I had to continually remind myself that improving the lot of even one of these unfortunate people is better than not helping anyone at all.

So here we go again…