Uncertain Christmas, Uncertain Future

If Santa Claus was real, please give them a home.
If god could see, please give good-will to men who was forgotten.

As Christmas-tide comes round, the colourful lights decorated street; big or small Christmas trees with nice present boxes and lights are standing in the shop windows. And the city centre shops are warm with the glow of Christmas cheers and fellow shoppers hurried by. You experience the sweet air and warm atmosphere around you.

But always, harmonious was broken by something you are unwilling to see. Like any other beggars I saw hundred times before; with unshaven face, spaced-out demeanour, ragged clothes and shabby belongs, the old Mat was cuddling up to his dog in the corner of the busy street, under the roof of one luxury shop.

It’s early December, but the chill wind was blowing and it drizzled on and off. He was there, seems be ignored. People passed from him without any consciousness, sometimes looked down on him like a piece of garbage. There’re much more homeless people like Mat here in Cardiff, who are living on the street, sleeping under the roof. They have no money, no job, and no place to go.

Christmas is not a happy time for everyone, though the pressure from everywhere is to be having a good time – but it’s not always that easy. One group of people who find it particularly hard over Christmas is those who are homeless. People become homeless for all kinds of different and complex reasons. No one mean to be a homeless.

Actually they were not forgotten by whole society, in Cardiff, there’re many voluntary organisations work for homeless population, such as Cardiff Action for the Single Homeless (CASH), Homeless Charity Shelter Cymru, Student Volunteering Cardiff (SVC) and also the Big Issue Cymru. They provide the food, hostel, job opportunities and even donated for the homeless. Homeless people would be offered rooms in hostel, but as the officer in Shelter Cymru said: “the number of accommodations are limited, however, the number of homeless here was underestimated.” That is to say, lots of homeless people are on the waiting list.

While some party of the homeless like Mat, they didn’t want to move into the hostels because of their four-leg faithful friends, hostels do not accept pets. So they prefer living with their dogs on the street, depend on each other.

Unfortunately, things always worse than expected, life in hostels was not that easy. Grey, the 67 years old man, told me the reason he didn’t keep staying in the hostels was the drink and the drugs, he couldn’t bear of them.

As I asked Mat what he would do on the Christmas, he gave me a sorely perplexed look, but turned airily quickly, “We would find ourselves a warm place, buy a big sandwich with ham and bacon.” Such a simple request, for majority of us, that’s the basic rights, but for them, it’s a wish.

Please think of them as you purchasing hundreds pounds in shopping, you might not do all the things for them, but respect and care from your heart would be enough. (502 words)