Why are people homeless?: civil war, mental illness, poverty, gang violence...

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Why are people homeless?: civil war, mental illness, poverty, gang violence...

We talked to homeless people in different countries; they told us about the different reasons for homelessness around the world.

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© Iris Gonzales

Philippines

Maria Precilda met her partner Marvin Bueta in 2014. It was love at first sight. Now a young mother, she lives with her family in one room in a slum in Manila.

I was working as a cook for a middle-class family in a city to the east of Manila.

I had left my hometown in the south to find a job. We didn’t have a lot of money so I had to stop school to support my family.

And then I met Marvin. He was a construction worker across the street from where I worked. I got pregnant and had to stop my job as a cook. Marvin brought me to his parents in Bicol, in the south. I couldn’t go home because I was afraid to tell my parents I was pregnant. I was only 21.

Marvin had to go back to Manila to work and I stayed with his family in their village. More than 10 of us lived in a very small space. I slept in the living room; all the time my belly was growing.

After I had the baby Marvin and I needed to find our own place. We did not know where to start. We stayed with Marvin’s brother and his family in a slum area in Manila for two months. It was another small space with too many people. And again we slept in the living room. Sometimes our baby cried and woke up the others. It was difficult, not good for anyone.

Finally, we had to move. We found a room for rent in the nearby block. It cost $50 a month. It’s expensive because Marvin earns $119 a month. I can’t work yet because I have to look after our baby, Mark. So this is our home now.

Interview by Iris Gonzales.

Britain

Amanda Dunn lives in Luton near London. She is 47 and has 3 children. She lost her job at the airport and had to leave their home because she couldn’t pay rent. She’s been in a B&B (bed and breakfast) for 6 months with her 13-year-old twin daughters.

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Shelter

I lived in a two-bed flat. We couldn’t use one of the bedrooms because it was damp. The heating and the cooker didn’t work. I called the council and they told the landlord to repair them. I said I wouldn’t pay the rent with no heating and the landlord refused to fix it. He took me to court and I had to leave. They put me here.

It took a long time for me to get housing benefit. The woman from the council came and she said, ‘There’s a waiting list of eight to nine years for council flats here in Luton... It’s better for you to look north of London.’

My daughter Katie is very thin. She eats takeaway food every night but this food is not good for her. At school, Rachel has shouted at teachers a few times. They understand the situation because Rachel is not normally like this.

My mental and emotional health is not good. I cry all the time. I need sleeping tablets to sleep.

We looked at a place by the airport. The man was happy with me being on benefits, the woman called me 'scum'.

I want nothing more than to get a job. I’ve always worked – but you go to these interviews and they look at your address and ask: ‘Why are you in a hotel?’

Original interview provided by Shelter. Edited by Amy Hall.

US

Derek Chartrand Wallace lives in Berkeley, California. He is 37, and is a student and has no job.

Last year, for the first time, I had bad mental health, with depression and insomnia. It had bad effects on my home life, friendships and studies. I had no money for a therapist. Now I’m starting to get my life back together.

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Nithin Coca

My college work was not good so they stopped my financial aid. I couldn’t pay the room I was renting so I had to put my things in storage and stayed with friends. It’s impossible to do that for a long time, so this year I’ve often slept on the street, in empty buildings, construction sites, even in empty trucks.

Lately I have been sleeping in my storage space at night. But it is against the rules so I don’t know how long I can do that. It’s difficult to avoid police.

Homeless shelters give places to the elderly, disabled, women and children before men like me. I tried to get Food Stamps [Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program] but couldn’t because I was a full-time student on financial aid (even though they were not paying this). But there is a lottery for flats for people who earn nothing or very little through the County Housing Authority and I’m going to try that.

Interview by Nithin Coca.

Mexico

Threatened by gang violence, Osman Rivera, had to run away from his home in Honduras. He is 48 and a father. He was almost kidnapped when he travelled north to Mexico.

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Tamara Pearson

I’ve been working for 30 years painting cars. But the gangs make us pay a ‘war tax’. If you don’t pay, they kill you or your family. I only earnt enough money to pay my costs and the tax.

I left on 13 December 2016. I crossed the Guatemala border, then travelled to Mexico. After that I took a combi (van-bus) with six other migrants and two Mexicans. After one of the Mexicans got off, a black combi with no number plates began to follow us. It was late and the black combi kept following. I was suspicious.

When our bus stopped for the other Mexican to leave, I jumped out too. The road was by a steep hill and I rolled down. The others on the were kidnapped – they kidnap migrants to take their money and make their families pay more money. Men with guns looked for me with lights. I waited in water for six hours, then at midnight I went to the road. A man on a bike told me the immigration police were near so I went into the forest and kept walking. Eventually I got a lift. I arrived in Mexico City on 30 December.

Now I’m staying in the Tochan migrant refuge. I’m sleeping on a mattress on the floor in the common room, because all the rooms are full. My plan is to live here legally and eventually go to Baja California to start a car painting shop. I want to help my family. I have a seven-year-old boy and I want to give him a future.

Interview by Tamara Pearson.

NOW READ THE ORIGINAL: https://newint.org/features/2017/06/01/homeless-voices