Trip thus far.
Last Updated (Sunday, 15 November 2009 22:05) Written by Megan Whitney Friday, 06 March 2009 22:06
When things don’t always go as planned people can either give up or persevere. Kiley and I started this road trip with the notion that it would be difficult, but not overwhelming. We had conquered Salina, Lawrence, Wichita, Chicago… the rest of the country would be cake (vegan cake.) We were wrong. Places with homes and comfy hotel rooms are safe, they allowed us to maintain a certain “quality” of life; living out of the car doesn’t.
Everything started out great. The car was loaded with clothes, food, blankets, pillows, everything we needed. There was plenty of money, and most importantly the idea that people not only needed our help, but wanted our help. When we finally got to Austin though, it was a different matter. Within a week the money was gone and no one had been helped, not by us at least. Our spirits were beginning to break. For me, the only salvageable part of Austin was our new friend Beau, who gave us a place to stay and a shower. Now, this isn’t to say we didn’t help anyone, we did volunteer for Extend a Car Kids and Habitat for Humanity. It just felt like we didn’t make a huge impact. Of course, a person can’t expect to make a big impact in one week, she needs to put forth time and effort. That didn’t get a chance to happen and all too quickly we moved on to Phoenix.
I like Phoenix, the weather is great and the people are nice enough, but I don’t love it the way I did Austin. I felt at home in Austin. I felt that, if given a chance, I could have really made a difference. Best not to dwell, though. We have an amazing couch surfing host here, Michael, who hooked us up with the Justa Center, a homeless resource center for people fifty five and older. The Center is located in what’s called The Zone, the only designated homeless campus in the US. It’s an area filled with all sorts of ways homeless people can get help… if they want it. If they feel like they deserver it.
We found out all too soon The Zone is a dangerous place. On our first day of volunteering at the Center we sat in on their Ash Wednesday service, more out of respect than anything. While there we found out one of the former workers was killed by one of the homeless people for no particular reason. Michael says, “Remember they’re crazy, not quirky.” They all seem really nice and friendly; I can’t imagine any malicious intent coming from them.
The second day volunteering I went out to the car to check on Betty, we had locked the doors but left the windows cracked a little so she could breathe. When I got to the car the passenger door was unlocked and our purses were gone. It’s been frustrating and a huge pain in the ass, but I’m beginning to come to terms with it. The most annoying part is not having my phone, but I realize it’s not something I need. I keep preaching a lack of excess while I still live excessively. I think this needed to happen so I can reach my goal. So I can break the walls our society tells us to build up when we’re young. Walls that keep us comfortable, walls that keep us safe, walls that keep humanity—true humanity, out. It needed to happen so I can be more effective in helping people. So I could realize who really needed my help.
Kiley and I were informed that it probably wasn’t anyone from the Justa Center who took our purses, and that it was most a likely a woman. Or rather, three women. They work in groups with a watcher, a distracter, and the stealer. . Whoever it was didn’t do it with the idea that they were inconveniencing anyone. They just did it because that’s what they do.
Life for them isn’t safe or comfortable.
I struggle, though, wondering what it means to help them. Is it so bad not to live comfortably? I know that poverty is the number one killer of people in the world… but would we be doing the world an injustice if we eliminated it?
No. We would be doing the world an injustice, however, if we allowed people to keep living in excess. We don’t need to be impoverished and we don’t need to be lavish. We just need to be.
Anyway…Even if we don’t connect with a single person here we’re not turning back. We can get jobs. It will take a while, but we will get our id’s back, and it will take even longer before I will be able to get my phone back. It will happen though, and until then I just have to try and push myself in helping as many people as I can in whatever way I can.
