Meeting the challenge of transforming commercial buildings into havens of respect, warmth and energy can never be underestimated, this year Crisis is engaging a team of young homeless people to create somewhere they would like to spend Christmas.

All | Team

Monday Dec 03, 2007

From Paradise to homelessness

Hello, my name is Ashunindkumar Sohatee, most people know me as Ritesh, I am 24 years old. I am from Pamplemousses, a district of Mauritius in the north of the island. A lot of people say that Mauritius is a paradise, so I have gone from living in 'paradise' to being homeless. I became involved in a wild lifestyle, involving gambling and partying. I didn't know where to stop and one day I woke up with no money left and nowhere to turn to. I had managed to alienate everyone from my life slowly but didn't notice it. So, here I was with no home, sleeping on buses, eating out of bins, using dirty facilities to have a wash. I started meeting other fellow homeless people and started going to day centres where I could have a wash, learn new things and get on courses. Its now been 2 and a half years since I became homeless, I am currently living in a squat with a few friends. I have just started volunteering with Crisis. 

 This project is about designing a space where homeless people can come and relax over the Christmas period, a place where they can chill out and make new friends, a place where they can find love, joy and happiness, but most importantly don't have to be alone for Christmas.

I joined this project because it gives me a chance to help others and bring some of the things I learned on the streets to practicality. Also at the end of this project I will get to have a certificate and qualification which I will be to use afterwards. But besides this the joy and happiness that I will get to feel on completion will be worth my time and effort that I have committed myself to.

Right now we are at the end of our second week and we have already laid plans and ideas of how we want the room to be and it is running well enough and hope to get it finished on time.

Posted by Team ( 5:23 PM )
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