10/26/2022 The Hanuman Charity sister heroines - saviours of Hong Kong street sleepers and homelessRead NowBianca and Samiha (along with celebrating their father Nick as a charity founder)Imagine immersing yourself into a position where you lost absolutely everything. Your roof, your income, access to food, essential support. That is all gone. People look at you through fingers, they don't want to make an eye contact with you because this has "obviously was meant to be your fault" - for ending up on a street and eventually abusing substances as this is the only coping mechanism that you have for your survival. Surviving another day without food, another day without shelter, surviving and hoping to be safe and not mugged. Hanuman Charity sees these people and is curious about them in how to help them. Sisters Bianca and Samiha along with their father Nick introduce this community to local Hong Kongers to witness the cost of this problem and how we can tackle it. They go and help out 6 times a week - after their university or a full time job, outside on the streets with donated food packages that they need to prepare at their home and distribute them to street sleepers and homeless people along with volunteers. By doing so, they work on giving these people a sense of hope for a better future. We had a chat about how we can achieve this whilst showing the true mirror to Hong Kong residents who cannot see beyond the glamour of Hong Kong's light show and glamorous lifestyle. How did you feel when your dad, for the first time, came to you and told you “I want to start a charity”? SAMIHA: Well for me, it was…well I wasn’t necessarily against it, but already had a lot of responsibilities on top of this idea of my dad’s. I did not even start studying by then. I kind of used to shy away from any conversation that my dad had. For example giving stuff, boxes and food away. Bianca, on the other hand, was very helpful to dad right away (laughs). BIANCA: Many charities by then were already connected with dad so we had a sense what had to be done and I’ve always wanted to give it a try, I was always like “Oh yay, let’s go for a walk let’s give it a try.” SAMIHA: Yeah, whilst I already have so many things to do and to think about my future. And on top of that, starting a family charity was something that seemed to be quite overwhelming at first. Of course I am not against being part of the charity but there are also some other responsibilities that I had to take care of. And then it kind of got to a point when I had to go for one of our charity walks, because Bianca had exams and could not participate. Dad asked me to go along, as on that day we had less volunteers and needed the extra help. It was the Sunday walk which is probably one of the longest and more tiring ones since we had to give out about 200 meals within a few hours. I just lost my mind. I reflected on everything that has been happening in my life. These people that I saw on the streets had nothing of what I have, whether they don't have money or even a house or a roof , seeing all of this opened my eyes to my priorities. So I was like “you know what now I definitely need to take time for this”. It was not about doing the good for me and making myself feel good but to proactively help someone in need. So, why not? It’s simple. Bianca, you were very enthusiastic from the very beginning… BIANCA: Oh yeah, I was running around, saying “let’s go let’s go, I wanna help” (laughs). In India we used to have these elderly people begging by the temples and we always gave them something to eat. Since we ended up visiting India and seeing poverty there, I was already very conscious of people who truly need the help because the government won't simply do that. It was a no brainer to continue supporting these people in Hong Kong as well. Can you describe to me the feelings you had from your first charity walk you ever did? What did you notice and what shocked you? SAMIHA: Well for the walk that changed my mind about being part of this charity was the fact that the drug use that is happening around the Hong Kong parks is so shockingly open. Especially all drugs being illegal in Hong Kong, none seemed to care. The fact that those people who were using the drugs were way over their retirement age. They should be living a comfortable life, like maybe with their children and grandchildren and with whatever savings that they have. But instead, they are on the street and sleeping on the roads, out in the park, openly injecting themselves. They can’t do anything about it. For them to even get a job because it’s already way over their retirement age and with their addiction it is absolutely impossible. These people turned into the point when they started to abuse drugs that even that 1% of a chance for them to get at least a cleaning job, they can’t do it anymore, because they are so dependent on the drugs. That walk to me was purely mind blowing and shocking at the same time to even witness this sad picture. And that was also specifically for the first Sunday walk that we do. For the TST walks especially, you know, Hong Kong is such a big beautiful glamorous city. When I initially came to Hong Kong, I thought about it as this rich city and everything is super expensive…and from then after our walks you see this completely different face of Hong Kong - when you see people living on the streets who at some point need to beg for money or dig through trash cans to get food. People are very good at turning a blind eye, especially to the sad things that are happening here but I’m just so glad to be part of something where I can truly help. Do you remember your first walk, Bianca? BIANCA: My first walk was actually when we went to feed people who lived in a subway. There was so much smell, the conditions that they were living in were so suffocating and hot. That was the first time when I went out to help out dad and I was purely shocked about that overall. I’ve used subways in different districts around Hong Kong and I have never seen anything like that. These people really truly need help. Another one of the first walks I did was when I met this older lady who was around 80 years old and she was picking up rotten vegetables from a trash can. She always carried this small gas stove with her where she was then cooking the vegetables that she picked up. My dad spoke to her in Cantonese and asked her what happened to her and how come that she ended up on a street. She said that she has been in Hong Kong for 12 years already and told us many stories about when she was sleeping at a park and there were men who came to her and tried to touch her as well. And for us, having a grandma at home that really made me feel horrible - being an alone elderly lady and being treated like this, that was definitely something that pushed me to go forward and keep being persistent with the help that we do. That is so intense. I can’t even imagine, since I remember my first walk that I did with Hanuman Charity, the images that you see from that day stay with you at the back of your head. How did your dad pick up and choose the locations? SAMIHA: I think that it was through word of mouth. My dad obviously has been part of other charities as well. There are specific locations and pockets in Hong Kong where you can find someone being able to sleep in a safer environment. So my dad got to know a bunch of stories where he heard certain groups of people survive and live together in certain areas. And all of these groups of people move around a lot too like for example Jordan, or this and that place. So my dad kind of connected the dots and figured out the trails where these people might be hovering around - he built a map so we could figure out different sides of Hong Kong on different days and separate them. It would not be possible to do it all in one day. BIANCA: But even when we started in 2019, we started off with giving out meals in 25 boxes and now it’s about 650. But during those beginnings when we only had 25 meals to give out, we found out that it was easy to do it and it became a sort of a new adventure after work to keep an eye on these people and walk around certain locations to find the needy people. Once when people got used to our times and days that we stuck to, the street sleepers started to come back to meet us and get their meals - and the cleaners who clean the markets too. The cleaners actually connected us with more locations as well. I’m always so impressed that you guys can always recognize so many familiar faces already. How do you actually recognize a poor street sleeping person without being rude? Is it because they automatically ask for food? SAMIHA: It depends on the district. For example on our Sunday walks we would be able to tell who is homeless by their clothing or their overall condition. But if you go to areas like in TST, you would not be able to look at them and recognize if they are living in poverty or on a sidewalk. For dad, he has a specific way of talking. If you would come up to someone and ask them “hey are you homeless?” it is quite rude. There are different ways to say it in Chinese, so my dad understood the correct tone to be able to ask them in a polite way so it does not offend them. If you offend them of course they are not going to take the food. At the end it comes down to the fact that they kind of start to trust you and understand that no matter if it’s raining or super hot weather, we always come back to give them the meals. BIANCA: I think dad usually does that, since he does this regularly with the passion that he has, that may have some sort of super power (laughs). He can just purely look at someone and say “oh look at that guy I saw him two years ago still struggling” and I always ask him “ how do you even know, how can you remember?” (laughs). SAMIHA: (laughs) Yeah, he is very good at face recognition. BIANCA: Ever since he started the charity, his eyesight became so good (laughs). He can see and recognize people from miles away. SAMIHA: I guess it’s the passion that increases the sense (laughs). That’s incredible. I was wondering if you also had a chance to, even due to lack of not knowing Cantonese, if you had a chance to hear and listen to their stories? How did they end up living on a street in the first place? SAMIHA: There is a guy that we met at the Hong Kong Island side and he is not Chinese. He is actually from Fiji. I don't exactly know the story but he used to have a full time job and he lost it because of Covid. BIANCA: Oh yeah, I think he was married and his wife was sent back to Fiji. So he was here working a full time job to send her money back. But then he ended up falling in love with a Filipina lady and had a child with her as well. So he sent the Filipina lady and the child back to the Philippines. So he was still working here and sending the money back to two countries already. There was this bridge that we used to pass by from work, almost every day and one day he just lost his job because of Covid. He could not pay the rent and the landlord kicked him out of the house and gave him a chance to only pack some of his stuff and leave. So he only took a small bag of clothes and did not know where to go. So everytime we passed under that bridge, he lived in a small space right there. So my dad found him and he told him this story. We were always so shocked that the fact you end up on the street does not happen only to local people but to expats as well. SAMIHA: Yeah, it was such a shock, hearing him being desperate and not knowing how to keep his wife and his lover and the son alive. I believe that now he actually has a part time job, where he cleans after parties in some bars and clubs. Yeah I remember, because your dad on the charity walks is always trying to give you a little bit more of a background story for you to empathise more with the people who ended up on the street and that this has never been their choice. Do you think that this homeless crisis became worse with Covid? SAMIHA: Yeah I think that Covid was definitely a big contribution to the crisis. Despite Covid not happening in the past and they already were homeless already, after it hit it made the whole situation even much worse. The guy from Fiji lost absolutely everything because of that and took him a long time to find a new job. Covid disrupted so many people’s lives and so many people lost their jobs. The fear from Covid just increased and that was the reason why so many companies laid off their staff as they were also closing down. Job is very important to be able to survive in Hong Kong and if you don't have that then….you end up in a lot of pain and get stuck. What do you think that Hong Kongers still do not completely resonate with helping out to charities and volunteering? Why do you think they give the side eye that you mentioned at the beginning? SAMIHA: I feel that a lot of people like me, for example, are so prioritised with their own life that they want to focus on and make it their priority number one. And I don't judge them, they should be able to do it for themselves. But once when you actually witness it first hand and see that these homeless people cannot do absolutely anything for themselves. Homeless people can’t ask for social housing, they don’t have three months of deposit for rent to give out, they don’t have two years of administrative waiting to see if any miracle is going to happen for them. You kind of understand that you need to help them- So if you are so focused on your own priorities, you would never be able to see anything else that is around you. So personally this was the aspect that made me be a bit more blindsided to the whole situation. BIANCA: I think that people have a different way of thinking about social problems. Many of our volunteers join us for two or three walks and seem okay with witnessing the whole situation, because they challenge the perception of “well if they can do drugs why can't they get a job?” But in fact once when you get to know the situation, you would know that these homeless did want to find a job, they never left anything behind only just to do the drugs. It is based on the desperate experience that led them to do the drugs. Many of the Hong Kongers still think in such a distant and non-empathic way because they don’t see the whole side of the story so they don’t have that need to help them. And it is the same with feeding, some people think that when you feed them, you feed someone who can get food on their own and that they get used to you coming and providing free food to them. Many of them unfortunately have that kind of thinking and don’t see what is actually happening underneath the carpet. But many of them went through so much that led them to being this way, homeless. I also don't understand - regarding community centres are not more active in matters of providing more shelter when there is for example a typhoon. Why do they keep being closed? Can you tell us a little bit more what happens, once the community centres are open? Do the street sleepers even want to go there? SAMIHA: I am not really sure about other districts but on the Sunday walks there is a certain community centre that is supposed to be open more frequently during extreme weather conditions. People are being threatened with heat strokes and that is certainly no fun to deal with. And during typhoons, many of us are being advised to stay indoors and tape your windows so that you won’t get injured. But what about these people? So shouldn’t they have a backup option where they can invite all of these people to bring them in, because the chance of having something fall on them and die is much greater and much higher risk. These community centres are meant to give a temporary shelter but the openings are never stable. For the first two years that I started going out for these walks I started to notice that they just never open. There is a chain and a lock around the door everytime we pass it. What is the point? BIANCA: It was also around the third year of doing the charity and all the walks when there was once a typhoon 8 and the community centre was open. We were so excited to finally see it. So we once went there to provide the meals, but that was it. We have never seen it being open again. Some street sleepers don't even want to go there because it may not be safe. People are being robbed there, it stinks and during Covid, everyone was sleeping there on a thin mattress super close to each other. Not many people also have their original documents and IDs to be able to sleep in there. SAMIHA: Dad has also already communicated with some of them like “hey the centre is now open, why don’t you want to go there?” And they many times said in a negative tone that it is not so great there, there is no fresh air, four walls …for them to stay on the streets the main thing is that they need to look out for being mugged or being molested, especially for the ladies. The only little bits that they have are all carried in their own pockets or a small bag that they need to protect during the night. It’s so sad to hear. We as a society have so many things and they have these 3 things that they need to protect with their own lifes. So it is better for them to actually stay on the road because they have their own space under control. BIANCA: Even for the elderly lady that we have mentioned before, she had this trolley - very similar to the one that you can see that cardboard grannies have. So one day we got her new clothes and plenty of vegetables for her to take and my dad asked her - “why don't we get you a new trolley”, since she was pushing this massive thing already. But it was all of the stuff that she just basically wanted to hoard and keep. She became very defensive about having her stuff touched and it was the same for her trolley. So going back to the community centre, she can't give up her trolley where all of her possessions are and risk having everything stolen. Do you think that if any of these homeless people would try to reach out for help,reach out to police, is there even enough help and support for them? If they were mugged for example, would the police even be happy to help them? SAMIHA: I feel like for most of the homeless people they are very flegmatic when it comes to being robbed. There is not much value for their things anyway. If the police are called there is still not so much they can do, if it was a pair of shorts or t-shirt or a phone. But we lose our phones all the time and we know how difficult it is to trace it. So for them, it would probably be twice as hard. For them all of the things kind of come and go. And I cant blame the police too there is not much you can do when they lose their stuff.The problem would be to replace the things. And if there would be any other crime, I’m sure that there must be some fights or any safety threatening situations - when you mentioned the molesting. If granny would report something like this, is there something that they can still do? BIANCA: Yes, I think that they will obviously help out, but the granny herself would not physically go to the police. But it was on one of our walks where we witnessed a fight happening and the police took one of the people who started the fight to the station immediately. He ended up in a prison for a few weeks. So the police definitely helps around whether you are homeless or not. Speaking of grannies, since this was one of my culture shocks I’ve witnessed since moving to Hong Kong, I was wondering if you can tell us a little bit more about the “cardboard” grannies? (Side note: Cardboard grannies in Hong Kong are usually elderly ladies who are over 65 years old and collect paper cardboards on the streets with heavy metal trolleys on Hong Kong streets). SAMIHA: We haven’t had a chance to properly dive in deep into their personal stories, however if you see them around, most of them are already over retirement age which is shocking to see them doing such hard work. I feel like they turned into a cardboard collection, because they would not be able to get another job.So this is a way for them to make at least some kind of income. They are being paid 70cents per kilo of collected cardboards! BIANCA: Many of the grannies actually even try to wet the cardboards to make them heavier, so they could get paid more. I also wanted to speak about the Hanuman Charity Volunteers, actually. What kinds of people come and do the walks with you? BIANCA: We always had a diverse group. Firstly, we have always started with contacting all of our friends and family friends so it was mostly an Indian community. Then as it slowly started to spread the word and started promoting it on social media, since we were so small we really wanted to raise awareness to more people about this problem as much as we could. Mixes of expats and locals started coming, but it took about two years to have regulars who would always come back. Volunteers come and go, sometimes they come once or they give up halfway through the walk because it may sometimes be quite an intense picture to witness. Or also on the other hand that they are so shocked that they want to keep coming back more regularly and it’s even children too. SAMIHA: And there is always never enough of the volunteers. Anytime and anyone can think of helping out, there is always a capacity and always a time to do it. BIANCA: Yeah for us as Indians, we always have this thing when someone celebrates their birthday or passes away - we always help the poor people by giving out donations which makes sense as well to have an excuse to help out (laughs). Do you think that it would be more meaningful if more local people would come and volunteer in order to understand this crisis about their own country in person? BIANCA:Yes, for example on our TST walks on Sunday evenings we have quite a bit of locals who are joining us on a regular basis which is great to see. But obviously it would be great if more would be able to see and witness the shock to their system that is happening in their own city underneath the carpet. Even for us - coming from India and witnessing the poverty there, we are always happy to give out the helping hand but for Hong Kongers it is a proper shocking experience finding out about this side of poverty that is hiding behind all of these financial hubs, skyscrapers and the glamorous light show. Even the street sleepers in Tsim Sha Tsui actually look like normal people, who are also watching the light show. But after the show ends they go back to sleep on their cardboards. So yeah, it may be hard for locals to be able to realise that until they come and see it in person. I think once word of mouth is going to form a stable proper group, the locals will start joining more as well. SAMIHA: A lot of locals who already came to join us always spoke about being part of another charity as well. So for them it’s also pretty much about being able to schedule and prioritise their free time and really dedicate themselves around charity - include at least an hour in it. Our own schedules are suited to the charity around the whole week really and trying to make everything happen around our own lives - starting off with arranging the meals to preparing the food bags and then to take the bags and physically carry them to the places. But we never pressure anyone to always come back and keep coming back or even finishing the whole walk. Even if you spend an hour with us and see the situation - that’s what matters to us. The realisation and the button in your head just automatically flips. It’s simple as karma is - you do good you be good. The only barrier would be just the language barrier between us but we have always been able to communicate since our dad already speaks perfect Cantonese. And there is never any fear or block about helping out and being part of charity. It’s about the heartfelt connection when you see the street sleepers opening their food box and starting to eat immediately with so much gratitude and humbleness. Make sure to check Hanuman Charity Website here: hanumancharity.org
Follow Hanuman Charity on Instagram: @hanuman.charity
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AuthorAlex Edwards is a founder of Creative Womxn in Hong Kong who has media and journalism background but also experience in art community development and social media management. Archives
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