Kirstine and Mark

Rather than do a post about the next day I thought I’d do a post about Kirstine and Mark.

You’ll see a couple of mentions in my previous posts to ‘a young couple’ that we saw, or mention that we purchased some food for them, and in my last post mentioned by name.

We first saw them a few days back, they were asleep on the side of the road on a busy intersection - we wondered how they were able to sleep in that kind of a situation, loads of noise etc.

Later we saw them in a shaded section. Kirstine (we didn’t know her name at this point) asked if we had any money, or anything we could give - we didn’t want to give money, nor did we have anything to give. We chatted briefly and carried on to the hotel.

Christine and I chatted in the hotel about them and we decided that next time we see them that we‘d ask if they needed anything, so later that evening when I went off to 7-11 to grab some coke zero, and some water I nervously asked them if there was anything I could get for them. It’s hard talking to strangers, and when there is a language barrier it makes it harder. That along with the programmed belief that homeless people are dangerous, or should not be approached made this a tentative exercise.

As mentioned in my previous posts, Kirstine asked for things that you might expect someone who is hungry to ask for.

• Four portions of rice and chicken
• Baby wipes
• Water

Mark asked for some Bread and some water.

Kirstine was quite keen to come with me to 7-11, however I did not feel comfortable with that, and didn’t want to feel pressured into buying things that I might not be comfortable with.

When giving the items back to them, the were very greatful. Kirstine was interested in making some small talk, trying to understand where we were from etc.

This was the first interaction of many that we would have over the coming days.

We learned a bit about them

• Their names
• That they have 2 kids
• That the kids were staying with their mum
• That they had been together 3 (or maybe 6) years
• Their age
• That their house had been swept away in a recent typhoon
• That essentially they have nothing, no phone etc

Mark warmed up after a couple of visits and he was also happy to chat after that. He was happy to answer any questions I asked. Sometimes the broken English, and accents did make it a little difficult to know if we got the info correct.

On the last day at the place we were staying we purchased them some clothes, some chocolate, some water, and this time some food from McDonald’s rather than from 7-11 (it was around lunch time).

We also took a selfie with them and gave them a printed copy (the joys of instax printers), and gave them our social media info, should they have the opportunity at some point so they could friend us. We’d be keen to see how they are getting on.

The moral of this post is that it can be hard to approach a stranger or homeless person in the street. We might have preconceptions on how this person got themselves in this position. However, every person has a story, a reason as to why they are in a situation, a reason as to why they are who they are.

If no-one talks to them, who will know their story - who will really see them?