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Article publié le Mardi 19 avril
2005. |
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CARITAS SHELTER
A night
haven for homeless men
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| Volunteeers take charge of the shelter in
Trou-Fanfaron every night.
| Along with dusk, come
numerous silhouettes, all converging towards the Caritas night
shelter of Port-Louis. The twenty or so men all have one thing
in common: they are homeless. Most of them already know the
atmosphere in the shelter is convivial. Sleeping alone in the
dark and dangerous streets is now just a bad memory.
Caritas International is a confederation of more than
160 development and social service organizations in over 200
countries and territories. The Mauritian branch operates two
night shelters at Trou-Fanfaron in Port-Louis and St Jean in
Quatre-Bornes. This non-governmental organization (NGO), one
of the largest humanitarian networks, has, since its
foundation, fought social exclusion and illiteracy by
providing training for the needy.
Founded in 1993, the
shelter of Trou-Fanfaron now welcomes about 40 homeless people
every night. This first shelter was launched after Karl
Offman, the then minister of Social Security, urged NGOs to
create a night shelter for those in distress. However, the
little support Caritas obtained from the government made it
very hard for the volunteers to create this facility. It was
finally opened by Abbé Pierre on 13th June the same year.
“The homeless people coming to the shelter are
provided with clean clothes,a toothbrush, a bath, a meal and a
clean safe place to stay at night,” says Cursley Goindoorajoo,
who is in charge. They also have access to a library and
community games. Since its opening, it has welcomed about 600
homeless. At night, volunteers are in charge. Moreover, the
shelter project also includes a reinsertion program. The two
Caritas shelters however cater for men only as, according to
official figures, there exist only three or four homeless
women in Mauritius, and they find refuge in a convent.
Over the years, the image of the homeless has changed.
In fact, dirty long-bearded old men are no longer seen in the
shelters. The average age today is around 30. “Most of today’s
homeless are socially excluded, and come most of the time from
broken families,” explains one resource person. The work done
by the Caritas shelter is not only to provide the homeless
with a place to sleep at night but also to help them overcome
their problems. As a great number of these people are drug
addicts, the NGO volunteers try their best to convince them to
follow treatment in appropriate centres. “If they accept the
deal, the next step is to encourage them to get a job to
become economically independent.”
Promoting
literacy
The strength of Caritas is found in its
ongoing presence in communities during and after crisis
situations. In order to help people facing different problems,
the NGO has set up Relais Espérance, whose aim is to
temporarily accommodate families living in poor conditions.
The families entering the program are given guidance to help
them to apply for a loan to build a house.
The
promotion of literacy is one of the priorities of Caritas
Mauritius. The 40 literacy centres around the island welcome
some 500 people every year. The night shelter will certainly
continue to enable many formerly homeless poeple to have
another start in life.
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Guillaume GOUGES
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