At home and homeless in Prague
There are thousands of homeless people especially in big cities around the Czech Republic. Homelessness and the problems related to it are still a relatively new phenomenon in this country but the cities, charities and NGOs have been learning fast and are trying to help to reduce the risks and harm for both the homeless and the rest of the society. Radio Prague looks at two projects currently underway in Prague which are trying to offer the homeless something more than food and a bed.
Here at the YMCA in Prague a very unusual performance is taking place. Members of the band playing are not your ordinary musicians. At first sight few people would realise that after the show they will not return to their homes like the rest of us but they will make their beds at railway stations, in empty carriages or deserted houses. They are all homeless, a phenomenon which Czech society has had to learn to live with after the fall of communism.
Bozena Koppova explains more about today's performance. She is in her late thirties, but with her short-cropped hair and a slight limp, she is not exactly the picture of health. Bozena returned from a hospital a few days ago and now sleeps in a tent on the outskirts of Prague. But that does not dampen her spirits and enthusiasm for acting.
The number of people sleeping rough in the Czech capital is estimated at anything between 3,500 and 10,000. The city of Prague together with charities and non-governmental organisations is trying to offer at least temporary help where a long-term solution cannot be provided. Of course, food and bed are the most crucial needs for a homeless person. But activities such as this theatre performance can help the homeless to get in contact with other people and help reduce the boundaries between the society and its margins. One of the spectators at the performance was Michaela Svobodova who works for the "Half-Way House" - a temporary home for young people who leave orphanages and have nowhere to go. She describes the typical clients of the "Half-Way House".
"Most of them lost their families when they were little babies, for many years they lived in homes for children or homes for difficult children. About thirty percent of them lived in families but they were bad families. They did not get love or any social or material background so they don't have anything when they begin their adult life. When they are eighteen years old, they don't have anything."
A few blocks away from the YMCA, at the popular Roxy club, a party is underway, celebrating the third anniversary of a very unusual magazine, called "Novy Prostor" or "New Space". Dasa Kocmankova from Novy Prostor explains the idea behind the magazine.
"Novy Prostor is a Czech project, called "street paper". It is for people who have no home and no family. They sell the magazine and half of the price is their income."
How much does it cost?
"It costs 25 crowns and one half goes to the vendor. Now it is the third year of our existence."
I know that similar papers, similar magazines exist abroad as well. Where did you get your inspiration from?
"Our inspiration comes from the United Kingdom. My friend Robert went there and brought back one copy of the 'Big Issue'. Then we started to think about this idea and how we could realise it in the Czech Republic."
The vendors always buy a number of copies which they believe they can sell and then they have to do their best to sell them all out. I asked Dasa to tell me who runs the paper and who the writers are.
"Who runs the paper? The paper is run by professionals. We have professional writers and professional social workers, so I think we are trying to do a good job. Sixty percent of our income comes from selling the magazine and forty percent is grants, donations and help from the state."
"It's a weekly magazine and we print 14,000 copies a week."
Only in Prague?
"We are in nine cities in the Czech Republic, in Prague, Brno, Ostrava - the biggest cities of the Czech Republic."
Fifty-year old Peter and forty-five-year old Lada have been sleeping rough in Prague for five years. They both sell 'Novy Prostor' in different parts of the city. They are showing me their ID's that prove they are authorised to sell the magazine at a certain location. Both Peter and Lada grew up in normal families, got married and had children. But at a certain point their marriages broke down and without even noticing, they found themselves on the street. Experts say that a typical homeless person is a man in his forties, with only a basic education. Divorce is usually the trigger. At first the man packs his bags, leaves home, and for a while sleeps over at friends or in dormitories. Soon he ends up on the street, jobless, with no money and it's harder and harder to return back to normal life. Michaela Svobodova from the "Half-Way House" says that two things most homeless people share in common are that they did not choose their fate voluntarily and that they are not able to help themselves. But the reasons why they are on the streets are quite different.
"I think there is no one cause. There are many of them. Those people don't have enough skills and abilities to manage their life now when life in the society is very complicated and it is very difficult to have a good job and to find cheap accommodation. So there is a group of people who don't have enough abilities and skills to live independently."
Dasa Kocmankova from "Novy Prostor" magazine says that for a homeless person every little chance to get in touch with the world, including the possibility to sell street magazines, is important.
"I think that to be among people is very important for these people because they are separated from the society and isolated so the second very important people if they are selling the magazine they are among 'normal' people and they can make new friendships and they get to know people and the community can help them."
Overnight shelters, food, medical and social assistance the city and various NGOs provide to the homeless are crucial for their survival. But it is activities such as performing with a theatre group or selling street magazines that can help restore a sense of worth and self-esteem in those who haven't got a home and a place in the society.
