Helping the helpless

Helping the helpless

The Issarachon Foundation lends assistance to those who fall through the cracks of state aid

SOCIAL & LIFESTYLE
Helping the helpless
Offering a helping hand during pandemic. (Photos courtesy of Issarachon foundation)

Sick with multiple medical and psychiatric conditions, Pek* has been wandering the streets of Bangkok for an undisclosed number of years. During this time his bodily functions have deteriorated to the point that the elderly man has no control over his bowels. While his physical and mental condition exposes him to the elements, the ongoing pandemic has made his situation go from bad to worse.

When alerted of Pek's condition, the Issarachon Foundation, which has been helping the homeless since 1996, came to his rescue. Dressed in protective Covid-19 gear, they took control of the situation, assuring the man he was in good hands. After gaining his trust, they administered an antigen test kit for Covid-19.

Pek was found positive for Covid-19. The following weeks were nightmarish as they searched for a doctor who would agree to assist them with medication, as going through government channels meant a lengthy wait. After securing Pek's medication for Covid-19, volunteers provided him with his prescriptions, despite not knowing where they would find him the next day. Their dedication was rewarded after 14 days when he was retested and found not to carry the virus.

Adchara Saravari, a social welfare activist and secretary at Issarachon Foundation, was part of the team that provided assistance to Pek, who continues to be looked after. She said the pandemic had put an already marginalised people in a state of deprivation seemingly with no light at the end of the tunnel.

"The homeless are already at the bottom of the food chain, while the pandemic has made their difficult life all the harder," said Adchara, who often works long hours into the night bringing relief to the homeless, a handful of cases with psychiatric issues made worse by lack of intervention by state agencies.

"We don't have much of a choice, as state agencies don't show any serious initiative to help. Our work of late has involved psychiatric social work. We see a greater number of people on the street that are mentally ill, requiring hospitalisation or other types of intensive psychiatric help. We do our best to connect them with the help they require."

One of Issarachon Foundation's recent surveys draws a grim picture of the current situation of the homeless in the capital city, ravaged with daily cases of coronavirus.

Issarachon Foundation is providing the homeless with assistance during the pandemic, including vaccinations. 

They found that approximately 4,400 people live on the streets of Bangkok. These figures doubled after the Covid-19 outbreak. The stats involve both the temporarily distressed, who have been hit the hardest by the pandemic's economic impacts, and a segment of society that are at risk of becoming permanently homeless.

Vaccinations for the destitute are definitely one way to bring some respite to them, she said, so when an opportunity arose, together with the Department of Social Development and Welfare and homeless advocacy groups like her own, they worked to get Sinopharm vaccines from the Chulabhorn Royal Academy for a couple of hundred homeless people.

"My honest opinion about the homeless contracting Covid-19 is that the percentage is in fact much less than people who live in homes largely because the majority of their waking hours are spent outdoors, making it less likely for them to catch it. The likelihood of them getting it from people is also slim because society, in general, shuns them.

"Out of six people we tested, two were confirmed positive. While the virus is contagious, we should not ostracise people who have contracted it or ones that have recovered."

There is also little evidence to suspect that the homeless dying on the streets of the capital had contracted the coronavirus.

"From what we have discovered more homeless people die each year due to pre-existing medical conditions than Covid-19," she added. "What is sad is when it takes an entire day for their corpses to get picked up from the pavement. Finding the homeless die on the streets shows that our health system has collapsed.

Survival bags have helped the homeless throughout the pandemic. 

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to conclude that the pandemic has been mismanaged from the start. From vaccinating the public to getting tested with antigen kits, both have gone terribly wrong. People that are most impacted by this are the most vulnerable in our society."

She said the Issarachon Foundation has through the years offered support to people in need so that they can eventually return to society. Opting to take the slow but sure path, up to 30 homeless each year successfully are rehabilitated and return to society.

To help the destitute weather the pandemic, Adchara said state agencies must step up their game because bureaucracy within the system impeded the process used to help the downtrodden get state assistance to survive.

She suggested the need to cement a better relationship between government and social welfare groups, to work as a team so the homeless can receive state support with lesser hassle.

Earlier, the foundation proposed that the government expedite schemes for the segment of society that had just been made redundant, but who have not yet become permanently homeless.

"The BMA or the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security agencies that are responsible for the people in Bangkok and citizens in general, don't make necessities accessible for them or don't come down to these venues to hand things out regularly. It's actually their job to look after their citizens, but that is not happening.

Providing help to the downtrodden. 

"So far, these vulnerable people have been educated about the pandemic and received partial aid, but their concern is about becoming a high-risk group. The question is when will they get tested? If they do end up contracting the virus, will they have a right to get treated like the rest of society? These are questions no one wants to answer.

"It doesn't come as a surprise to me that the homeless always miss out on state aid. Ever since the first wave of the outbreak, they have not had access to Covid-19 screening tests and are probably not be included in the inoculation plan. This is all very unsettling."

Adchara said the need to empathise with the homeless was crucial to enable people without a roof over their heads to live a decent life.

"The lifestyle of the street people is a factor which makes it difficult for them to get access to help. Agencies designated to assist them need to understand their way of life.

"Government agencies, in particular, have to be proactive and can start with the people who have recently ended up on the streets."

*Not his real name.


For more information on Issarachon foundation go to Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/issarachonfound
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