My CIP of choice was participating each week on Monday evening by heading to the Kawaramachi Catholic Church to go on a night patrol of the streets of Kyoto in order the provide the homeless with tea, warm clothing, blankets etc. The number of volunteers fluctuated each week but generally there was around 4-5 members in each patrol. The three areas of the city that the groups would patrol through were Sanjo, Shijo and Higashiyamadori. The route that I most frequently traveled was the Sanjo route.

At the base of the volunteering organization are around 4 key members who come each week and who over a number of years have come on good terms with the homeless in the local area, almost always being able to recognize each homeless person by appearance and they always knew their names. Upon meeting the homeless the conversation would generally devolve into one concerning the living conditions and needs of the person as well as possible insight into any information about new homeless people who have moved in the area. These members were extremely thorough in their note taking and all three groups would convene together at the end of each patrol to go over the name of the homeless person, a detailed description of where they were found and a short summary about what was talked about. These members who were regulars each week also had a great intuition about the different locations that the homeless would find to sleep in. The most common spots being in the stairways to the underground parking lots where it was warmer and where one would be spared from the wind.

In general it was quite an enlightening experience being able to come into contact with the Japanese homeless population. The most part the homeless people that we encountered were around 60 years of age and always male. Perhaps the most interesting part of the interaction was the civility of the  homeless when interacting with the church members. Often times they would reject items like hand warmers if they felt that they didn’t need them and one time a homeless man who had extra sleeping bags gave them to the church members so that they could give them to other people who needed sleeping bags. Overall working with the homeless was an interesting experience that allowed me to gain insight into a part of Japanese society that is often not very visible.

私のCIPはホームレス支援のボランティアです。河原町のカトリック教会の会員とボランティアをしています。毎週の月曜日に午後九時から十一時半まで教会で会いますそしてみんなグルに分かります。グループで京都の道を歩いてホームレスの人がいると、ホームレスの人と話したりお茶をあげたり拭くと毛布もあげたりします。教会の会員はホームレスの人に福利のプログラムについて教えてあげます。いんしょうEP家としてアメリカより日本のホームレスの人のほうが親切です。ほーむれすのひとはいつも頭を下げながらこんばんはと言います。これまでホームレス支援のボランティアはとてもおもしろい経験です。