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Red Square, Moscow, Russia, photo by Adam Baker via Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n
The Russian capital has over 6,000 homeless people on its 2010 census, but experts say that figure is actually probably 10 times larger.\u00a0Andrei Besshtanko, deputy head of Moscow\u2019s Department of Social Security, says there are now\u00a0tens of thousands of homeless people in Moscow, and that only counts people who use Moscow’s official services, which are often impossible to get without an official I.D. and a place of residence.<\/p>\n
In an effort to provide a more “mainstream experience” to the homeless, Moscow charity Friends on the Streets\u00a0provided free hot meals and\u00a0tea,\u00a0along with a pre-film\u00a0discussion of the\u00a0problems facing people on the streets, at their first film. The movie was set up\u00a0in a\u00a0makeshift tent next to an emergency assistance center for the homeless, and the charity plans on providing more films throughout the summer.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/6041360282_93f7a7ed4f_z.jpg\")
photo by waferboard via Flickr.com<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cWe do our best to treat the homeless as friends, not as objects to be fed and washed,\u201d said project coordinator Natalya Markova in an interview with The Guardian<\/em>. \u201cTheir lives are hard enough as they are, and with projects like this, we try to cheer them up.\u201d<\/p>\n First up was a classic Russian slapstick film, which participants chose themselves. There were about 100 people of all ages\u00a0in attendance. \u201cThey probably often watched such films during [their]\u00a0carefree youth or childhoods, when everything was okay,\u201d said Markova. Filmgoers will also choose\u00a0subsequent movie choices.<\/p>\n \u201cFor most people, there\u2019s nothing special about going to a movie,” said Besshtanko.\u00a0“But for those who have spent a year on the streets, it helps them to remember that they\u2019re human.\u201d\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In our sister city of Moscow, Russia, a local charity is giving its homeless population something unusual … movie nights! The Russian capital has over 6,000 homeless people on its 2010 census, but experts say that figure is actually probably … Continue reading