8 sauder students

4 more friends from Food not Bombs

5 days of sleeping bags and cardboard boxes

120 hours learning about ourselves and the world around us

more food than we need (of which all extra will be given to homeless in the downtown eastside)

Countless people dropping change and bills into our jars

Even more words of praise and support

Over $12000 raised, and more to come

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one great experience to help an amazing cause.

I want to thank everyone for all the support and help that we have received, through monetary contributions, food donations, and their kind words and high fives. It is because of you that we were able to get through this all. Our experience through these past 5 days have been profound for all of us, and yet we are barely experiencing the tip of the iceberg of what it is to be homeless. We have had you to motivate us, push us, and help us along. We have had your food, so generously prepared and donated, to make sure that our bellies were always full. we’ve had your change, your 5, 10 and 20 dollar bills, and your online pledges. we’ve had your late night visits, with hot chocolate and marshmallows to help us get through the cold times. we’ve had your kindness… but the real homeless don’t. They are the ones that need our support. They are the ones who could really use the warm meal, soft blanket, and the kind words.

The issue of homelessness is like the Hydra - it is a multi-headed beast, and we need to find a way to defeat it. But unlike the hydra story, instead of having to rely on some herculean hero to defeat the monster, we must all band together, and use all the resources that we have at our disposal to overcome this problem. By putting our minds, our hearts and our hands to work, we dont need super powers or godlike abilities to find a solution, because together we are stronger than any of us as individuals.

This week hasn’t been about the group of us here or across the country just tryin to raise money - more importantly, we have been trying to bring this issue, so easily ignored, to the forefront of everyone’s minds. Homelessness is a problem that we as a society have dutifully ignored and pushed off to the next person, hoping that even though we go to bed with the problem at our doorstep, our dreams will somehow make it disappear in the morning.

its time that we woke up.

have a good day, and god bless

paul

hey everyone!

lots of love to all of you for everything today, its been a huge 24+ hours… but im tired right now, we jsut spent our last night chattin…. just about to go to bed, but i promise a good one in th morn… gonna be up super early, we’ve got Canada AM coming out to us at 6:30 in the morning… wish us luck!

much love….

Paul

A couple of thoughts that I had left in my mind to ponder over the past few days:

- We are too material.  Reiterating what I read in an earlier post by Tyler, having the necessities of food, clothing, and shelter with us this past week, the extras have been a mere afterthought.  I don’t need much more than I have right now, a feeling that I hope I don’t forget when I get home in about 17 hours from now.

- Personal relationships have somewhat trivialized this experience for me.  Coming into this, I was expecting the journey to be a lot tougher.  The fact that we have had so many donations (specifically in the form of food) as well as the company of friends and acquaintances is double-edged.  On one hand, I have come to really appreciate the generosity and compassion of everyone over the past 5 days, and they were integral in our group obliterating our goal of $5,000, as well as the national goal (we’ve almost reached 6 figures!).  However, I have never witnessed a homeless person receiving the care that we were extended, and that makes me quite cynical.  If there is something that everyone can take away from this, it’s that these people deserve the same kind of treatment that we have been extended during our short-lived experience.

I hope to blog again tomorrow.  Talk to you then!

Ow ow!

Today was a good day. I got a lot of work done. Booyakasha!

Andrea and I went to Surrey today and did a radio interview with RED 93.1. We answered questions from the DJ and callers about the campaign and homelessness, and it went really well. We’re super close to our goal!

Time to tell a ghost story. Earlier tonight Conor was playing a song he had written when a strange man came up and waited for Conor to finish. He asked “you wanna hear a song about homelessness?” as he pulled a guitar pick out of his wallet. Conor passed him my guitar which he proceeded to tune by ear. He proceeded to play with impeccable skill and sang a story about a homeless man’s life, and his dreams of a forest which he eventually dies and goes to. It was a surreal experience. Yooji tried to catch his name but he only said “it doesn’t matter,” shook Yooji’s hand and left just as quickly as he came.

Later in the night we saw sirens and heard about undercover police arresting some man that met this man’s description almost eerily. Make of this what you will.

Me Inc. is tommorrow. Conor and I are going to barge this ‘business formal’ career conference has homeless men to try and rustle up some more donations and possibly a matching sponsor. Wish us luck!

Holla at Paul for having an office. Holla at you too, snuggliepuff!

Take care everyone,

Andrew

So today is Day 4, and I feel it is my duty to state the obvious: I really, really stink. I actually caught my professor giving quite a distressed look after I walked by in the hallway, like he’d just opened the garbage after it had been sitting out all day in the sun. Okay, so probably not that bad, but still pretty bad. I also found myself standing in a few lines today, and it was a little embarrassing to know that I was that one malodorous garlic clove amidst the flowers in the garden.

Despite feeling a little awkward, and grossing out some of the members of my conference team, being homeless has been quite liberating. Even though we still have to fulfill our academic and extracurricular activities, life has been boiled down to just the necessities. We find food during the day, a warm place to spend most of the night (usually the library), then head back to our covered area outside of the UBC Bookstore.  There is no more fear of what people think; you have to take care of your survival needs first. I’ve also realized that some of the comforts I “couldn’t live without”, have not even been missed. For instance, I “could not live” without my iPod to accompany me between classes, but it sure didn’t take long to forget about it. Granted, I love listening to music while doing work, and have thus missed the speed at which I work when my headphones are on. In the big picture though, it was more of a distraction to block other smaller distractions out and become focused; now myself and my garbage bag full of belongings are the focus. One definitely appreciates the relative weight of things like textbooks, once one has to lug all of his or her personal belongings all over campus for a week.

If you’re even considering participating in the 5 Days campaign next year, I’d highly recommend it. Thanks to everyone who has donated thus far; you have made this campaign the success that it is!

T-Murph, out.

So we’re over the hump!

Today was a little bit up and down. We learned about Neutron Stars and Black Holes in astronomy today, which kind of seems trivial based on the past few days’ experiences. Astronomy is actually a very interesting subject, but the last few days have me wondering that we would study things that are so far away while maybe our attentions could be spent on something a little closer to home.

Last night was cold as crap. I can’t believe you guys are still outside out East. Good on ya.

I ran around trying to get work done today and my school performance is suffering. I’m also falling behind on emails and reading other people’s blogs (not to mention writing my own!). It’s interesting trying to fuse some of the aspects of homelessness with the life of a business student. The other guys all have other things going on and Davies even has a couple more midterms this week (friday, no less). Way to go, team. I played guitar today in front of the SUB today and was able to get some more donations that way, as well as a conversation with a man who got fired up about how “when you’re homeless you can go to the government to get free money!” I think he was referring to welfare.

We just got an outstanding donation from Rotary Club Vancouver Fraserview to the tune of at least $1,500. I say at least because the members who came promised to ask others in the club to donate even more. You guys are amazing!

That’s it for today, time to chip away at study mountain. Take care!

Andrew

thanks

thank you all for the support that you have given us.

thanks for the bagels, the granola bars, the donuts and the pasta.

thanks for the samosas, the cookies, the milk and the cocoa.

thank to you we are going to bed with full bellies, unlike many of those actually on the streets.

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thanks for the friendships, the kind words, and the light jokes.

thanks for the help, the love, and the support.

thanks for the family, and reminders of the light at the end.

thanks to you we will get through the down times because we have you guys keeping us up, unlike many of those actually on the streets.

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thanks also to those who doubt us, ridicule us, and put down what we are doing.

thanks to those who pretend not to see us, make us feel invisible, and walk right by.

thanks to those who would rather stay ignorant of the problem on their doorstep than try and work towards a solution.

thanks to you we are going to keep going through this week, so that we can make a difference to all those youth and hopefully open YOUR eyes to the issue at hand.

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thanks… for everything

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paul

After waking up from what felt like a pretty sound sleep, I bounced up this morning feeling fully energized and ready to face the world. Unfortunately, after an Operations class and ticket selling for our conference this Friday (Ya Me Inc.!), I was absolutely gassed. It actually felt like the world was in slow motion, and I don’t think I have ever wanted a nap more badly in my entire life. It’s amazing how sleeping under different conditions affects the quality of your rest; it’s almost like a state of hibernation, not sleep.

In addition to my sleep revelations, I also learned what it feels like to have to rummage for food in front of people; it’s pretty frigging depressing. When people talk about having to “swallow your pride” and do something unpleasant, I don’t think any of them have dug around in a pile that looks like garbage to find something to eat. Granted, it wasn’t ACTUALLY garbage it was a pile of leftover food from a few days’ worth of donations at our little campsite, but it still gave the same impression. There was no one else around, and to passers-by I’m sure a scruffy looking man with all of his belongings in a garbage bag looking for something to eat was not a pleasant sight. In fact, as I munched on a somewhat dry piece of bread I was able to take stock of the scene around me, and was greeted by looks of pity and disgust. It didn’t matter that I had a laptop beside me on the ground, or that the cardboard sign behind me advertised our cause, because all people seemed to see was a pitiful human being digging through someone else’s waste. It was quite a sobering experience.

Before I sign off for another day, I’d like to take a quick moment to thank all of our incredibly generous friends and everyone who has supported the 5 Days campaign. You have all given so much to the participants and the 5 Days event, and deserve all the good Karma one can have. From the bottoms of our hearts, thank you.

- Tyler

night 3 and still going strong. i was unable to blog the other night because i was unable to get a hold of a computer, thats being homeless for you huh?

Tonight has been colder than usual, with the cloud cover gone, the rain has stopped but the cool air creeps in. Luckily, a friend of a friend dropped in with blanket. I have to admit, this among countless other acts of charity and kindness has far surpassed my expectations. Its not that i am a cynical person or anything i’m just impressed with the thoughtfulness of people.

However, It does make me think about those who are truly homeless, and how they face this problem but in a much more sever form.

It makes me think about the times where i couldn’t have thought twice about what they were going through. How hopeless and desperate it must feel to be in that position, to know that as night falls you have no place to call home, no warm meal waiting for you, and no family to look forward to.

For me, I know that there is an end to this all and it keeps my spirits up, but i think about how those on the streets must feel with no foreseeable end or exit to their suffering.

I’ve never considered myself to be one that has an extrordinary sense of empathy towards others. I feel like it is a weakness of mine, but tonight i think i know a sliver of the kind of desperation, and misery they feel. I think that ’sliver’ has helped me become something more.

Day three (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday…)

Woke up by feeling the frozen gust of wind today.. again. I think it’s time I wear another layer of clothing on top of my already four layers of clothing. I was able to go to CG Lounge to rest a little more on the sofas there. It seems to me like 8 hours of sleep outside is equivalent to 4 hours of slepinside. Mentally very hard.

I was able to collect donations outside of the UBC Bookstore and David Lam today. Much easier getting donations from outside of the UBC Bookstore than David Lam. CBC Radio Canada (the French television news broadcasters) came to do a piece on us today. It was nice. They made a monetary donation in addition to a bag of nuts, an apple, and two mini-oranges. Very nice of them. Since it’s a French broadcast, I’m wondering if they’re going to have my voice translated into this Chinese accented French speaking man. Hahaha. That would be fun to watch.

Anywho, must get back to working on English research proposal due tomorrow. Then work on math and economics midterms on Friday. I think I need a shower.