Tuesday, 5th August 2008
True hardship
Danny feels the sun beating down on his face. Slowly he opens one eye to let the world in. His teeth chattering, face numb, he looks around him and soaks in the activity. The man with the hot dog stand has just arrived and is quickly setting up in await of the daily surrounding office workers and tourists, peckish after all the sight seeing. A hustle and bustle of people fill the city square all of them in coats and boots shielding them from the excessively cold weather.
Joe got to work late again today. It’s his third warning, “anymore and I’ll end up jobless amongst many ‘less’ things in my life right now!” he thinks to himself morosely. There are many things that Joe knows and feels he can do, but plaiting his 6 year old’s hair, ironing, preparing both meals daily and getting to work on time is proving itself to be a feat and losing his job is not an option right now!
Monica wakes up every morning cursing the day she was born. She didn’t sleep a wink last night. Music was blaring downstairs and loud abusive voices kept her awake. At one point she heard heavy foot steps coming up the wooden stairs to her room. Sweating profusely, she prepared herself for the next 15 minutes of her life. Forgetting who she was, what her name was and left her body as though in a trance. In her mind she was sitting by the sea side, her legs swinging off the pier, holding her sister’s hand staring out into the ocean.
Danny was once a respectable school teacher. He took pride in his work and his students loved him. He had a loving family, 2 beautiful daughters and a gorgeous wife. Unfortunately his wife fell victim of cancer. They both had to stop working which threw them into a financial crisis, the medical bills got unbearable and after much agony Danny’s wife passed away. Danny fell into a depression and couldn’t take care of himself let alone his two little girls. Somewhere in his lucid mind he was still searching for his wife, but lost everything this real world, he saw as so cruel, had to offer.
Joe went through a painful divorce leaving him with the custody of his daughter. Everyday is a struggle to get through. The pain of rejection and abandonment leaves him bitter, but he looks at his daughter and wants her to have the beautiful childhood he once had. Monica wants to eliminate her childhood which has been tainted by adult experiences she was too young to live through. Everyday she is subjected to abuse by her mother and her mother’s lovers. Monica’s dream is to save up some money and go to live with her sister who left as soon as she turned 18 years old. She has had enough.
These are just a few of the stories that the YMCA are faced with everyday. They’re the realities that these unfortunate people live through. What puts people in these circumstances? It could be a bad financial decision, ill health, negligence or just plain bad luck. The YMCA has been active for years on end since the 1940s lending much more than a helping hand. Changing lives drastically and leaving its mark on today’s ever changing society.
The band and I will be at the Europe Festival in Prague to close the show with a bang. The set list has been carefully chosen and some of the songs launch a direct appeal to today’s society and speak about issues we are all victims of. Thousands of people from all over Europe and other continents will be present for this event, to make a statement and to appreciate live music drawing different races and nations together.
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