1987—Year of the Homeless
WHEN night falls, thousands of people in Bombay, São Paulo, Mexico City, New York City, and scores of other cities bed down in ducts, under bridges, and on sidewalks. They huddle in cardboard boxes, stretch out on crumpled newspapers, or doze off on bare concrete. The world’s one hundred million homeless are “home.”
Yet, millions more are homeless in still another sense. They live as squatters in illegal and unsightly shantytowns, slums where oozy streets are the bathrooms and ever-present vultures are the garbage collectors. Their makeshift “homes” are leaky sheds made from gunnysacks, reed mats, hammered-out oil drums, mud, and stones. More than half of all Third World city dwellers live in such abominable conditions.
To focus world attention on the plight of the urban homeless and to improve their living conditions, the United Nations organization has declared 1987 to be the International Year of the Homeless.
“Throughout the world, we have to realize that we cannot get around this problem any longer,” says Max van der Stoel, chairman of the Dutch National Committee of the Year of the Homeless. “It is one of the world’s most serious problems.” And the problem is growing. NieuwsBrief voor het International Jaar van de Daklozen (Newsletter for the International Year of the Homeless) estimates that in the coming decade or so, one billion more people will add their shacks to the already bulging urban slums—doubling the population of many Third World cities!
What can be done about the problem? Clearing away the shantytowns would only increase the number of homeless people. The UN thus opts, instead, for slum improvement, providing slum areas with basic provisions, such as sanitary facilities. And rather than sending in bulldozers—leaving a trail of pulverized sheds and desperate people—governments could give squatters housing security, perhaps in the form of leasing. The UN further recommends that urban-development funds be drastically increased because, as the newsletter put it, “housing, together with food and clothing, belongs to the most basic human need.”
“Sustenance and covering” are indeed basic needs. (1 Timothy 6:8) And God encourages us to perform acts of human kindness to provide relief for those who are lacking, especially for our fellow believers. (1 John 3:17; Galatians 6:10) Nevertheless, God’s Word helps us to have a realistic view of mankind’s problems. Observed King Solomon: “That which is made crooked cannot be made straight.” (Ecclesiastes 1:15) Consequently, projects such as the International Year of the Homeless, though doubtless well intentioned, cannot fully solve man’s problems.
Does this leave no hope for the homeless? On the contrary! During the sixth century B.C.E., Jehovah God foretold a “housing project” that would be built in Judah—a land that first would be “a desolate waste, without an inhabitant” for 70 years. (Jeremiah 9:11; 29:4, 5, 10; 32:43) Likewise, today’s homeless can be sure that Jehovah will rehabilitate mankind on a worldwide scale. (Isaiah 65:21) How comforting to know, then, that the Year of the Homeless will soon be followed by a millennium that will bring real peace, security, and ample housing!—Revelation 20:4; 21:3, 4.