I put up signs in front of me where I sang and played, letting people know, they were donating to Haitian Relief and not to my own pockets. Monday was the first day I tried this, and I didn't get much of a response. I was surprised. I thought the money would be pouring in. But the second day it went better. And the third day things picked up even more.
Only one person had a problem with me donating money to Haiti. A woman with a crown of sunflowers on top of her head wrap, wearing a full flowered skirt and carrying a tambourine, came up to me. She looked me intently in the eye. She waited till I ended the song and then she spoke eloquently to me, her eyes rivetted on mine. I felt peace, yet an agitated intensity, coming from her. She asked me about the lyrics of the song I just ended. She said she wanted to hear it again. She said, she always listened to voices, and that she had no control over the voices in her head, and she couldn't help hearing my song and the words. The song was an original called "Through the Rain." I sang her the song again, a private performance. She liked it. Then she eyed the open guitar case with all the bills in it. There was a twenty and a few fives lying on top of all the ones. She asked me about the money. She took offense that I would leave it lying out like that, tempting people, even flaunting it.
I told her I was collecting for the Haitian Relief Fund. She bristled. "Why send the money to Haiti, when there are people right here who need the help just as much." I told her, I could appreciate her point, and that poverty was a problem everywhere. She was right, in a way. There are street people all around in Suburban Station where I play. Many of them walked by me as I played, some eyeing the money. I guess one big reason I didn't distribute some money to local needy people was that the people passing by me who had donated the money knew it was earmarked for Haiti and its earthquake victims, not to Philadelphia's homeless population. She was frustrated, and so was I, as I partly agreed with her. We talked a while and we both calmed down. She told me, she busked with a tamborine and sang acapella, mostly spiritual songs and gospel songs of praise. She said, however, that she had given up on people long ago. Finally, I wished her luck and told her I had appreciated meeting her and that she had been honest with me, voices or no voices. Somehow I doubt she has totally given up on people, especially if she is sharing her music and trying to save souls.
Yes, the devastation in Haiti has perhaps diverted our attention from our own needy population. Or maybe we haven't been paying proper attention to them all along. I've known many street people in the city, some more closely. I don't know what the solution to homelessness is. Just as war is inevitable, I don't know if we will ever be able to eradicate homelessness in our society. Perhaps a good start is to reach out to the homeless and listen to them with compassion when they need to vent.
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