Whenever one mentions a homeless person, I immediately imagine someone with a bottle of scotch in their hands. A dirty smelly person who long forgot about his dignity. Obviously, this is not the case for everyone, but it is hard to resist stereotypes. However, I had to push them away since the Astronomical Association in San Jose decided to conduct a stargazing session in a local shelter for those who need a roof above their heads. Truth be told, I was worried that the homeless would not be inspired by the very idea of stargazing. Astronomy is not a pure entertainment and may seem boring to the inhabitants of the shelter.
This shelter was surrounded by a multitude of buildings that had strictly industrial purposes. It was hard to find anything but parking lots, warehouses, and silos in the area around the shelter. I made my way to the shelter and entered a very tidy and small dining room furnished with plastic chairs and tables. There were dozens of people eating meals prepared by the institution for them. The vast majority of attendants were women with their children. The latter were happy with a tasty chocolate cake served for the dessert. Despite a fairly uplifting mood, children were far from being truly enjoying their time in the shelter. They knew why they were here: because they had no home and no place to eat. One of them had lots of recent burns, another was bruised, and there was a girl dressed in something horribly dirty. Some children were lazily reading books offered by the institution. Sadly, I could not find any books related to science or my favorite discipline – astronomy.
I was sure that the prospect of the stargazing party was less than promising. I made my way to the parking lot and started unpacking my equipment. In a couple of minutes, I was trying to adjust my eyepiece and gathering some attention. Together with other fellow astronomers who showed up a bit later, I started preparation for the party. One of the homeless boys came up to me. He told me that his favorite movie was Apollo 13. He then brought his brother to me. They were very curious about everything. Their politeness truly amazed me.
When my new young friend Dominic asked me about the price of my telescope, I hesitated to answer. This telescope was fairly expensive and I was afraid to make him feel uncomfortable and even more distant from science. I decided to make a joke telling him that the telescope was indeed $7000, but that I treasured it just like Gollum from The Hobbit cared about his “precious”.
Dominic was genuinely surprised by my answer. He said that he thought it was way more expensive.
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We kept chatting and I started showing him how the eyepiece works. At first, it was hard to make Dominic feel comfortable with using my telescope that definitely looked very expensive and fragile. However, soon he was more brave and made a couple of adjustments himself. Moments later, he was enjoying his new “toy” and the images of distant stars for a moment became his new home while all the problems were far away…
The stargazing party was a huge success. Children and adults enjoyed watching in the sky above. As I drove home, I thought about Dominic, his brother, and his mother. How did this completely normal looking family end up living in a shelter?
The shelter was in an industrial area. I was sure that there was from little to no cultural facilities. In the vicinity of the shelter public transport, museums, and libraries were absent. Despite having a roof under their heads and free food, Dominic and his family were separated from culture.
One could argue that focusing on making lives of those who are at a disadvantage in our society is more important than building spaceships. However, a little help from the government will unlikely drastically change the situation regarding homeless people. At the same time, astronomy can make their lives a little bit more bright.
When I was preparing for the party at the shelter, I had mixed feelings about it. However, after spending some time with Dominic and his family and understanding that I might have made their lives a little better, I felt determined to join all future stargazing parties that would involve homeless!