Today after work I was waiting for my bus at the bus stop and was joined by an elderly lady and a young woman who was probably addicted to drugs. She younger one started telling us how hungry she was and that someone was so kind to give her this liter of milk and piece of "pulla" (pastry) that she has at least something to eat. Apparently she hadn't eaten in the past 2 days at all since she had no money. The old woman was obviously shocked and worried about this and therefore offered a little spare money to the younger one, I also contributed a few coins, so she could at least buy something to eat and the money hopefully wouldn't be sufficient enough for drugs. She then continued telling us that she was all by herself, no boyfriend/girlfriend and no contact with her parents, neither her biological nor her adoptive parents. According to her her biological parents never wanted her and in the end her adoptive ones either. The older one told her then that first she needs to become sober, the answer was: "Why become sober if there won't be anyway food on the table?". A person who had lost hope.
Whether it was right to listen to her or give her the money is another question to be asked but I actually got more furious in this situation.
How on earth is is possible that living in the 21st century of Finland, one of apparently most developed countries in the world, it is still possible that people will be left alone like this?! This young woman was obviously already born with a few social disadvantages, as being given out for adoption and her being an addict supporting the idea that her biological parents must have been as well most likely. Apparently it never seemed to work out between her and her adoptive parents. How come anybody is surprised what happened to her?! Probably feeling abandoned by the people that should never abandon you and the genetic predisposition to addiction have definitely taken her down this road. How come nobody has stepped in?! Where were the teachers? The social workers? How come nobody cared and let once a child slip into this life? Of course I don't know her full story and maybe there were many people willing to help her but just not enough and maybe all the odds were always against her. But here in Finland we keep talking about how we can't let people become these so-called "outcasts"/"syrjäytyneet". Well, at the moment we are doing the best in creating them. In name of saving (yes, we really do need to save, no discussion about that) the parliament has decided to close down small schools, libraries, "nuorisotaloja" and more and more clients are left to fewer and already stressed out teachers, social workers and nurses. Don't save on youth right now, because what you save now on the youth will come back as a payback in 20 years with young people suffering from depression, anxiety, feelings of not belonging anywhere, being drop-outs and not even believing themselves that they could be capable of being part of society. Help these people while they are young, catch them before they fall, give them a chance, support them and they will never become one of those "outcasts". Don't make them loose hope on themselves and life entirely. Because there is nothing sadder than a person who has lost hope.
