Friday, November 17, 2006
Tehran homeless women find refuge - BBC News
The House of Compassion, as it is known ... is a tiny oasis in a city of 12 million people, where homeless people are an increasingly common sight.
The women who live in the House of Compassion range in age from 18 to 70. Many of them look much older than their years - a legacy of life on the street.
They include runaways, drug addicts and prostitutes. Many are suffering from severe mental health problems.
...
Farkhondeh is 52, and has just been brought in by the police. She's painfully thin, with hardly any teeth left.
Her face is clouded by the shadows of drug addiction. When she holds up her hands, her fingers are permanently clenched - the tendons in her wrist have been severed by repeated suicide attempts.
"I'm not a homeless person," she insists. "I just look like this because they cut my hair and gave me these clothes to wear. Why am I here with all these crazy people."
Farkondeh says she was born into a privileged family and had a good education. But like many of the women in the shelter, her life seems to have been ruined by drugs and a bad marriage.
"I'm so sad about my life. I didn't use to be like this. I used to be so much better." ...
The House of Compassion, as it is known ... is a tiny oasis in a city of 12 million people, where homeless people are an increasingly common sight.
The women who live in the House of Compassion range in age from 18 to 70. Many of them look much older than their years - a legacy of life on the street.
They include runaways, drug addicts and prostitutes. Many are suffering from severe mental health problems.
...
Farkhondeh is 52, and has just been brought in by the police. She's painfully thin, with hardly any teeth left.
Her face is clouded by the shadows of drug addiction. When she holds up her hands, her fingers are permanently clenched - the tendons in her wrist have been severed by repeated suicide attempts.
"I'm not a homeless person," she insists. "I just look like this because they cut my hair and gave me these clothes to wear. Why am I here with all these crazy people."
Farkondeh says she was born into a privileged family and had a good education. But like many of the women in the shelter, her life seems to have been ruined by drugs and a bad marriage.
"I'm so sad about my life. I didn't use to be like this. I used to be so much better." ...
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