Life and Spirituality

A ll countries require shelters for homeless and destitute people. In an earlier note here this author had suggested a shelter concept known as HISA. In view of its increasing importance, its essential features are summarized again here, 1. HISA centers are shelters that provide a single bed and closet in partially enclosed beds in a dorm type of setting to a person in need of shelter. A possible configuration is shown in the figure. Sets of ten to sixteen beds in a dormitory are connected to common bathroom, clothes washing, and toilet area on one end. At the other end is the exit that has a boiling hot and cold drinking water spout in a washbasin as well as trash bin. 2. Dormitories are segregated into three types within a HISA complex q        For women, girls and male children under the age of ten q        For men older than sixteen q        Boys between ten and sixteen stay in a separate dorm that is a part of a school for children 3. The HISA

    "Some countries that fail to provide a bed under a roof for homeless persons is not because of lack of resources; it is more likely because of a selfish heart devoid of compassion and humanity. In addition, if they prohibit feeding the homeless hungry, they may be creatures of the universe of whom even evil beings would probably be ashamed of" W hile some homelessness has existed in the world from the beginning of time, two things are different in the modern era. Modern law and regulations tend to make it more persistent then it ever was in human history. In older times, with few regulations, a homeless person could gradually build up a shack on a vacant piece of land and even find land for some farming. Such land hardly exists in the modern era. The second even more distressing aspect is that it is happening in the richest countries of the world. If the unemployed son of a poor man becomes homeless it is not a surprise but when the son of one of the richest

A country that has a HISA center beside every town, village and city has neither homelessness nor hunger Note: It must be noted that HISA centers are visualized as completely voluntary facilities. They are neither prison camps nor concentration camps. People choose to live in one of their own free will and need and leave whenever they like. While at the center, they have freedom of movement from the center to nearby cities or any city for brief or long periods with the only condition that if they are absent for more than a certain number of days, say six, without permission, their allotment may be cancelled and they would have to seek fresh accommodation along with any other new applicants.   Any restriction or compulsion on movement of an inhabitant except children is a violation of fundamental human rights to life and liberty. Homeless in this note does not imply those living in rented homes (unless high rents have pushed them to the street) but those that

Eugène Delacroix, The Prisoner of Chillon    I n the past prisoner’s were kept in very poor conditions such as castle dungeons and fed on leftovers. With time humanity has advanced so that conditions of prisons have vastly improved. With that has increased the expense of maintaining these prisons. Criminal are put in prisons for many reasons, the primary one being that society should be protected from criminals and that imprisonment is a deterrent for crime. There is also the hope that the criminal would reform. However, let us see if these aims are being met. First of all the expense is something that the public bears and because of it public debt rises. The living condition of prisons has improved to the extent that in most countries of the world prisoners get better food for free than a large segment of the population at large. There have been cases of persons who commit petty crimes just so that they can get free lodgings in prison. Recently there was the case of an o