Module 5 who are you?0:06
Unit 5 A reading skills exercise 2, page 84.0:10
A life on the streets.0:37
Every single night of the year, around 1,200 people sleep rough on hard benches and in grubby doorways on the streets of various English cities.1:02
Jasmine, 22 is one of them.1:15
At first huddled in a door entrance asking passersby for money.1:19
She is reluctant to open up, but then she begins to talk.1:24
I've been living on the street ever since I was 16 years old when I ran away from my foster home.1:32
My parents died when I was very young so I went into foster care.1:38
It wasn't so bad but I wanted to make it on my own.1:42
I stayed on friends couches at first, but eventually their parents grew tired of having me around.1:46
So I caught a train to London, thinking that it would be easier to survive in the big city.1:53
How wrong could I be?1:58
I tried to find a job but no one would take me on without a fixed address.2:00
I slept in a cheap B and B for a few nights, but then my money ran out and I spent my first night in a sleeping bag on a park bench.2:05
I'll never forget how alone I felt that night.2:14
I lay awake, terrified and shivering with cold.2:17
Living rough, you sort of go back and forth between temporary accommodation and the street.2:21
I spend the odd night in a hostel for homeless people and there are loads of squats around the city centre too.2:27
These are usually in abandoned houses, empty office buildings, disused warehouses, places like that.2:35
Usually you share a cramped little room with around 15 others.2:43
Some of these people are drug addicts or alcoholics and usually the room's filthy and there's no running water or electricity, but at least it's a roof over your head, which can mean the difference between life or death.2:48
When there are sub zero temperatures outside on the streets, the cold eats into your bones.3:01
I have my favourite doorways and I try to stick to busy, well lit streets.3:09
Sometimes traffic fumes almost choke me.3:16
The noise is deafening and there's no privacy whatsoever.3:18
But that's a small price to pay for safety.3:22
Well the government gives people like me money, but it's barely enough to eat.3:28
I just about make ends meet by begging, selling the Big Issue, whatever I can really.3:33
I hate asking for money from people.3:41
Some take pity on me and toss me a few coins or buy me a sandwich or a hot drink.3:44
But most just rush past me and avoid looking me in the eye.3:49
They just want to get back to their posh houses in the suburbs, you know, Basically, you lose your identity, your dignity, everything on the streets.3:54
It's so boring not having a job, having nothing to do during the day until one of the soup kitchens opens in the evening.4:06
It destroys your soul.4:14
I don't know what the future holds.4:18
Homelessness is a vicious circle that is very difficult to break out of.4:20
It's very hard to get work because no one takes you seriously.4:25
And then you lose your confidence and your self esteem and it becomes even harder.4:29
I'm on a council waiting list for a flat, though I want nothing more than to have a place of my own one day, a place that I can call home.4:35
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