VIENNA: On a wintry afternoon, tourists huddle around
their guide outside Vienna's central train station.
But instead of exploring glitzy palaces, tour guide Barbara will
take them around night shelters and soup kitchens as part of a new
initiative aimed at helping homeless people like herself get back
on their feet.
Vienna is ranked as one of the world's most liveable cities with
an excellent social security system, but thousands of people
nonetheless fall through the cracks.
VIENNA: On a wintry afternoon, tourists huddle around
their guide outside Vienna's central train station.
But instead of exploring glitzy palaces, tour guide Barbara will
take them around night shelters and soup kitchens as part of a new
initiative aimed at helping homeless people like herself get back
on their feet.
Vienna is ranked as one of the world's most liveable cities with
an excellent social security system, but thousands of people
nonetheless fall through the cracks.
"I'm happy because my hair is long again and I'm totally
healthy," she told her tour group.
"I'm confident that I'll soon have my own place again, not least
because of this," she added, referring to her new job at Shades
Tours.
Launched last year, the social start-up is part of a growing
European trend that sees the needy hired as city guides as a way to
help them reintegrate.
While they show tourists in Paris around famous landmarks, the
Vienna concept goes a step further to peel off the stigma attached
to homelessness.
"I wanted (the tours) to be more educational," explained Shades
Tours' creator Perrine Schober, a 33-year-old tourism management
graduate.
"We (see) homelessness on a daily basis but we have no idea what
it is actually about, so I guess that's the reason people look away
instead of trying to help," the French-Austrian told AFP.
Shades Tours was initially aimed at Austrians, drawing hundreds
of school children, social workers and companies last year, with a
selection of tours costing 15 euros (S$22.70) that range from a
couple of hours to all day.
"Our guides are in a unique position to explain Vienna's complex
social system and its challenges. They provide children with an
emotional lesson they can't get in a classroom," said Ms
Schober.
The organisation now employs three full-time guides, two of whom
have already been able to move from their shelter into private
housing.
Boosted by the success, Ms Schober recently broadened the
offering to include English-language tours for international
tourists.
Barbara, who declined to give her surname, switches effortlessly
from German to English and French as she explains why the central
station is a "hot spot" for the homeless.
"It's warm, it's open 24 hours a day and you can be anonymous
here," she tells the visitors after they enter the huge glass
structure.
Multilingual social workers, recognisable by their red jackets,
walk around the station handing out information to homeless people
on where to get help.
"What's the worst part about being homeless?" asked one of the
tour group.
The isolation, Barbara replied. "Nobody from my former life
knows where I am now and I have no family," she said.
Vienna, a city of 1.7 million, has a solid network of public
institutions and not-for-profit organisations helping those in
need.
In winter, around 700 beds are added to the 300 available all
year round to prevent people from freezing to death, particularly
in the current cold snap gripping Europe.
But it is not enough to meet the high demand, made worse because
Vienna also draws the homeless from other European cities like
Budapest, Hungary, where conditions are even tougher.
For two euros a day, you can sleep, eat, shower, and use the
Internet at the men-only VinziPort shelter, the last leg of
Barbara's tour.
At the end, participants thank Barbara for sharing her story,
including Bulgarian Steliana Kokonova, 29.
"One major thing that will stay with me is that we now have more
information about how to direct homeless people towards useful
institutions," she said. - AFP