Pilgrimage to Valdediós to raise awareness of the problems of homeless

“The Camino de Santiago is long and full of obstacles.” With that phrase as motto, a hundred of assigned to the homeless people program of Diocesan Caritas of Oviedo yesterday a stage of the Jacobean route in the surroundings of the monacal set of Valdediósin Villaviciosa.

The objective was to give visibility a situation in which there are every time “more affected people,” said Zoraida Sienra, responsible for the program, because “the term ‘homeless’ is much broader than it seems.” They are not only the people who live in the street, “but also those who live in houses without supplies, inadequate or unhealthy.”

The “united walk” helps symbolically, “gives company” to people who fight to “become and return to society.”

With the monastery as a starting point and arrival – there was a circular route – people from all over the region participated in this stage, registered in Red Hogars, Cano Mata Vigil Center, La Santina therapeutic community, Luz de Luz Rodríguez Casanova Casanova Hostel and Oviedo meeting and reception center; “The entire Diocese of Asturias was covered.”

The experience was enriching and very emotional, as Eric Ramos, one of the participants, said. «The truth is that there are wonderful people here, who is looking for a change in their lives. In Caritas they help you when you need it, it seemed ugly not to come, ”he added.

For Hanna Azrou, Moroccan, “it is always pleasant to participate in something that takes you out of your surroundings; Sales from your inner ‘I’, you clears and free yourself from your problems ».

Divided into groups, all praised the initiative, including the volunteers themselves, such as Claudia Melendi, because “when accompanying them you receive a different look from social reality, which is not in our day to day.”

The program includes more awareness activities, in a constant struggle to show the “complicated situations” through which the homeless people pass.