Skid Row Tour Breaks Hearts Of La Loche Students
Monday, March 23, 2009 at 13:27
A recent tour of Vancouver’s downtown eastside hit a Clearwater River Dene Nation student particularly hard.
That’s because November Raine saw one of her relatives living on the streets.
Raine and 24 other Clearwater River students toured the infamous skid row during a day and and evening last week as part of the “Scared Straight” program.
Raine says seeing a relative was the hardest part.
She says “it really hurt”, because the man started crying and pleading with them to be taken home with them — prompting people in her group to start crying.
Raine says she gave the man her grandmother’s phone number in hopes that would help him.
She says it was tough seeing people in those situations, but adds it was a definite learning experience.