by Jessica Reed
In France, it was the most talked-about topic of the holidays. A few weeks ago an association named "Les enfants de Don Quixote" (The children of Don Quixote) decide to plant 200 tents in downtwon Paris, to protest against the lack of resources that are offered to homeless people in France. An estimated 86,000 people do not have a decent place to live in, while a lot of shelters are not only open only 6 months per year, but only at night.
As a result, dozens of people are now showing their disagreement and indignation by sleeping outside across the Seine's borders. There, volunteers and homeless sleep, brainstorm, and make coffee together, while giving lenghty interviews to the media.
This initiative does not look too good on Sarkozy's resume, whose government did not do much to help the status of the Sans Domicile Fixe (or 'SDF', the "without a fixed home") in the past four years. As a result, French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has said last wednesday that he would build the basis of a "right to shelter" (by which authorities would have the obligation to provide a place to live to those who need it):
'This is a principle that will place the right to housing on the same level as the right to medical care or education,' Villepin said. 'It will make France one of the most progressive countries in the matter of social rights.'
If Villepin's proposal becomes law, it may very well represent a record of sorts for government response to a citizen's movement, since the Children of Don Quixote was created at the end of October and their first tents did not appear until mid-December.
Meanwhile, other ministers and their opponents were parading around the Seine, talking to the participants. By New Year, the initiative had grown and reached major cities such as Lyon, Lille and Marseille.
Elsewhere: Tents have also been placed in the virtual game Second life, which seem to offer consant replicas of real-life events.
picture via yuped and degre360's flickR account.
