By Javone Vickerie The word ?junkie? is loosely used by Guyanese to characterize persons who ?do hard drugs?,[url=http://www.wholesalejerseyssale.us@#$%&/]Cheap Jerseys Authentic[/url], live on the streets or walk around wearing mere rags and have an unpleasant smell.They are considered societal rejects and are treated as such.I found the journey of these ?junkies? to their present state of social degradation quite interesting.My exploration took me through the streets of Georgetown where I spoke to a number of individuals, some of whom reside on the pavements.Three of the many persons who have made the streets their home.At Bourda Market, I met Avinash Singh who refused to speak to me when I told him I worked for Kaieteur News.  But after I explained to him that I was doing a feature on homeless persons, he laughed and asked ?Who cares about we on the streets??Singh explained that he began living on the streets since 20 years ago after his home at Berbice was destroyed by fire.?I was a security guard at a factory in Canje and one night while at work a lady run down the road and tell me that the apartment which I de living in get destroy by fire,? Singh said.The man who is now 43 years old said that when he arrived at the scene the entire structure was destroyed and everything he had ever owned was lost.?I was about 21 when the fire happen and to tell you the truth it hurt me to know that everything I worked hard for just go away at a blink of eye? Since then me ain?t ketch back me self,? the man explained.After the fire, Singh explained that he was forced to move to Georgetown where he did a number of odd jobs to maintain himself for a while, but soon took up residence on the streets.?Back in duh time wuk was hard fuh find and I was a young country boy who only went to school up to a certain form because me parents couldn?t afford it. So from growing up in poverty I went deeper in it as I get older.?Singh said that it was while living on the streets that he was introduced to drugs and alcohol, in which he found comfort.Singh said that he was once admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital after he was attacked by a man who accused him of stealing from his yard.?I was sleeping one night on the road and then one of them come with a wood and start beating me. All meh tell am that meh nah know what he talking bout he beat me up and carry me to the police,[url=http://www.cheapjerseysshare.us@#$%&/]Wholesale NFL Jerseys[/url],? the man said.Singh said that after he was taken to the police station he was then given another thrashing by police officers for denying the accusation.With tears in his eyes, the man said he was then taken before the court and sentenced to six months? imprisonment for the offence which he still denies doing.?In prison it taught me that no matter how you look or who you are,[url=http://www.salecheapjerseys.us@#$%&/]NFL Jerseys From China[/url], once you sleep on the streets people will have one idea about you,[url=http://www.cheapjerseysauthenticonline.us@#$%&/]Cheap Jerseys NFL[/url], that you are a junkie.?Many days I deh out here and see people do all kind of things to street people but is the times we living in… we can?t change the minds of people,[url=http://www.wholesalejerseyssale.us@#$%&/]China Jerseys Wholesale[/url],? Singh said.The next person I spoke with requested animosity. She said that she is living with HIV/AIDS.?I had everything as a young woman; education, money and a good fiancé but because of friends I found myself on the streets of Georgetown wandering and asking persons for money to survive.?Even before she said that she was well educated, the formation and pronunciation of her words gave her away.The woman who we will call ?Faith? did not want to divulge much as it relates to the ?ride? that took her to her to her present state,[url=http://www.wholesalenfljerseyssale.us@#$%&/]Cheap Jerseys From China[/url], but did  advise me to ?be very cautious? when it came to love.What was intended to be an in depth interview slowly became a lecture initiated by ?Faith? on making the right decisions in life.She later explained that she was a counselor in her younger days.?I was young and full of life. I remembered working with the Ministry of Health years ago working as a part-time counselor and the same things I was telling people not to do, I did. It changed my life,? the woman reminisced.Faith said that because of the discrimination she faced from family members and those she considered friends, she felt like she only had two options left :to live on the streets or to commit suicide.The woman explained that she wanders the streets of Georgetown on a daily basis begging for whatever little she can get, before retiring to a night shelter.?With a person like me it is safer to sleep in the night shelter than to be on the streets because all kinds of things go on when the streets get lonely at nights,? the woman said.