About the Project
An interactive animated web documentary titled “there once lived...” created by the Special Projects Division of the web-portal “Takie Dela” (literally So It Goes) in honor of
the Homeless Day.
Every year, the Friends on the Street Foundation holds a memorial service for homeless people who died during the winter. At this memorial service, the names of the deceased are read out loud. They are commemorated by both the volunteers who worked with them and by other homeless people. Because having a funeral without a name been recognized is terrifying. It's not human. As if these people have never existed. As if they were erased and quickly forgotten by others.
We often pass by homeless people paying no attention to them. For us, such a person - a person without a name - is a phantom unable to love, fight for life or make decisions. A person not worthy of compassion or respect. But Lilya, Roma, Esma, Raisa and Zhenya - they loved, they fought, they suffered. They were human beings. And so we must remember them.