JEDDAH: When poverty is your guest for 15 years, gardens, parks, streets and pavements become your abode under the unavoidable scorching sun.

One has to face hardships of hunger and survive on breadcrumbs. This is the situation of a 60-year-old Saudi, nicknamed “The Lonely” by passers-by in Jeddah. He is surviving with just one eye and without any shelter. He has neither food nor any government organization extending him a helping hand.

Sultan Al-Sulami, a reporter working for Sabq.org, visited the aging man on Jeddah’s Sary Street where he has slept for the past 15 years. He has a family of five grown-up daughters and three sons. His wife is dead. He lives on social security and with the goodwill of passers-by.

Narrating his story, the old man said: “My sufferings started when I lost an eye in a road accident when I was 30 while going to apply for job in one of the private companies. Later, I did not get any government or private sector job because I had only one eye. I took up smalltime jobs. I worked as a porter in the vegetable market for some time. But as the days passed, inflation caught up with me and foreigners replaced Saudis in doing petty jobs.”

He said that he has five grown-up daughters and three sons living with their relatives in Qassim since his hardship started and he was left without shelter and food. He initially missed his children, but even if they came, it was not possible for him to provide them shelter and food.

“For 15 years I have lived on the pavements, in parks and streets of Jeddah, waiting for people to come and offer me some food and water under the scorching sun. I have gone through a lot. Insects move on my body and emissions from cars have become part of my body odor. All these years, I did not find any government agency, taking pity on my plight, provide me with a house or a job with a sufficient salary to survive and move away from the pavement. When I went to the Housing Ministry, they asked me to wait,” he said.

“The monthly social security of SR850 which I get is not sufficient to rent a house or a car to work. The entire amount goes to purchase water and ice, Sometime, I face theft from armed workers who take away all I have,” he said.

“Fifteen years is not a short time. Passers-by and people in the area know me. They offer charity some time. They come and sit with me and listen to me and my worries. Initially, I faced problems from some government agencies. When they were sure that I was not a threat to the passers-by or residents they left me alone,” said the old man.

When Sabq.org brought the matter to the notice of Abdullah Al-Tawi of the Ministry of Social Affairs in Makkah, he formed a committee to look into the whole matter. “If he is found healthy, he would be immediately shifted to old age home in Makkah for complete care,” said Al-Tawi.