Feature: Iranians set up "wall of kindness" to help homeless in winter

Iranian university students with the help of the municipality of capital Tehran have set up "wall of kindness" on the streets to offer warm clothes to the homeless in the cold season.

The charity walls installed in public areas have been painted in the bright colors, with the added row of hooks on them, calling on the passers-by to donate garments to the people in need, if they do not need them for themselves.

"Wall of Kindness": "If you don't need it, leave it" and "if you need it, take it", these are the verbal messages of the organizers of the charity that appear on the painted walls.

On the wall of kindness across from the Danshjou Park on Tehran's ValiAsr junction, two pairs of second hand trousers, a women bag with a jacket are hung on the hooks awaiting to be picked by some needy people.

"The idea to set up the walls was developed in September, and according to the preliminary plan, it was arranged to be held in one location in the underground cultural center of ValiAsr junction, but because people showed an interest in this move, it was planned to be held in different parts of the city" by setting up walls, Miss Sara Fallah, Tehran's Shariati University student, told Xinhua.

"Since every society is in need of promoting the culture of kindness and generosity, the idea of carrying out the project in city space and the public areas occurred in our mind and we wanted to show that with just little resources we can do great jobs," Fallah said.

"Therefore, a number of walls in different parts of Tehran were selected for this project which is currently underway," she said, adding that ValiAsr street opposite Daneshjou Park, Vali Asr street opposite Fatemi street, and Azadi street between Navab and Roudaki junctions, are three major stations to offer volunteer charity.

The initiative was basically developed by the Students Association of Zamyaran, literally meaning the "friends of earth", and was set into motion after the coordination with Tehran municipality.

To make the idea across and to inform the society of the trend, the students' network of Zamyaran has used the virtual space and the space of universities in Tehran.

Besides offering donations, ordinary people and passers-by have, in a number of other ways, helped the implementation of the project.

Fallah, also a volunteer member of Zamyaran, said "We have not used the governmental facilities in our project, but we received the license and support of municipality and much help from ordinary people."

"While installing and painting the walls, people, who were passing by, lent hands to the Zamyaran members and the municipality workers. We have also taken advantage of some dry-cleaners' help to wash and pack the clothes to be distributed to the poor," Fallah added.

The widespread use of social media network has attracted the global attention to the move by the Iranian benefactors. The publicity of the move has also transgressed the geographical borders of the country and reached its neighbors of Turkey and Pakistan as they have swiftly caught on the initiative.

There are no official statistics on homelessness people in Iran. However, it is estimated that there are over 15,000 people sleeping in the cardboards at nights in Tehran, of whom one-sixth are women and 80 percent are addicts. They survive in abandoned buildings, parks or on the streets. Endit