Homeless Man’s Poetry and Facebook Helped Change his Life After 35 Years on Street
Raimundo Arruda Sobrinho lived in anonymity for 35 long years, just one more faceless member of the thousands of people that make up Brazil’s homeless population. An old homeless man spent his days writing beautiful poems and short stories, unseen by the world around him. “The Conditioned” is a critically acclaimed documentary that follows the remarkable journey of this 77-year-old Brazilian poet and philosopher.
In his wildest dreams he dreamt that maybe his words would be remembered one day, maybe they might be published, but he knew deep down that they would probably never be read by anyone at all. Then, one day, in the spring of 2011, something happened that changed his life forever.
A young woman named Shalla Monteiro took notice of him and befriended the old man. She would stop by every day to chit chat with him, and one day Raimundo gave her one of his poems. She decided to make him a Facebook page so his poems and stories could be shared with others. What happened next is a miracle. Watch the video below to see more.
