First-year journalism students Paige Mueller and Haley Ritchie wanted to learn how people are surviving in the tent cities of the Occupy movement. They spent the night of Nov. 12 at Confederation Park to experience Occupy Ottawa and learn how the regulars live.
Back in our Glengarry dorm room, it was mid-afternoon as we packed our supplies for the night. Included in our duffel bag was a borrowed tent, two pillows and a comforter, at least three layers of clothing for each of us, a video camera and two notebooks. With the temperature predicted to stay above zero and feeling confidently prepared for the cold and, we headed down to Confederation Park.
We pitched our tent among a couple dozen other brightly-coloured makeshift homes in the heart of the camp, across from the donations table and behind the food tent.
Taking advantage of the relative warmth and the daylight, we explored the camp. We braved the port-a-potties across the park, which were being used mostly by occupiers, and found the plastic stalls to be clean and well-equipped.
The next couple of hours went by slowly as we mingled with our fellow occupiers. When an announcement went out that volunteers were needed in the food tent, we were grateful for something to do. We went to relieve the pregnant volunteer cook who had been single-handedly running the food tent since we arrived.
We were left with vague instructions, so Haley went to figure out the dishwashing situation. Paige took over at the food tent, slicing bread, doling out thin vegan vegetable soup and receiving a donation of homemade hummus. There are three different categories of bread at Occupy Ottawa based on freshness. Saturday night’s raisin bread came from the “Please use ASAP” drawer.
After our shift in the food tent, we grabbed some soup and bread for ourselves and sat down on the park benches to eat. An announcement went up: the generator has died and the food tent doesn’t operate without the generator. Volunteers scrambled to get it back up and in half an hour, it roared back to life, the steady hum accompanying the drum circle that had begun nearby.
There wasn’t much else to do but try to stay warm as the temperature dropped. We joined the music-making at the drum circle for a while, where homeless people, occupiers and toddlers danced side by side. We decided to turn in for the night. The problem is, we were too cold to sleep.
At around 2 a.m., the fourth set of sirens woke us again from our state of semi-sleep. Sleeping in downtown Ottawa at night is as cold as it is loud. Another hour went by, and while shivering in the tent, Haley checked the bus schedule to see what time buses would start running in the morning.
The minutes ticked by until 5 a.m. We were both awake, unable to sleep more than 15 minutes at a time in the cold, so we agreed to pack at 5:45 a.m. to catch the first bus back to Carleton.
Ten minutes later, Paige sat up again.
“Do you want to pack up now and wait at McDonald’s for the bus?” she asked.
A reply from Haley really wasn’t necessary.
We scrambled to bring down the tent with fingers numb from the cold. On our way out of the park, we were met by two early risers who thanked us for staying the night with hugs and handshakes. They encouraged us to come back, even if we don’t stay the night again.
The more time you spend here, they said, the more you become part of the community.