// 19th February 2023
Being human - sharing warmth, food and relief goods
Living on the street means much more than being homeless and not having a bed, but also having to do without all the comforts that most of us take totally for granted.
Homeless people often have no perspective anymore. Family members and friends have turned away, which is very painful and leads to loss of self-confidence.
Some of the homeless people we met today in downtown Hamburg have suddenly lost their "old life".
An elderly lady from former Yugoslavia was hit by a car on the street in Hamburg many years ago - due to her disabilities she could only do unskilled work and receives only a minimal pension. Due to the increased energy prices, she has not been able to pay the rent of the apartment for two months and is now living outside for the first time in her life.
Another woman from Flensburg worked as a nurse for 15 years - due to the many night shifts she got sick, made mistakes and was fired. Because of the bad report card, she has not found a new job to this day. She feels great shame when pedestrians give her a wide berth because of her dirty clothes.
At the end of the action we met a group of people from Ukraine who were looking for protection and who had just arrived in Hamburg. Relieved to have escaped the war, they shared the soup, coffee and bread they had received fairly among themselves.
A man, who can only get around with the help of a rollator due to his disability, only wished for the dog food we had in our luggage. Walking through the city, meeting dogs and handing out treats to them makes him happy - that's all he needs on this day, he told us. Also today we met again many people from Bulgaria and Romania - they communicated with us while spooning the brought soup with gestures that said more than words - which was very touching.
Happiness to all!
We wish the people we met today a protective roof over their heads, food, clothing and the strength to face all the challenges they have had and will have to face. May they all experience happiness and become free from their sufferings.
To our great joy, today we met a group of very sympathetic people who are privately engaged once a month to bring joy to homeless people with their donations and express their compassion in conversations.
During our friendly exchange it came up to mention our other Live To Love projects. Spontaneously they agreed to join us in March for our first tree planting event of this year in Klövensteen. That is wonderful.
We are very much looking forward to seeing you again!
With warm regards,
Your Live To Love Team
