It all started in front of the CAP of Drassanes in Barcelona at 7:30 p.m. on November 11. As soon as the first 20 people arrived, we moved to the side of the building to start the conference. While everyone stood in front of the tattooed wall of graffiti, I gave them an introduction about the event and touches of what to expect.
We had the pleasure of having speakers such as Álvaro Vives Suñé, Marcel Abbad Sort, Jesús Martinez and Menchu Omero that night.
The concrete value we offered to homeless people was a quick and free HIV test thanks to Dr. Álvaro Vives Suñé. One of the participants took the test.
During the conference, several homeless and homeless people stopped while walking through the neighborhood to listen and participate with us. A man named Juan, who has received a home thanks to the work of Fundació Arrels, showed great interest in what we were doing and also showed his concern for the management of the help received by the homeless in Barcelona. Probably the most surprising fact of the night was the following comment of Dr. Vives: "One of the most effective preventive measures to prevent sexually transmitted infections in certain groups is giving stability to these people in the form of a roof ."
After the conference, we look for cardboard to make a bed with the asphalt and put us in our sleeping bags. In the end, there were 5 people left (2 homeless and 3 people with home).
Just before the first attempt to sleep, a Romanian approached to sit next to us and talk. While breaking a white bag and another green one to put a white substance, I believe, inside a stopper where he would put a little water afterwards, he explained that his ex-wife left him for another and that she was pregnant and that he wanted to die. We did not expect to hear a frustrated love story but we listened carefully. After putting the chute in his right arm vein, taking blood, spurting, blood sacking and chute again to make sure the effect of the drug is more immediate, he got up and asked if we wanted water or something. We said "no thanks" and he took 3 € and offered them to me. I said "no thanks" again and insisted until I accepted.
Enrique, the 2nd #HomelessEntrepreneur, went to the place where he usually sleeps on the beach because he had to do training the next day; Vincent, the 4th #HomelessEntrepreneur was fried in less than 5 minutes; and Andrzej, the 3rd #HomelessEntrepreneur, tried to sleep between all the noise of fights, citizens under the influence of alcohol and young people who celebrated the mere fact that it was Friday. I did what I usually do at night: keep my eyes open while thinking. Much to my regret, small drops began to fall on my pupils and I wondered if it was going to rain more or not. I received a response within 5 minutes and had to move under a scaffolding next to the wall to avoid getting so wet. Marcos told me that the place where we were sleeping was the epicenter of people who have a drug addiction and the movement of people walking blindly to the dark corner of our side did not stop until 4 in the morning when I finally fell asleep until the 8h16. Fortunately, one of the volunteers of #HomelessEntrepreneur, Laura looked for us to give us breakfast at 9h40.
It was time to start the third stage of #TodosDurmiendoEnLaCalle, to make citizens aware so we gradually walked towards Plaça Sant Jaume where we put ourselves in strategic places to communicate better with the people who were walking around.
I was approached Koldo Blanco, councilor in Barcelona, and we had the opportunity to meet in person for the first time after meeting us on Twitter previously. If each politician showed the same interest and listened in the same way, homelessness would not exist in Barcelona in 5 years.
.@koldoblanco y @barea_julia conociendo la labor de @homelesspreneur a través de Andrew Funk #HomelessEntrepreneur pic.twitter.com/sjtSl9iGU0
— Cs Ciutat Vella BCN (@cs_ciutat_vella) November 12, 2016
We said goodbye and went to a press conference. By instinct, I followed him because the interest to listen has to be mutual or it should be. So I went to listen to your party's press conference in front of the Ajuntament de Barcelona. At the end of the intervention, I had the pleasure of speaking with two people I knew on Twitter but not yet in person: Carina Mejias e Inés Arrimadas. Another example of how politics should be when its citizens want to communicate to change their community. Andrzej spoke with Inés in English and recommended him Barka.
.@InesArrimadas y @CarinaMejias con Andrew Funk de @homelesspreneur hablando sobre la labor de #HomelessEntrepreneur pic.twitter.com/mtFnrYZHX7
— Cs Ciutat Vella BCN (@cs_ciutat_vella) November 12, 2016
It was approaching the 13h and another organization, CIEMEN, He came with loudspeakers and microphones to express his complaints and we decided to move to the next site because we do not intend to compete with such high waves.
We continue to the next place to create more awareness: The Cathedral of Barcelona. Just when I arrived, I found Carme Cachon on the stairs and I presented #HomelessEntrepreneur with a flyer. I asked him to take 5 minutes to see what we were doing to accelerate the process of eliminating homelessness in Barcelona and then he said goodbye in English.
We spent 2 and a half hours in front of the Cathedral and then went to Plaça Catalunya to sit on a bench, rest our feet and wait for the treasurer of #HomelessEntrepreneur: Angel Sole Muñoz. While we were waiting quietly, Andrzej brought us one of his homeless friends from Holland to talk about the possibility of entering the program. As soon as Angel arrived, I introduced him to the team and we went walking to have lunch in a soup kitchen because it is always open on Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. and on Saturdays at 5 p.m. We were very hungry and we were very tired. #TodosDurmiendoEnLaCalle is a very intense event and it tires a lot. The hours pass quickly from 7:30 p.m. on the first day until 2 p.m. the next but the last 5 hours and a half are killers and go slower than a snail napping. Finally we came to The Community of Sant Egidio where the director David welcomed us. Each new person has to conduct a 5-minute interview to receive their card. Here you have mine.
I entered the dining room and they assigned me a seat with 5 more men. On my left was Juan, the homeless person I met the previous night at the conference and 3 others playing among them in a very good mood. I ate a cream of first course carrots and second meatballs. The dessert was a super rich orange. I would have asked for two if I could!
We left from the soup kitchen and went to El Fornet to order 2 cafes with milk, a cappuccino and a red tea. We enjoyed the last hour talking about the points of improvement of the event and what went very well. We said goodbye at Carrer d'Avinyó and everyone went in a different direction with the same taste in their mouths: knowing that #TodosDurmiendoEnLaCalle will be the key to the change needed to accelerate the process of eliminating homelessness in Barcelona. First stage: learn; second stage: empathize; third stage: teaching.
This time we have been able to know one of the most conflictive parts of Barcelona and we hope that the 4th event will teach us much more!
We hope you will come to the next event that will be at Plaza Universitat on December 9th at 7:30 p.m.
