Not having a home?

Dear Marije,

I read your letter in awh. It sounds like a wonderful moment you had with that woman.
I think it’ll be a picture that she’ll cherish forever..

You said that the woman looked like she probably didn’t own more than the clothes on her body. And as of by chance I’ve also really been thinking very much about people who don’t have a house, a place, a safe haven to come home to after a long day. I’ve seen so many homeless people on my trip through Europe and especially when we were in Paris for 7 hours it really struck me. This homeless guy sat in front of us, and I started thinking about what it must be like having to ask for money, sitting on the corner of a street with 2 plastic bags filled with all that you own. Maybe he’s also a dad, well he most certainly is someones son.
I don’t think that someone sets out to become homeless, it just ends up that way.
What if people die while living on the streets, what is that like, how can you handle living in such anonimity?

While eating some ice cream in Florence, there was also a homeless man asking for money. Every single person walked by him like they didn’t even notice him. Not even a smile, an ‘I’m sorry I don’t have any cash’, nothing. Then out of nowhere another homeless woman came up to him, she didn’t own anything more than the man did, but she was the one to give him an apple. This woman who has barely anything, shared everything that she could.

I’ve been in The Netherlands for a little over a week now, and as you know I participated in a documentary course. We had to make a short documentary and I decided to dedicate mine to be about a homeless guy. Together with Jesper from Denmark and Justin from Congo, I interviewed and tried to catch the story of what this guy wanted to tell. It’s become something I’m quite happy with, I felt like I could give this man a voice and I tried to catch his character as well as possible.
If you want to see what I made, you can find it here: https://youtu.be/C3xbVlAMj6k

So yes, I’ve been thinking about homeless people, but apart from that, the few days at home that I’ve had so far have been fun! I started creating my new room and I painted the walls already. It’s a fun thing to try to get cool furniture for as cheap as possible, and I must say that it’s worked out quite successfully so far. I might want to write a blogpost on how to find cute things for not a lot of money, cause let’s be honest, that’s what every single student struggles with.
And also, it’s been good to spend a few days at home with my dog and my mom. It doesn’t really happen that often anymore, so this is very nice.
How are you doing my dear? Hope you feel better and I miss you! It’s almost been a month and a half since I’ve seen you. And I just cannot believe that. How am I gonna cope when you’re gone for 6 months?!

Love you & can’t wait to hear from you!

Sanne