A story about homeless people in Berlin who manage to live their lives to the fullest without having lots of materialistic belongings. Most of them only share memories with the world, others spread their love or talent but all of them are happy!
These people live on the streets of Berlin, mostly alone but sometimes in small groups. Since there are only a few shelters in this area and even most of them only allow the homeless people to come there 40 days per year, the people who are living on the streets really have to survive on their own. Only if times really get tough, for example during a really cold winter, they will visit the shelter to have a warm place to sleep.
While talking to these people I noticed that they are actually really positive about their situation. Some of them chose to live on the streets while others didn't have a choice. But after all they don't really seem to have a problem with it, they just deal with the situation and try to make the best out of it.
Having a dog as a homeless person means that you will have a companion for life and with most of the people I talked to, companionship is just as important as food or shelter. Dogs provide love, companionship, protection and empower a person to focus on something else than negativity. Even I noticed the protection purpose of a dog while talking to a homeless guy in Berlin. I wanted to have a little chat with him about his life and view on everything and the dog was constantly looking at me with some kind of distrust in his eyes. Once I sat with them for about 30 minutes the dog accepted me and even laid on my lap to get a nice stroke on his belly.
Even when I offered them something to eat or drink after our conversation they would say no because they were already so glad to have somebody to talk to about life and share love and kindness with others.
What I mostly admire about these people is the fact that they are so happy with little things, even in a world where materialism is the norm.
