When I met the first homeless here, I was confused. It was in January this year, about one week after I arrived by invitation of the Hamburg Foundation and GEO magazine. Under the Lombards Bridge, I saw some people who were obviously sleeping there. I asked a friend who they were. It shocked me that they were homeless people. Why are there homeless in one of the richest countries of the world? 

I don’t know a lot about the circumstances of poverty and homelessness in Germany. But whatever stands behind it: The begging child I met with his father affected me a lot.  I believe that here, with a lot of money in the background, a job, care and support could be given to many people. Someone who sells a paper like Hinz & Kunzt, for example, doesn’t have to beg. Someone who has to beg cannot build up self-confidence and has no perspective for the future.