It all started in front of the Mobile World Congress with the speakers tonight waiting patiently: Marc Simón ( La Caixa Foundation ), Carmen de Rivera i Pla (Member of Parliament of Catalonia ), Guillem Fernàndez ( Coop 57 ), Monica Chitnis (Tesseract Talent) and Marcel Abbad Sort ( Fundació Oportunitats). We were going to talk about three very important issues: Mobile, banking and the social economy.
We also launched the United Homeless Bank to offer a macro-solution that will stimulate the economy of the homeless community. Mr. Simon explained in detail how it works Incorpora from La Caixa Foundation to support labor integration; the Ms. Rivera i Pla explained the Sol·licitud of compareixença d'una representació de l'Entrepreneur Association davant the Comissió Homeless d'Afers Socials i Famílies perquè expliqui les activitats de l'Associació; Mr. Fernàndez explained the importance of ethical and supportive financial services; Ms. Chitnis explained how we can increase the happiness and effectiveness of homeless people by improving the process of professional reintegration; and Mr. Sort explained how he generates opportunities by granting Social Microcredits to those people who can not resort to traditional banking. Three of the Entrepreneurs Without a Roof made a presentation during the conference: Vincent explained how the phone allowed him to teach English via Skype; Paco explained how he got a full-time job as a web developer after 3 years without a roof and without work thanks to our association; and Andrzej explained his plans as a masseuse as soon as he receives a large donation to start working and to buy a portable massage table. Thanks to this conference, you will receive this stretcher within a week and you can start your professional activity again.
As always, we took a picture at the end of the conference on the street to remember the moment. We must thank our Director of Photography, Jose Sanabria , who always accompanies us to document our event with images.
Once the photo was taken, we did the same as any other person after work: we look for dinner food. We were very lucky in this event because we have the contribution of L'Hospitalet Experience .
We dined some chorizo andwiches and took mini-bottles of melacotón, pineapple and orange juice while most of the participants went home little by little. We had the pleasure of having the presence of Xiana Siccardi of Spanish National Radio who gave us an interview that you can listen to here (00: 00-13: 20) for the Gente Despierta program with Carles Mesa . She was the last to say goodbye and we only had 4 people to "sleep" in front of the Mobile World Congress: Marta, Ana, Vincent and me.
We managed to rest 90 minutes until 6 police officers woke us up again. They explained to us that they would have to fine us if we did not move quickly. Out of curiosity I asked them how much the fine would be ... The first policeman did not know how to respond and asked his superior who answered "500 €." I asked him how will they fine a homeless person if he could not pay for this? and he answered that nothing happened because they are insolvent. Then I asked him again and when they leave his situation what? Obviously they would have to pay for it. Personally I think it is a death sentence or at least a sentence to the street that does not allow them to move forward.
These conversations bother me a lot but I have learned to focus my energy in another direction rather than argue with them because it will not change anything and will probably end in a fine. So I looked for a place to throw the cardboard we used as our bed but there were no containers for security reasons so I had to leave it by the exit of the IKEA trucks. Naturally we went to breakfast with the coins that we threw in our glass at night while we were sleeping. Guess where. Yes, McDonalds for breakfast: some coffee and McMuffin with sausage and egg. There was a group of hotel protesters with STOP shirts that we crossed with the desire to make a noise in front of the MWC. It's a different way of expressing yourself. We like to "protest" with smiles and good morning because it works better for us.
We started to say hello to the MWC participants at 8:30 am, knowing that there were 11 hours to finish our action. A cardboard banner weighs little if you want to raise it over your head but holding it like that for so many hours is a marathon that few would dare to carry out.
You can not even imagine the mental tide of greeting a wave of participants in the entrance / exit of an event where some 100,000 people make their appearance. How can you get your attention in front of an attraction like the Mobile World Congress? It is simpler than it seems. It is called the human factor and have a quick vision. I decided to put my theory into practice and that's how it was. First step, a smile; second step, look at the badge identifying the congress; and third step, say, "Good morning Francesc!" A little surprised, he stopped and said, What's up? and he took a micro from Radio Catalunya to interview me. First exam approved so I indicated our strategy of the day to the team and talked to many people throughout the morning. I also got to talk with Jordi Besde Nació Digital and we agreed that the mobile phone is basic to get off the street. He wrote down a part of our conversation in his article " Modèle al metro:" L'organització del Mobile ens aniria molt bé every day. "" So much energy and so many conversations took us to lunch and specifically to Gastro Burger because thanks to Your invitation as a sponsor we could have food.
We ate during a 30-minute break and continued with our action. Since I could feel my arms again, I started communicating with the participants again. I had the pleasure of speaking with Jordi Sancho, Project Manager of Catalonia Trade & Investment, who showed interest in hearing our story. We chatted for a few minutes and we said goodbye; I met Marc Ambasna-Jones, a journalist from The Guardian Tech and Media, IDG Connect and The Register, with whom I had a very optimistic conversation that added to an article his opinion on IGD Connect with the title "Barcelona breathes deep on Mobile World Congress optimism ; " I also met again with the journalist of La Sexta, Diego Sanchez Martinez, who reviewed our conversation on his own blog with the title "The Mobile of Entrepreneurs Without a Roof ; "and, of course, a foreign participant invited me to explain our initiative via Facebook Live.
The day began to turn into night and this meant one thing: The first day of the Mobile World Congress was about to end and our event #TodosDurmiendoEnLaCalle also. In an intense way, everyone was returning to their homes and their hotels. It was our last attempt to communicate with MWC participants and we took advantage of every conversation. The most remarkable was with a man from the USA who just sold his company to AT & T. He was sitting on the chair of his yellow bicycle and I was leaning on my banner with one arm to rest. He told me that he collaborated with an NGO, Warriors4Wireless, which focused on the talent of ex-military men who wanted to re-educate themselves professionally. We were two humans without mobile and without luxury transport talking in front of a fair that moved about 465 million euros in less than a week on the importance of talent and human connectivity that can create job opportunities and roof. Mobile can end homelessness only if people want to participate. I hope this is the case and that we will be able to provide roof and work for 100 homeless people thanks to # MWC18. If you want to help us carry it out, do not hesitate to contact us .
We are currently looking for 1) Funds 2) Collaboration and 3) Increase our network of professionals who want to accelerate the process of eliminating homelessness. If you want to be part of #HomelessEntrepreneur you can 1) support us financially with a transfer to IBAN ES78 0081-1699-53-0001058408 (Swift Code: BSABESBB) 2) contact us to join the team or a project3) introduce ourselves to someone who might be interested in supporting us financially or with their knowledge. We would like to remind you that this action of #TodosDurmiendoEnLaCalle will accelerate the process of providing shelter and creating work for the homeless. After collecting everything at 8:30 pm, the space where we spent 24 hours without a home was exactly as before, with no one sleeping on the street, and we hope that all citizens, businesses and the government will put their batteries in order for us to take a photo from the place where they sleep in the streets of Barcelona without them in 2022. We hope you will come to the next event that will start in Valencia during Las Fallas on March 17 at 7:30 p.m. We invite you to help us pay the round trip transportation with a donation (ES78 0081-1699-53-0001058408) if you want to help us accelerate the process of eliminating homelessness. We do not need anything else since the hotel on the street is free and the food will be obtained through the will of the same people during the event ;-)
And above all, thank you very much for your support! A big hug, Andrew Funk The President of #HomelessEntrepreneur "Talent can change your life" Mobile: +34 697 877 089