My name is Leszek – but I am known as Less

I am 53 years old and I come from Poland. My wife left me a few years ago and took my children away from me. I was devastated for a long period of time, and I did not know what to do. One day a friend of mine told me that he was going to Denmark, and that it was possible to make a lot of money there. He asked me if I wanted to come with him. He told me that Denmark was a wealthy country, and we would be able to make a lot of money there.

For a few weeks I was employed in a carpenter’s company, and they promised me 80 dkkr. per hour. But time went by I did not get paid. I was told that Denmark is a law-abiding country, so I asked my employer if something had gone wrong, since I hadn’t gotten my pay check. He fired me instantly, and never got any money. 

But things got worse now that I was unemployed in a foreign country. I needed a Danish bank account number to give to the employers, but the different banks wouldn’t set one up for me, because I needed a Danish Social Security Number. But I needed a job to get my residence permit and that was also why I couldn’t get a Social Security Number. Then I ran out of money and I couldn’t pay my rent, and I ended up in the streets. 

Now that I was living in the streets, it was even harder for me to find a job, and it was so difficult for me to figure out the Danish system. I felt that I was rejected everywhere I went. I am not allowed to stay in shelters, because apparently I am living here illegally, but the winters are cold in Denmark, and I am always looking for a warm place to sleep for instance on benches in train stations or in unlocked stairways.

It is hard for me to find enough money to get a proper meal, so sometimes I steal. I always feel bad when I steal, because I want to be a law-abiding citizen with a real job and a home. I really want a normal life, but I am afraid to go back to Poland, because I have even less there.
I was told that I could get a better life in Denmark than in Poland, and I hope that some day it will come true.

Sara - a student in Social Work - has written a life story for each of the sculptures made so far. She has based the descriptions on the lives of foreign homeless people in Copenhagen.