Sales engineer with Veolia Water STI, sponsors the non-profit organization Autremonde (Another World) in Paris.

"As a student, I worked as general coordinator for the non-profit organizationFACE which managed a network of student organizations involved in variousfields including outreach and prevention. That was how I met the voluntarychairwoman of Autremonde. I joined the local team of volunteers a little overthree years ago. One evening a week, I'm on "truck duty". There are about 10 ofus in each truck and we park near one of the Paris railway stations - for methat's the Gare du Nord. Between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m.we welcome all-comers:young people, older people, French people, foreigners, homeless people... anyoneliving in precarious or isolated circumstances outside mainstream society who isseeking a little human warmth. They're not necessarily unemployed - some ofthem have jobs.We offer them coffee and pastries: it's just an excuse to talk,listen and re-establish contact. After a few weeks, when we have won their trust,we can direct them towards institutions or non-profit organizations that canhelp them deal with their problems. It's a great lesson in humility! Nobody cansay it will never happen to them - these days, anybody can end up on the street.I have met former lawyers and other solid citizens... Just listening to theirproblems, which generally nobody does, has changed my way of looking at them- and at myself too. It's the best way of understanding the distress of thesepeople who have lost everything."