INSP Advent Calendar: day 16

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. fiftyfifty’s Rudolph enjoys music most while cooking.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. Faktum vendors Bernhard and Carlos talk about their distinctive choices.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. Factor S vendor Alberto talks about the tune he chose.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. Draussenseiter vendors Lothar and Linda have very different ideas about the kind of music they find meaningful.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. Nine bodo vendors contributed songs, and here they talk about some of the reasons behind their choices.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. BISS vendor Toni dedicates this John Denver track to his late girlfriend.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. Dave from Big Issue North dedicated this song to his heroic fellow vendors.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. Big Issue vendor Lee stuck with a Christmas classic.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. The Big Issue Korea’s Hong-Wu Moon has gone for a traditional Korean folk tune.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. Teruo, who sells The Big Issue Japan, selects Japanese guitar maestro Masayoshi Takanaka.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. Sue, who sells The Bis Issue Australia in Melbourne, chose the late Aretha Franklin’s rendition of ‘Amazing Grace’.

Mauricio Rosas is a Mi Valedor vendor who has experienced both homelessness and addiction. He started experimenting with drugs and alcohol while he was a teenager and went on to rely on alcohol to feel better. It was when Rosas first went to the offices of Mi Valedor that he realised that he needed help. Now that Rosas has made positive changes in his life, he feels that he has been reborn and urges those in need of help to reach out for the support that they need.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. Apropos vendor Eduard wants to give the gift of Bavarian yodelling this Christmas.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. Aurora da Rua vendor Luís talks about his choice, the traditional bloco-afro song ‘Revolta do Olodum’.

Each year, INSP puts together a hugely popular feature for the festive period that is focused on street paper vendors from around the world. Too often, vendors are reduced to the problems they face. While it’s important to confront the issues vulnerable people deal with daily, sometimes we can miss the little things that make us all, homeless or not, who we are. So, this year we asked something a little different of vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure.

Larmarques Smith moved to Denver two years ago. Haunted by the death of his partner from an over-dose, Larmarques found it impossible to stay in Indiana, despite the fact that he had built a life for himself there. Living on the streets has been tough for him, as those around him have no knowledge of what he has been through. This is precisely what motivates Larmarques to reach out to others: he hopes to provide them with the sort of support that he himself is looking for.