"Stop the selfishness, I fight it every day!"

Photo and text by Emma E. Petersen

John is a man who plays the piano as you would never have heard before. He was raised in Alberta by his Norwegian mother and his African father, but he has lived in Vancouver since 1985. When John was a child, his mother introduced him to Mahalia Jackson, a very famous gospel singer.

 "While listening to the beautiful voice of Mahalia I was meanwhile very fascinated about the piano I could hear in the background. At one of Mahalia's records from 1948, she thanked the Good Lord for her talent. She inspired me, so I asked the Lord to teach me to play the piano, and so he did."

John is grateful for the gifts in life he has received; therefore, he gives back to the community. Besides playing the piano like a professional, John is a diploma chef. He owns a small catering company where he makes gourmet sandwiches, but he only sells the number of sandwiches necessary for him to make a living. He gives the remaining sandwiches to the homeless, and during winter when the temperatures are low, he sometimes invites the poor into his home so they won't freeze in the cold. 

"I was raised on a farm, and during my childhood, my parents taught me the core values of helping other people. I think that's the main reason why I can't walk by poor people and see how they are starving without helping them."

The situation of homeless people in Vancouver has escalated. There are over 2000 homeless people in the streets of Vancouver. John believes that as a society we have a responsibility to take care of each other. 

"I love the poor people, and I think that we have a responsibility as a society to take care of each other. More tolerance, in general, could be a solution to fight the homelessness." 

John thinks there is a problem in society nowadays as to how people raise their children. Parents have to be better at teaching the kids about tolerance; if we had more tolerance in the community, then we would probably be better at helping each other out. "Stop the selfishness; I fight it every day!"

While John was being interviewed a homeless man stopped by to thank him. To acknowledge the Sandwich-man, as he is known as in downtown Vancouver.