An unshakeable will

Sandra Junckel welcomes us in the premises of the Stëmm vun der Strooss in Luxembourg. She feels at home here. It must be said that she has known the association that helps the most disadvantaged for ten years. And with good reason. Following a particularly violent divorce, she lost everything. She found herself officially homeless for nearly five years, her children placed in a home, in short, a nightmare. From which she was able to recover and gradually got back on her feet. Sandra Junckel wanted to tell her story to show that even in a country like Luxembourg, it is possible to be turned around.

Married, with three children and a house on the other side of the Moselle, in Germany. Sandra was living a life that was quite ordinary for a Luxembourg family. But then her marriage broke down and the family fell apart, resulting in a very painful divorce. Sandra tried to support her three children, but ended up losing her home. She explains that as a result of domestic violence, she had to leave her house overnight. Her ex-husband still lives there, but he does not pay alimony for the children and has cut off all contact. He would never have tolerated having a disabled child, the couple's eldest. Sandra was placed in a hotel in the middle of winter with her children for three months, but not long enough to get her act together. Her three children were soon placed in a home, without her being able to intervene as she had no accommodation to take them in under good conditions. The divorce was particularly hard on her and affected her health.

Without a home, without her children, with health problems, Sandra decided to return to Luxembourg, hoping to get the help she needed. But she was to be very disappointed: "The procedures were very difficult. As I had left the country, it was as if I no longer existed. Without an address, it was impossible to get aid. The system finally pushed me down", she says. Although Sandra officially had no home, she was not homeless. She is angry with her family, but fortunately she was able to get support from her uncle. "My uncle was in Housing Fund accommodation, if he officially declared my presence, he would lost everything. So, I became illegal in my own country."