Here we go - another weekend, had dinner with friends last night, as always many questions about Calais which have prompted me to scribble a few words this morning...
Weekend in "The Jungle" is even more chaotic than during the week as hire vans full of donations pull onto the camp to distribute - people have the refugees interests at heart & many have driven from all over the UK & only spend an hour or two in Calais before going home again. Some of the donations have been badly sorted, some haven't been sorted at all, everyone is desperate, many have nothing, inevitably problems can arise, I have to admit that if I was a refugee I would certainly attempt to fight my way to the front of the queue, survival of the fittest. We found the best way to distribute & to reach those unable to be in the melee was to fill a bag with items: shoes, socks etc... & walk asking people as we went what they needed, this is obviously time consuming but does mean the old & infirm have some chance. It was during one of these walks that a young man approached & asked that I looked at his tent - he needed 4 pallets. We walked through the mess of broken tents, rubbish & raw sewage to arrive under the high bank which runs below the motorway, here is a line of small tents - the new arrivals. "When it rains the water pours down the bank & through our tent" the young man explained, "We need 4 pallets, there are 4 of us in here - two couples, a single mattress per couple, all we need is 2 pallets each to put our beds on" - such a heartbreakingly simple request & one we could grant. Soon a crowd grows as pallets like so many of the simplest things in "The Jungle" are a potential lifesaver - the difference between sleeping in water & not.... people wait patiently - "Come look at my tent, mami, come look" is the cry that is taken up, " I need a house - mami". Some only ask for a sheet of plastic to cover a badly leaking tent, some need a blanket, one woman has had a bag of pasta given to her & has no pot to cook it in, another asks for gas, she's obviously a city dweller & has no experience with cooking over an open fire, there's no wood anyway, a lot of people have been cooking over burning plastic for weeks now. So many requests, so many people reaching out, so few of us to help, the whole situation so unnecessary, all we can say is we'll be back later, we'll try to give you a house tomorrow Insha'Allah, the magical words that always bring a smile.
As we walk back through the filth we are constantly besieged by calls - "Mami come eat with us, come drink tea" Sadly as much as we'd love to there is never time - the generosity of those with nothing is never ending.
At the entrance to the camp is a large tour bus unloading 60 or so clean, well fed camera bedecked tourists - Poverty Tourism - apparently it's a growth industry.
There are too many facets to easily explain Calais. It contains all the horror & all the beauty of mankind. We as individuals can only do our utmost to help, we now have 4 more people who have volunteered their time to join us early next month, vehicles are steadily filling with donations, the kitty grows daily but we still need money - e80 will provide a shelter.
Please anybody in doubt about helping - put your politics aside for a moment - this is a humanitarian crisis a days drive from your door.
As always a massive thank you to everyone Laura & Sid x
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