Rashid, 28

Rashid, 28

I’m from Mazari Sharif in Afghanistan, I haven’t been able to study because I have 3 brothers and 4 sisters so I had to work help provide for the family. I started working in a shop when I was 12 years old, then I started working as a taxi driver when I was 16 and after I worked as a chef in my brother’s restaurant, which I loved very much.

At the age of 14 the situation in my country was very dangerous because of the Taliban. The national army asked me to join them but as I don’t believe in violence and I refused their offer; then the Taliban asked me to join them as well. I had to leave the country and go to Iran because it wasn’t safe for me or my family anymore. I stayed in Iran for 4 years and I owned my own restaurant, but they never gave me a visa or passport.

One day I heard that Germany was opening the borders and I decided to start my trip to England. I paid 16,000$ to an agency to take me to France and then to England. I spent 5 months traveling by bus, train and walking through Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia, Austria and Germany, then I arrived at ‘The Jungle’ in Calaias. I’ve been here for 4 months now, living in a wooden shelter in the mud. My dream is to open a restaurant in London and cook Afghani, Greek, Irani, Turkish and English food for everybody and see them happy.

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About Care4Calais

Care4Calais was founded by a group of volunteers with the sole aim of supporting the people of the Calais refugee camps, providing fresh meals, warm clothing, heating and important legal and medical support.

We are not politicians – we are people like you who simply believe that every human has the right to be treated in a fair and dignified way.

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