A game with the kind cricketers of Dunkirk
Today I was watching a highly competitive cricket match between Afghan refugees in Dunkirk. It’s getting quite muddy now so I suppose their matches are going to become more difficult, but today they were doing ok. Some of them are really good players. I got talking to a young Afghan refugee called Ali about the T20 Cricket World Cup, which is is being played in Australia at the moment. He explained they were all following Afghanistan’s progress, “because for us, cricket is like football for you. It is everything to us. “That is why it’s good Care4Calais brings the ball, …
How a random act of kindness changed a life
Today I heard about a small act of kindness that made me proud to be volunteer with Care4Calais. One of our groups had heard about Sami, a 15-year-old asylum seeker who had been living in a hotel in their area for a whole school year. He was in school and working hard, but it had got to the point where he badly needed a laptop to keep up with his studies. Of course he didn’t have anyone with the money to buy him one, so he could have just ended up falling out of the system. Someone in the group …
Rob and Spencer’s story
When my friend Spencer and I went to volunteer in Calais, nothing could have prepared us for the shock of seeing the refugees’ living conditions. It was horrendous to see people living in the bleakness and cold, and incredible to think governments allow that happen. But as we were reeling from that, we got a shock that left us both close to tears. After helping to give out tents, we got chatting to an Afghan man who was there with his children. We talked a bit about his journey, and as he mentioned his wife in passing, I asked about …
Aiden of the Care4Calais Access Team
In February 2020, I did something that changed my life. I’d volunteered with Care4Calais in Calais, and back in the UK I found myself supporting a Kurdish refugee who was having a rough time. The Home Office had said he was over 18 years old when this was not true, and there was no way for him to appeal. I knew this was wrong, so I helped him to find a lawyer and go through the tortuous process of claiming asylum. It took a year, but we got his claim heard – and at last he was granted asylum. It …
Moj of the Access Team
A wise friend told me once that once you are successful you must put the money in your bank from your work, but you must also put a deposit in nature’s bank, and one day that will repay you too. So that’s what I am doing now. I work for Care4Calais as a volunteer interpreter. I do my everyday work from nine to five, and after that I put my phone down. But I’ve told the people at Care4Calais that they can call me anytime, day or night, even if I’m sleeping, and I’ll answer. I’m an interpreter for …
Pauline’s Calais diary – part one
A couple of days ago, we shared a brief story about Pauline, a retired teacher and grandmother. She’s been volunteering in France with Care4Calais for the last three weeks. Here is the first of several beautiful and heart-rending extracts from her Calais diary. April 1, 2020 — After preparing hot drinks and food packs in the morning, I left to take K* to the hospital for his appointment. The wound on his hand had festered and the clinic asked him to return after 24 hours. When I got to the camp, I couldn’t find him, but he was there, curled up …
Meet Qusay, a student with a bright future
Qusay is a student of Mechanical Engineering at Brunel University in London. He is due to hand in his dissertation this week and hopes to get a First and go on to study for a PHD. The 26-year-old arrived in the UK just over four years ago after a journey from his home in Ahwaz, Iran, which included being shot at, rowing for nine hours across the Aegean, and living in a makeshift tent in Dunkirk for three months. Qusay left Iran at the age of 22 after campaigning for rights for the minority Arab group he belongs to drew …
WATCH: What do refugees think of the food packs?
On food distribution yesterday, we asked the refugees what they think of the food packs we give out. This is what they told us. Refugees and migrants in Dunkirk and Calais are under threat from Coronavirus (COVID-19) and also from lack of food. Please support our emergency appeal here. …
Meet Pauline, a grandmother on the front line
My name is Pauline and I am a 58 year old retired teacher and grandmother currently volunteering in Calais. Refugees currently residing in Northern France and Belgium are being further marginalised due to the Covid-19 crisis. We’re seeing instances of true hunger; drinking water supplies are in jeopardy; government and charitable provision is being cut back; and the gap between the fortunate and the unfortunate has widened. Like many others, I find such disparity unacceptable and Care4Calais has given me an opportunity to act, to stay ‘on the right side of history’, and to enrich my own life with a …
