An Account of a Jungle Volunteer

by Zainab Shaikh


Some words from one of our volunteers who went to the 'Jungle' in Calais & Dunkirk.
"More people would skip past a reminder of humanity than a photo of Kim Kardashian changing her hairstyle. 
I know people don't like seeing people in pain, therefore I won't put one of those guilt tripping photos of a child escaping a bomb blast in Syria, or a man screaming whilst being crushed by a building. But I will tell you that it has been 5 YEARS that this has been going on.
Getting money to go straight to the suffering people has been deemed almost impossible, although we are still trying our best. However I went to the refugee camps in Calais and Dunkirk in France, and was so shocked by the living conditions even the people who think they have escaped face. This was one of the better camps where they at least had a plastic tent to cover them although they still slept in a swamp. Kids were running around this barefoot - I was wearing at least 7 layers and was still FREEZING.
I know everyone says 'I can't afford anything', but do you not still have bed-covers at night? Do you not have a coat for when it's slightly cold? But these people don't even have a mat to cover the mud they sleep on. These people don't have any defence against any kind of disease. Hands International is a Non-Profit organisation trying so hard to make a difference, it's a registered, tax exempt charity working alongside MCEC Palmers Green Mosque who funded the project - this is also a registered charity.

Thanks to them both, 4,028 residents of these camps have been vaccinated so far. Go to their websites, www.handsinternational.org.uk/…/label/Projects%20in%20Calais and mcec.org.uk/index.php and you can enquire or see exactly what they are doing. To donate to these refugee camps please donate athttp://www.handsinternational.org.uk/p/donate.html?m=1 or donate directly to MCEC and the money will be distributed. Thank you, (a prayer for them counts too) 
 Im so sorry for the lengthy paragraph 😅 but please share the links!"

CALAIS UPDATE - NO DEMOLITION OF NORTHERN SECTION OF CAMP

This afternoon the Prefecture officially announced to the Associations working in the Calais camp that the proposed demolition of the northern section of the camp will not go ahead.
The demolition of the Southern section of the camp was completed on Wednesday this week. The only structures remaining are Jungle Books Library and School, the Ethiopian Church, Baloo's Youth Centre, the Hummingbird Clinic and the Information Centre where the hunger strikers are currently based.
Over the last couple of weeks many refugees have left the camp but the majority have moved into the northern section. Some services, such as the Women and Children's Centre and Ashram Kitchen have also relocated to the North.
The Prefect has requested collaboration with the Associations on ensuring sufficient facilities for residents in the North since many of those in the southern part are no longer accessible.
We intend to conduct a new census next week to ascertain the total remaining number of residents in the camp and to map key areas, with a particular focus on the locations and needs of the most vulnerable.
We will also be building 2 new distribution points so that we can continue to distribute regularly and in a dignified manner.
We are particularly relieved that the hundreds of unaccompanied minors are not being evicted and sent to unknown destinations without proper assessments and safeguarding. We continue to campaign for the children who have legal rights under Dublin III to be reunited with their families in the UK.
We hope that the French Authorities abide by this decision.

An estimated 12.6 million deaths each year are attributable to unhealthy environments

An estimated 12.6 million people died as a result of living or working in an unhealthy environment in 2012 – nearly 1 in 4 of total global deaths, according to new estimates from WHO. Environmental risk factors, such as air, water and soil pollution, chemical exposures, climate change, and ultraviolet radiation, contribute to more than 100 diseases and injuries.

Projects In Pakistan

For past 37 years Hands has been working in Pakistan to support suffering people in times of natural and man-made disasters as well as uplift the economic and educational standard of common man through our 'Integrated Model of Community Development'

Following are our ongoing projects in Pakistan:

1.   Primary Health Care (MARVI):
HANDS selects a village based girl and trains (2 months) her as a Community Health Worker (MARVI worker). 510 MARVI workers have been trained and are providing health services in their respective villages. The total cost of her services per year is £950 to serve a population of 1,000.

2.   Train a Midwife:
 HANDS Community Midwifery Schools are equipped to conduct hospital based 18 months diploma course for matriculate (10 years of studies) girls. They are later deployed in their respective villages for maternal and child healthcare services. HANDS has trained 356 community midwives. The total cost for diploma per CMW is £2000.

3.   Save the Life of Mother:
The high risk pregnant women referred to a private secondary/tertiary care health facility for management of complicated deliveries. HANDS voucher redeeming scheme saves the life of the mother by reimbursing the cost of management to hospital on behalf of poor mothers. HANDS has benefited 2643 pregnant women from this scheme. The cost of each redeeming voucher is £88.

4.   Build a Model Hospital:
The organization has plans to build 54 HANDS owned 20 beds private hospital by 2020. Each hospital will benefit a population of 75000. The total cost of construction of a hospital, with one year recurrent cost is £9000.

5.   Take care of Early Childhood Development (ECD):
The ECD model of HANDS, prepares children for primary education. ECD class comprises of a furnished room for 30 children 3-5 years of age. HANDS train the community based girl in specialist skills of childhood development. HANDS is managing 119 ECD schools and is benefiting more than 12000 children. The cost of developing 30 children is £1950 per year.
.
6.   Adopt a Primary School:
HANDS has facilitated many families to adopt public sector school. These schools are adopted by signing an agreement with education department of the government. HANDS renovates the schools, furnishes it, trains teachers, provides supplies and enrolls minimum 100 children. HANDS has intervened in 1304 schools. The cost of adopting a school for one year is £2600.

7.   Established a Model School:
The organization will establish 54 HANDS own 7 rooms school by 2020. Each school will cater for more than 150 primary school children. The total cost of construction of school, with one year recurrent cost is £38250.
.
8.   Shelter for the homeless:
HANDS provides one room shelter to  homeless families. The shelter comprises of a room, a veranda and a toilet. The construction material and design vary from district to district. HANDS has built 74,347 one room shelters. The cost of a shelter is £200 to £950.
             
9.   Safe Drinking Water:
HANDS also runs safe drinking water schemes, through provision of hand pump and boring. HANDS have established 2386 hand pumps. The cost of each water scheme varies from £88 to £530.

10.  Community Physical Infrastructure (CPI):
These schemes comprise of village level infrastructure like street pavement, culverts, water reservoir and drainage. 3549 schemes have been developed. The average cost of CPI is £176 per infrastructure.
              
11.  Poverty Eradication through Self Employment
The needy people are assessed and provided skill training for enterprise. Later financial support is provided to establish small business.
The average cost for each person's training for self employment is £250.

12.  Support us in building Institute of Community Development
The organization is already in process of constructing the HANDS Institute of Community Development. The Institute will benefit nearly 10,000 individuals per year of urban and rural population for skills development. HANDS has already purchased 6 Acres of land and construction has started on Super Highway Karachi adjacent to Baqai University. The total construction and furnishing cost is £1164800.