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!"