Fully packed with wooden pallets on a lorry we made our way into the Jungle and delivered them to Soukabe* – a man organizing shelters for volunteers and events. Wood is a scarce resource, as it is needed for a few things: to protect tents from the cold ground, to cook, make fire and as a building material.
While walking through the jungle we discovered the self-organised structures that had been created. The refugees built up schools, bars, restaurants, kiosks, shower shops and a church.
This is a picture of “Resto du Monde” located in the middle of the Jungle and quite well visited. In front of the restaurant parked shopping trolleys and bikes.
Waste and clothes were lying on the paths, between houses and shops. A few dumps surrounded by fences were set up to collect the garbage. Medcine sans Frontière provided first aid and vaccinations in tents spread over the camp.
Back at the warehouse we helped to unpack a donation consisting of 4,000 winter boots and sorted them by size.
Please find attached a video dealing with the building of shelters and a linked funding appeal from l’Auberge des Migrants:
“SPONSOR A PALLET! Well, a refugee shelter, actually … or you could sponsor a padlock for the door, insulation for the roof, or even the nails! The official L’Auberge/Help Calais building programme is critically low on funding, just as the weather is getting colder. Please – why not just sponsor a pallet? (4 euro – specific ones are required, delivered regularly, so they cost 4 euro) Or a door is 18 euro – how amazing, to be able to provide a family who lost their original many months ago with their own front door once more! Can you help, right now? Can you get others to fundraise and help too? THANK YOU! Here’s the place to donate, where you can also find the full list of what different amounts of money can buy“:
https://www.youcaring.com/l-auberge-des-migrants-building-project-in-calais-480547
*name changed