The journey is hard, but we’re there for them
Yesterday 116 refugees in three three boats came ashore at Dungeness. We understand that that everyone on the first two boats was from Syria, and the people in the the third were from Kurdistan and Afghanistan. There were a lot of women and children on the first two boats, including some children who were unaccompanied. Many people looked cold and exhausted, and some were upset and confused – some much that it tore at your heart to see them. There was one family with a small boy and a lady who was just crying uncontrollably. She was obviously in shock, …
Sami’s story
I came from Afghanistan to the UK, and it took me two years. It began on a normal day in my village. I was at school studying. My parents and small brother had gone to a wedding in the city, Jalalabad. The city was a few hours away and they had to get back before dark. Life in Afghanistan was so dangerous for normal people. No one went out at night. There was no law or order, people did what they wanted. That included shooting at cars for target practice. Any car. They didn’t care. That day, someone shot …
Ramadan Mubarak
In Calais, many refugees are observing Ramadan now, and it’s not easy for them. Abdul, a refugee from Sudan, told me that back at home, it was hard to fast all day too. But he loved food and eating, and when the sun went down, it was good to choose what he would break his fast with. In France, that was different. For one thing, the sun goes down later, so the days are longer. But worse than that, it’s difficult to make sure there is anything at all to eat at night. He just tries to get through …
This note would brighten anyone’s day!
This little note really cheered me up today. I was sorting shoes and trainers that have been donated to refugees when I came across this little handwritten note stuck in a pair of boys school shoes. “My name is Mark,” it read. “And I really do hope that these shoes go a long way to changing your life.” Just a few words, but a moment of thoughtfulness that says a lot about the compassion of the young man who had sent them. Refugees have often had to leave their homeland with nothing but the clothes on their back, and …
The refugee i met in Calais was 16
I noticed the young refugee helping the C4C volunteers on our distribution in Dunkirk, and I realised he was smaller than most of us. But it was raining heavily, and I couldn’t see his face well; it was only later that I realised how young he was. He was helping us to pick up litter at the end. I got chatting to him, and he told me was from Egypt, and was just 16 years old. I felt so shocked and heartbroken for him; at that age he should have been in school, and being looked after, not here …
Our volunteers helping amid terrible conditions
In the last 24 hours our volunteers in Calais have made us so proud with their incredible hard work to help refugees in a desperate situation. It has been literally freezing in Calais and Dunkirk, with snow on the ground and a wind chill lowering temperatures to minus five. Human beings should not be outside at all in such conditions, let alone sleeping rough and living in tents, as refugees are. A large gym in Dunkirk has been opened to provide shelter for about 200 refugees, but that is not nearly enough. And as if this were not bad …
Zoran’s story
When Zoran was a young boy growing up in Iran, his mum and dad were murdered by the government for their political views. His grandfather raised him in a small, remote village where Zoran got no schooling. Bring Kurdish, Zoran was part of a persecuted minority with little chance of a job. His parents’ deaths marked the start of years of unhappiness and depression for Zoran, and being isolated and persecuted in the village only made things worse. He knew he had to escape. Aged just 16 he left home to search for a safe future with the chance …
This is Why Phones Are So Important to Refugees
“There are two ways to get to the UK, by lorry or boat. Both ways, you could be killed. I don’t want to take either, because I am so afraid of losing my life. But my family spent all their money to get me to safety. So what I can do? I must go on.” This is how Osama from Sudan described his life in Calais to me. I was sitting at Osama’s campfire after distribution one evening with some of his friends. They’d built the fire where they were living, in some scrub land in the hope the police …
Welcoming Refugees in Kent
On Thursday about 60 people arrived together on two dinghies on the shore at Dungeness. Most were from Syria, Kuwait and Iran. There was a woman with a young child aged between one and two years old among them, and everyone looked so cold and exhausted by the journey it was painful to see. Most of their shoes and socks were ruined, all wet and sandy, so I gave out sliders. The Dungeness beach is rocky, and painful on feet, so they make a big difference. I couldn’t believe how polite and kind they were even in this situation. …
Susan’s story
Last November, I received an ecstatic message from Susan, a Kenyan asylum seeker who I’d been supporting. She’d finally been granted asylum after waiting months for a decision. I remember thinking this was our “happy ending” at last. What I came to learn is that life rarely resembles a fairy-tale. I first met Susan at a weekly C4C drop-in session during lockdown in early 2021. She had asked for a blanket and some clothes. She was polite but distant, not ready to trust us quite yet. There was also a fragility about her, and I kept gently …