THE
P RTAL
December 2015
Page 23
The library and school
at the Jungle
We have seen it on TV ... Fr Neil Chatfield went to see for himself
On 10th
October and again on 7th November, I visited the migrant camp in Calais called the
Jungle. I had heard many contradictory things about this camp. The Jungle is not a new phenomenon.
I made contact with those who work there, some for more than 20 years. The number of migrants has grown
enormously in the last couple of years, to an estimated 6,000 at present.
I enjoy camping, especially at music festivals, but am
glad of a bath or shower and a comfortable bed at the
end of a long weekend’s camping. The Jungle is similar
in that most people are sleeping in tents, often those
left behind at from music festivals, but camping in the
mud and cold for nine months to a year is normal for
the Jungle residents.
Heating, cooking, washing and toilet use are ongoing
problems. There is one toilet per 150-200 people. The
stand pipes for water are not near the chemical loos.
Hygiene is problematic. Warmth and cooking is mostly
by burning gathered scraps of wood, often difficult as
it is wet. Cholera and dysentery are a danger. Trench
foot and septic wounds are common. One meal a day
for about 1,500 residents is provided by the French
government; others rely on charities which regularly
hand out food.
Yet, despite the terrible conditions, the human spirit
is amazing. In the midst of this ‘Jungle’ little shops and
restaurants have appeared. There are two churches,
several small mosques, a library and a small school,
all run by the camp residents themselves. A part of the
camp has taken on the look of an African market.
There are a number of ways we can help:
Firstly, always pray - actions that arise out of prayer
and contemplation are enduring.
The charities rely on volunteers who give between
couple of days to several months. Most of the volunteers
are British doing both general work of sorting and
distributing, and with more particular skills such as
builders and teachers of languages.
Most of the camp’s residents are younger men but
Lobby the government to increase the number of
recently there have been more women and children as refugees to be admitted to this country.
well as young teenage boys who have travelled alone.
There is an obvious vulnerability for this group of people.
Can we as the Ordinariate r