Monday, Sr. Sheena and I went back to a Sudanese tent we visited on Thursday. They had asked for some shoes so we brought a few pairs. Many are barefoot or wearing flip flops in the Jungle which has pathways strewn with broken glass and nails.
When we walked in we saw a younger looking guy we had not met sitting in a chair sporting a hat that said “Paris, the Pride of France. It looked brand new and still had a sticker on it. He was introduced as Sammy, and was reluctant to speak because he had little capability in French or English. Sammy is 16 years old and had just arrived in the camp the evening after we last left. None of the men in the tent (which sleeps 25) knew him, but they made room for him and a fellow 16 year old who also recently arrived.
Sammy was wearing a pair of croc-like rubber shoes that looked like they had walked from Sudan, through Egypt to Libya, then from Italy to Calais. We opened our bag and gave him a pair of size 41 sneakers…and his face lit up when he tried them on and he saw they fit. We also welcomed him with chocolates which we also gave to each of the men. Again, we shared where we came from and there were dreamy eyes and thoughts of America, a land they see as far beyond their reach but a place beyond their dreams.
In the discussion I shared that most Americans do not even know that the Jungles exists. And if any do, they think it is full of Syrians which it is not. These Sudanese are determined to get to the UK one way or another.
You have to consider what courage it took and what a push there was behind them to make two sixteen year olds from different parts of the Sudan to leave their families and homeland to try and reach the UK. Sammy has an uncle in the UK. But the only address he has is London. We are told that the families will give up their lives and fortunes to send a child away to start anew. Such is the violence, despair and death in Sudan.
The refugees have as utopian a view of England as they have of the United States. They do not realize that with the exception of a few communities they will be no more welcome there than they are here in Calais.
Yesterday, the Prefecture (administrator) of Calais declared there can be no more tents erected in the Jungle, and no more building. These Sudanese we visited just completed construction of a new house in their “compound.” The one we were sitting in will become a common kitchen and sitting area while the new structure will be for sleeping. Since Thursday my untrained eye noticed at least 15 tents that were new. There are people who left Syria, Sudan, Afghanistan or Iran 2-3 or 4 months ago with the hope of coming to Calais. They are determined; and I do not see how they will be turned away.
You can see why there is a constant tension in the Jungle. Violence breaks out some evenings usually after we have left and the fighting has been fairly limited. If the authorities continue to provoke the residents of the Jungle it is not hard to imagine more trouble may come.
Yesterday was also the Feast day of the Queenship of Mary. The Ethiopian and Eritrean church celebrates that feast after 12 days of fasting. We came to the church are near the end of our day and were given a plate of food immediately. “Eat! And celebrate with us!” Solomon, a lay church leader continued; “We want to celebrate in a real way, the right way, with a proper feast when we get to the UK, not with the little we have now.”
Faith has such power.
P.S. Sammy asked that his picture not be taken. The photos above are some of his tent mates.