Help if you can via this YouCaring crowdfunder and share this post.

These videos offer an inspiring introduction to the solidarity work around food in “the Jungle” camp in Calais, and those cooking, distributing and making it possible there for people to do this themselves as well. The refugees are from many places in the world, and it’s clear that most are fleeing terrible violence and have had quite a rough journey to get to where they now are.

Here’s a video showing how volunteers are working with the diversity and specificity of the people in the camp; you can feel the urgency:

 

This one shows the development of Kitchen in Calais:

 

This one what your group might want to contribute in terms of food donations:

——————

Lots of people seem to wind up on my blog, say the WordPress stats, looking for information about what Syrian refugees eat.  I have no personal knowledge about this, though I did a while back reblog some information that is now probably pretty obsolete pertaining to refugees in Lebanon.  That’s why you might end up here on my site.

I assume that people who ask these questions of internet search engines (maybe Siri can somehow learn as well) inquire from a place of compassion and concern, and perhaps the wish to contribute, donate, or volunteer.  Hence this post.

Some links:

Calaidipedia is a brilliant website for resources for people around Britain wishing to help– there’s a lot regarding the efforts of the different Calais Kitchens.

Here again is the link to the YouCaring crowdfunder:

https://www.youcaring.com/refugees-in-the-calais-refugee-camp-492878

Facebook seems to have proven useful for these groups:

Calais Kitchens

(Read and follow this powerful blog to learn what’s happening with these efforts.

Refugee Community Kitchen

One Spirit Ashram Kitchen

————-

Frequently Asked Questions regarding what to donate, how to sort and pack donations, how to work with structures that are developing in the camp, how to volunteer.

Current Needs as of the end of December including food and drink.

————————

Quoting from the FAQ, for the people asking search engines “What do refugees eat”:

Q Do the refugees have access to food other than donated food parcels?

A There is French government funding for one meal a day for 1,500 people at the Jules Ferry centre. The chefs stretch their budget and ingenuity as far as possible, but it is of course completely inadequate in a camp of the current size (in excess of 6000 people as of  Nov 2015) [Now in early Jan 2016 nearing perhaps 7,000.]

Essential elements of the overall food picture are the free kitchens on site. There, dedicated teams of volunteers and refugees cook huge quantities of food using donated goods. They can usually provide a late breakfast- at around 11am- of porridge and tea, and an early dinner at around 4pm of whatever has arrived. How many people they can feed and in what numbers is entirely dependent on the generosity of those who donate.

Periodically – usually at weekends – the camp receives deliveries of hot food. These are very welcome (and smell amazing!) but seem to have dropped off in numbers recently.

A number of refugees have set up thriving businesses- these shops and restaurants offer a range of meals from Afghan to Pakistani, fried chicken and packet food to terrifyingly sweet tea and hot cardamom flavoured coffee. There are lots now, and everyone has their favourites.

Many of the refugees have some money. They can go to local supermarkets, and some eat in the restaurants in town (in fact the French police targeted bistros around the main square in an immigration sweep recently). But it’s a long, cold walk and money is slowly starting to run out for many of them.

—————————