{"id":146048,"date":"2022-11-04T15:28:39","date_gmt":"2022-11-04T14:28:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=146048"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:26:29","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:26:29","slug":"emma-worked-in-a-refugee-camp-near-calais-even-after-two-years-things-havent-changed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2022\/11\/04\/emma-worked-in-a-refugee-camp-near-calais-even-after-two-years-things-havent-changed\/","title":{"rendered":"Emma worked in a refugee camp near Calais: ‘Even after two years, things haven\u2019t changed’"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2021, Emma Westenberg (International Business Administration student) spent two months volunteering at the Calais Food Collective<\/a><\/u>, an organisation that distributes food to refugees trying to get to England. With a team of only fifty volunteers, they would serve as many as 300 migrants.<\/p>\n

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Emma and her colleague Beth at work near the camp.<\/span><\/p>

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Emma Westenberg.<\/span><\/p>

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Emma yearned to find work at a non-governmental organisation before starting university, but it proved difficult. \u201cNGOs don\u2019t have time to search for volunteers, there is too much to plan: when should we meet, do you need a visa, how soon can you get here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead of finding an NGO, Emma reached out to Indigo Volunteers<\/a><\/u>, an organisation that matches volunteers with NGOs based on their skills and interests. \u201cIndigo connected me with Calais Food Collective because I speak French and English. I\u2019ve always wanted to work in the humanitarian sector so it was a nice way to start\u201d.<\/p>\n

A tarp and two sticks<\/h2>
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Packing onions with Alicia, from bulk items to smaller bags to more easily distribute them when on the field<\/span><\/p>

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Calais is a city in France across the Channel from the United Kingdom, connected to it by train and boat \u2013 a perfect pit stop for migrants to replenish their bodies with fresh food. Calais Food Collective worked in a refugee camp based on a large field away from the city center. She would roll a wheelbarrow into the field filled to the brim with boxes of grains, vegetables, and fruits. Working 12-hour days alongside the other volunteers, she would distribute the food on a field where migrants had set up camp with a tarp and two sticks beneath the few bushes.<\/p>\n

The migrants set up their own camp in groups, and the volunteers, early in the morning, made a map of all the areas they stayed in to estimate the food supply that they needed.\u00a0 Emma explained, \u201cWe packed boxes with different ingredients for them to cook themselves, we wanted to promote individualism\u201d. And of course, there were favourites, \u201cSardines, bread and oil was the shit. People went crazy for bread.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police evictions<\/h2>
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A vandalised water can at the camp.<\/span><\/p>

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The refugees were pushed from the city center as far as possible, because Calais is, according to Emma, \u2018not proud\u2019 of the high influx of migrants. \u201cPolice evictions happened every 48 hours, it would become a daily routine where migrants would pick up their tents, travel 8 kilometres in the other direction, only to come back the next day\u201d. If this wasn\u2019t bad enough, the police, or residents of Calais would cut holes in the buckets that held fresh water for the migrants.<\/p>\n

Coming from Canada and seeing such a stark contrast in lifestyle was not easy. After each session the volunteers had a debrief session to comprehend distressing situations. \u201cWhen I told the refugees I was from Canada, men asked to marry me. They said it as a joke, but some asked seriously, so I could sign their papers and told me to ask Justin Trudeau for their citizenship.\u201d It was difficult to find a reply. \u201cWhat was I supposed to reply? Good luck? I would say no, but they kept pushing and asking why.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other hand, there were celebratory moments. For Emma, it was easier to relate to migrants on the topic of football, as she is passionate about it. \u201cIt was 2021, so we screened the European Championship final between Italy vs. England \u2013 and all of them wanted England to win because they wanted to get there. They already felt proud towards the country\u201d. Although England lost, the fact that \u2018everyone surrounded the screen together \u2013\u00a0 including the volunteers \u2013 was really beautiful\u2019.<\/p>\n

Future ambitions<\/h2>
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Food for the migrants in the Calais camp.<\/span><\/p>

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While the work could be extremely rewarding, Emma felt like she was never doing enough. \u201cYou\u2019d think that with two months of me working there, things would change. But no, even after two years, things haven\u2019t changed\u201d. Emma keeps in contact with fellow volunteers and explains the \u2018vicious circle\u2019 that they are trapped in \u2013 they still serve as many migrants as they did when she worked there. \u201cNothing will change until policies and institutions are modified\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be involved in humanitarian work and change something.\u201d Emma wants to pursue her master\u2019s in humanitarian work, so she can come back and make a real difference in the way policies are made. She also hopes to create a platform similar to Indigo volunteers, but for students.<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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