Words by Smiley Team
Spending winter surrounded by cold, wet mud is probably not most people’s preferred way to spend winter. But sisters Miriam, 23, and Lydia Instone, 26, from North Manchester, will do just this.
By volunteering for the Refugee Community Kitchen in Calais this December, they hope to support those fleeing difficulty abroad.
“I just think, I’m in a position to help people, and I know that if they were in the same position, they’d do the same for me,” Miriam says.
Her sister Lydia adds: “I am travelling to the kitchen to rediscover the power of collective action and community organising, and to understand better what is happening in Calais, what our futures might look like, and what I can do.”
Already Lydia has left for Calais, where Miriam will join her a week later. In the kitchen, they will chop fruit and vegetables, cook, serve food, wash up and clean the cooking facilities. A local household has offered them somewhere to stay.
[Read more positive news from Smiley Movement about the people and organisations doing their bit]
While this is Lydia’s first time in Calais, Miriam has already volunteered there twice before.
“People are living in abject squalor in Calais,” she recalls. “It’s horrific. The conditions are so bad compared to what they’re used to, too. Because often conflict has forced them to leave places like Kurdistan or Syria, from relatively affluent or established households. Yet, despite what they've had to leave behind, they remain polite and kind.”
She hopes that by volunteering, she and her sister will be able to make some small difference for these displaced people. “I think it's essential that they at least have access to some nourishing, hot food while the local authorities are destroying their tents and moving them on every day.”
Just after over 30 people died attempting to cross the channel, and while France argues with the UK over who is responsible for these refugees, Miriam and Lydia hope to appeal to people’s humanity.
She adds: “It's absolutely vital to humanise and see individuals who are there, otherwise we’ll never fully be able to understand the problems more and more people face around the world.”
To help provide hot food to people in Calais, donate to the Refugee Community Kitchen.
Find more information and sign up to volunteer at refugeecommunitykitchen.org.
