Volunteering in Northern France
CWR volunteer Noama used her Christmas break to volunteer in Northern France and shares her experience of frontline volunteering. You can sign up to volunteer with the organisation, Roots, or support them financially.
Front-line volunteering experience
I volunteered on the front line at a refugee camp over the Christmas holidays a couple of years ago. Many people travel to the north of France after fleeing their home countries in order to settle or in order to attempt the dangerous crossing to the UK, since they see no other routes.
The police continue to evict these vulnerable people from their camps.
I found Roots through Indigo Volunteers, which is a platform for volunteers to connect with grassroots organisations across the world. Roots provides humanitarian aid to people living in informal camps in an area near Dunkirk, France. This includes fundamental rights such as water, showers and electricity for the encampment. They rely heavily on donations to provide these life-saving services.
What were the people like?
Speaking to them, they had so much patience and it made me angry that they had to risk their lives and pay lots of money to cross the ocean just because they didn’t have my British passport. It made me really examine and think about borders and passports. I also met someone from my heritage who was trying to get across, which brought the situation home; the positions could have easily have been reversed. I was just born lucky. At the end of the day, we are all exactly the same – human beings. Why have we arbitrarily drawn lines on the earth – which we did not create, do not own – and restricted where some people can go and others can’t just because they were born somewhere?
Just recently one of the boats had killed some of the people that were here. One of them was showing me how he planned to hide in an engine room which could very well kill him if it went wrong. I also saw the option of a dinghy boat which would be crammed full where each person had to pay thousands of pounds just for an attempt – which was often unsuccessful. Some had tried about several times. They spoke of London, the UK, like a utopia, as they sacrificed literally everything to get there.
Some had family, or because people spoke English, or from what they’d heard from friends – often they had a reason that would lead them to the UK.
What did it involve?
It involved waking up early, loading portable showers (which were made out of recycled material like metal meshing and cartons), gazebos, razors, shaving cream, body wash, tanks of water and more to the vehicles, driving down to a marshland which had a gravel area smaller than a playground. It was often incredibly cold and wet, so we’d be wrapped up and booted. Then we had to set up the tents, including a generator, so there was electricity for them to charge their phones and connect to loved ones. We made a makeshift shower and shaving stations.
People were living in tents in horrendous weather, and there were even some children.
How did I find the experience?
There was no question this was a lifesaving organisation giving people basic human rights. As the French government are actively against the camps and regularly have police demolish and search the area, it was pivotal that organisations like this exist to provide these services.
It was a lot of manual labour, which was very exhausting and difficult – particularly due to the harsh weather. This was because we were setting everything and putting everything down daily, and helping keep the area tidy. It was difficult to leave knowing how much they needed volunteers and how necessary the organisation was on the front-line. It also felt pretty contrasting, how we could just get on a ferry with no questions asked, knowing what the people at the camp had to go through.
It was really nice talking and socialising with the refugees, which was the highlight of my experience, learning about their journeys and resilience. It was also a nice community of volunteers to socialise with - if we had the energy when we got back to the warehouse! It definitely made me want to volunteer abroad more through grassroots organisations.
What can you do?
A really important way you can help this community is by donating. Without the funds, they won’t physically be able to run this crucial operation to keep conditions at an even slightly humane standard in the area. You can of course become a volunteer yourself! I’d recommend doing so if you are happy to be outside and do physical labour (I imagine it is also nicer when the weather is warmer too!).