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Hannah Lathan : the 'Jungle' refugee camp, Calais

17/10/2016

 
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Spending time volunteering in the refugee camp in Calais, known to most as the ‘Jungle’ has made me think about what ‘home’ means to the people living there. I have spent time working in the warehouse in ‘tent world’, collecting and sorting aid donations so they are ready for distribution into camp. In the evenings my time was spent in camp, eating in the restaurants and engaging in conversation classes in Jungle Books, which is a library and school in camp.
Working in tent world was one of my favourite jobs, as I felt that providing a shelter and temporary ‘home’ for someone was highly important. Any tent coming in is checked for holes, waterproofness and mould. Double layer tents are the priority as they provide more protection and warmth than single layer tents. If there are holes we can tape them up, sew them or glue them depending on the size, and if a tent is found to be beyond repair it is salvaged for parts such as toggles, poles, zips, etc.  Mould can be bleached off, and any broken or missing poles can be measured up and replacements found. Once the outside of a tent is constructed sometimes inner sleeping compartments are damaged or missing. Therefore salvaged tent parts can be used to create more sleeping compartments. The image to the right shows a huge tent which could be a shelter for 8 people but with no inner compartments. Therefore we salvaged compartments from other tents, sewed new toggles on to attach it to the tent and consequently made a new shelter.
Within the camp many stories I’ve heard are of people missing their homes and family. Although we try to provide a ‘home’, people never feel at home in a refugee camp. Instead people I’ve talked to have spent their time telling me stories of their proper home. A home with family, in a country they love. For many it is not possible to have this anymore due to war and conflict. The only hope they have is dreaming of creating a new home, not in a refugee camp but in country where they can participate in society and live like a person has the right to live. 
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Salvaged poles.
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Tent world.
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Salvaged inner sleeping compartments are altered to fit into a an outer tent providing shelter for 8 people
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Oxford Brookes MA Development and Emergency Practice student Hannah Lathan putting her sewing skills to the test repairing tents in the 'Jungle' refugee camp in Calais.

Amani Al Bohisi : Home 

11/10/2016

 

Home: where I feel connected, attached, refugee, secured, free, and not being judged.
Home is beyond any place, distance, or time. It is inside each one of us.
I am human and so you do. Humanity is our home.

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    Authors

    Throughout the semester members of the student committee will take turns to write a blog. It might be about organising the Festival, it might be about something else they are doing in or away from Brookes, it might be thoughts on our theme of home. Check in regularly to find out!

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  • HOME & HISTORY
    • Our Aims
    • Nabeel Hamdi Lectures
    • Contact
    • Previous Festivals >
      • 2022 Festival >
        • 2022 Exhibitions
        • 2022 Events
        • 2022 Supporters
        • 2022 TEAM
      • 2021 Festival >
        • 2021 Exhibition
        • 2021 Team
        • 2021 Podcasts
        • 2021 Right To Roam Walk
        • 2021 CENDEP Workshop
      • 2020 Festival >
        • 2020 Planning Committee
        • 2020 Essay Competition
        • 2020 Events & Booking
        • 2020 NGO Showcase at Brookes Forum
      • 2019 Festival
      • 2018 Festival >
        • 2018 Exhibitions
        • 2018 Brookes events
      • 2017 Festival >
        • 2017 committee
      • 2016 Festival
      • 2015 Festival >
        • 2015 Supporters
      • 2014 Festival
      • 2008--2017 Previous Films
    • Location
    • Blog
  • 2023 Festival