SUMMER IN CALAIS

July 16, 2025

Today in Calais, the weather was sunny with a breeze. Yesterday, a young man tragically died after falling from a lorry, his death marked this evening by a gathering that takes place on the occasion of each death.

In the @calais.exilessc day centre, numbers were swelled by visiting groups from across Europe and lots of old and new volunteers. Several joined us across the afternoon at The Community Table, coming to investigate what we were offering and then staying a while.

At the table we carefully selected just a few materials - cloud tablecloth, bricks, black and white photographs, two typewriters. For the first half hour or so it was quiet, while towards the end of the afternoon the table was filled with house builders and story-tellers.

At one point there was a small queue for the typewriters. One older man explained that the typewriter is used across his country in Africa, while for a younger man it was the first time he’d seen such a machine. A man from Senegal wanted to type his story of days on a boat in the Pacific Ocean, but found the English keys too difficult to navigate so he told us his story instead.

We had two builders at the table, one quickly constructing a small house saying how much he missed his work, the other from Sudan slowly and meticulously recreating his family home. The bricks reminded a third man of the shelter his father had used during the Iran/Iraq war.

Next time we come to Calais will mark our 10 year anniversary of this cross Channel work. We have learnt that often we have to sit with the uncomfortable so as to allow people to find their way, and invariably they do, using what’s offered to make their own meaning.

Words by Miriam Usiskin & Bobby Lloyd.