“Last night while my wife, our baby and I were sleeping we suddenly heard a loud explosion. Our gas burner had exploded. Luckily we woke up in time and we managed to get out of our tent. The volunteers have given us a new tent to live in.
Now I’m just moving the remains of our stuff.” (Dunkirk)

“Back in Ireland I’m a carpenter. I came here to help building a kitchen. I was supposed to stay for 10 days but has been over a month I’m still here. Right now I’m trying to build a woman and children’s center but the police refuses to let building materials in because it’s an illegal camp. Meanwhile there are about 3000 man, woman and children trying to survive. Yesterday we were lucky and finally got a floor through the gate. We try to get safe stoves in but the police won’t allow it through the gates. ”
“What is your personal motivation to be a volunteer?”
There is not much reality in our lives these days isn’t it. At least what we are doing here is tangible. I’m not expecting to make a change but at least I can give people warm clothes, tents, or food. I myself don’t need much to survive here. Some tobacco and wine will do’’

“Don’t you see I have superpowers?”
“How?”
“Because I’m wearing my Spiderman suit!
‘”What are your superpowers?’”
“I can climb on top of buildings, but here I learned how to climb a tree.” (Dunkirk)

“I have a British passport but my wife doesn’t. I used to live in Britain 10 years ago but when the situation in North Iraq calmed down I moved back. When the war broke out I wanted to return to Britain but because I wasn’t able to support my family financially they told me I could not bring them along. I couldn’t leave my wife and baby behind so we made the big journey. My son’s name is Oscar. I gave him an English name because I wanted him to make a new start. I want him to grow up with the British culture and education. When we arrived to this camp last October Oscar’s heart stopped working. Doctors managed to save his life but I’m afraid that if the conditions won’t improve, it will happen again. He is not strong enough for these circumstances.” (Dunkirk)

“About a week ago a man came running into the kitchen. He told one of the refugees, who also works as a volunteer that his nephew had a fever and was talking as if he was drunk. Together we went to their tent. When we arrived it was even worse than we expected. He was covered in sweat. He was hallucinating and kept seeing his sister being shot right in front of his eyes. Something he experienced in real life. My friend gave him a pill and we didn’t leave his side for second. We stayed until 6 in the morning and their family kept making tea and chocolate milk for us. I was the only one who didn’t speak Kurdish but when the boy recovered we didn’t need words to tell each other how relieved we were. Sometimes these are situations we are dealing with here in the jungle. On the other hand we also get to experience beautiful things, Such as during my first night in the camp. I was sleeping in the kitchen when I met a young Kurdish boy from Iraq. He told me that he used to play the guitar. We had a guitar so I asked him to play a song. He turned out to be an extremely good guitarist. Before we knew it, everyone around me was singing Kurdish songs together. It was beautiful. Those moments are so precious to me.” 2/2 (Dunkirk)

“Instead of applying for jobs after finishing my Master thesis I decided to volunteer. I said to myself, how can I go job hunting while so many people are suffering on my continent. Most refugees here lost family members because of IS. Together with the other volunteers I live here so I have gotten to know a lot of people. Many families invite me over for tea or even diner while they barely have anything. Everyday people thank me for helping them but they should not be thanking me. I feel ashamed of our governments for not protecting them. I feel that as a human being I’m obligated to stay and I will continue to do so, until the conditions in the camp improve.” (Dunkirk)