So, today started with the collection of some new volunteers who had mistakenly gone to the warehouse of the other aid organisation in Calais that supports the refugees in the camp.
Following that I was team leading a distribution of coats in the camp. Because I am staying for a month, I am considered a long term volunteer so will be taking over from other long term volunteers who are leaving tomorrow and were team leading while they were here. Team leading involves the pre-departure briefing which informs the team what and where they will be distributing, organising the team into their positons for the distribution, overseeing the distribution and leading the debrief after the distribution. I introduced a slight modification to the the standard distribution procedure which proved to be very effective and the distribution went smoothly.
If a distribution doesn't go smoothly many difficult situations can arise. For example, fights can break out in the queue if people push in and we don't spot it and deal with it. The van can get mobbed at the end of a distribution if peole frustrated and that their needs weren't met. The team can get mobbed if it comes to the attention of the queue that items are running out. But none of this occurred on this morning's distribution so I was pleased with my forst foray into team leadership!
After the distribution, we went to one of the Syrian restaurants in the camp for lunch which serves incredibly delicious food.
In the afternoon, my SOAS buddy who I came out with was the team leader for the distribution - which was jumpers and waterproof ponchos. She used the same modification as I had in the morning (because we had bith used it successfully yesterday without realising that it was a modification of the normal procedure) and we had another brilliantly smooth distribution.
The majority of the men we met on this distibution were Afghan, Syrian and Sudanese and I spoke to nearly every one of them because my job was meet and greet. Many of them welomed me to the camp which was touching and I apologised a couple of times for what the British government has done to their countries. This was a mistake, though, because it was too emotional for me and I ran the risk of losing my focus. It is one thing to discuss the destruction of these countries with friends and colleagues but quite another to be confronted with the realities of these discussions face to face. It was a humbling afternoon.
When we got back to the warehouse, we found some volunteers trying to dry out tents in the yard in the extremely high winds!