IMPIC representatives travelled on Tuesday 15th September 2015, with two vans loaded with donations, from Dublin to Calais (France).
The group from the Irish Muslim Peace & Integration Council arrived Tuesday evening in Calais, France.
The following day, Wednesday 16th September 2015, the group spent a very emotional day in a place that is unimaginable in Western Europe. They saw scenes that normally are seen on TV In reports of developing countries. Almost 4000 people live in an absolute state of poverty in France.
The group visited the camp and observed that due to disorganisation during the process of distribution of the donations, chaotic scenes occur. When vans with donations open the door hundreds of refugees storm the vans and it becomes impossible to manage the distribution.
Shaykh Umar Al-Qadri met with a few volunteers that had travelled from the UK to deliver aid to the refugee camp. He asked whether there were any community centres that the refugees had set up in the camp. Shaykh was told that there were 5 mosques and one church that also acted as community centres. Shaykh met with Imam Abdul Aziz and Pastor Nime that each were leaders of their community. It was decided that the aid would be delivered to both the Mosque and the Church in the camp to ensure that the refugees receive the donations in an organised and dignified way. The Mosque and the Church had each a large stock room
IMPIC representatives visited with the donations the Mosque and Church and delivered the donations and aid. The Pastor mentioned that this was the first official donation they received from a Muslim organisation to the Christian community in the camp. Shaykh Umar Al-Qadri informed the Pastor of the motto of IMPIC; Bridging Communities, Building Peace. IMPIC also facilitated a meeting between the Pastor and the Imam of the largest mosque in the Camp and Shaykh Umar Al-Qadri stressed on the importance of interfaith dialogue.
The happiness on the faces of the people when they received donations and the prayers were absolutely priceless.
IMPIC volunteers travelled back to Dublin and the CEO of IMPIC, Shaykh Umar Al-Qadri is traveling to a refugee camp in Germany before returning to Ireland.
We thank all schools, churches , Mosques, Community centres and individuals that have donated for the refugees. Without their efforts IMPIC would not be able to deliver aid to the refugees.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: We are no longer accepting any more donations of clothes as we are overwhelmed with donations. We have so far sent 4 large vans of donations to Calais and arecurrently raising funds to send a truck to Germany. If you wish to support us please forward your donation to our bank account mentioned above.
Thank you for your tremendous support for the refugees !
