Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to navigation
A view of ‘the jungle’ in Calais.
A view of ‘the jungle’ in Calais. Photograph: Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images
A view of ‘the jungle’ in Calais. Photograph: Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images

Guardian refugee appeal raises £200,000 in first week

This article is more than 8 years old

Your generosity benefits charities such as Doctors of the World, who use art therapy to help refugees come to terms with the trauma of war and violence

We have raised £200,000 for our refugee charity appeal, after a weekend of giving from our generous readers. Thank you.

You can help by contributing here, like our reader Cathy Dodson, who said she was moved to donate after recalling how she had seen the plight of refugees on the Greek island of Samos a few months ago.

Dodson wrote: “I witnessed at first hand the horrendous dangers and deprivations suffered by people little different from me. Refugees forced to flee from a stable and often very comfortable life by horrors inconceivable to normal civilised people.”

She added: “I have been searching ever since for a reliable way to make a donation that will reach and assist those I saw – and the Guardian charity appeal provided an answer.”

Dodson, like many others who have donated, may have agreed strongly with Kath Viner, the Guardian editor-in-chief, when she said:

Most have fled to countries which are themselves poor and unstable. More than one million of the most vulnerable urgently need resettling. This is the crisis of our times, and how we respond to it is a test of our values, our spirit, our ingenuity, our generosity.

Your donations will go towards helping the aid workers and volunteers of the charities we are supporting on the ground. Doctors of the World is just one of them. Read on to find out how they help refugees in “the jungle” at Calais deal with mental health issues.

Calais art therapy: when words fail

Fleeing war, violence and poverty is taking a heavy psychological toll on many of the hundreds of thousands of refugees. Mental health problems are widespread as appalling living conditions exacerbate past trauma.

“Some think they are going crazy,” said Lou Einhorn, a Doctors of the World psychologist who works in the refugee settlements in Calais and Dunkirk. “We’re here to tell people that what they’re feeling is normal under the circumstances. We try to give people resilience, to remind them that they have the strength to overcome this.”

To help refugees deal with their trauma, the charity hosts community support groups and art therapy sessions, where they can share their sadness, anxieties and frustrations.

“Art therapy helps people come to terms with their traumas, both past and present,” said Einhorn. “The simple act of drawing allows them to cope with the absurdity of their situation.”

Drawing lets the refugees reflect on memories and the longing for their homes, the hardship of their journey and living conditions but also their hopes and dreams for a better life, the aid workers have said.

The pieces below have been collected from refugees and migrants at the Doctors of the World psychosocial tent in the main Calais camp.

The charity said:

These sketches tell us much more than words ever could. Because when you’re traumatised, words are the hardest thing to find.

Doctors of the World: refugee drawing
Doctors of the World: refugee drawing. Photograph: Doctors of the World charity

“This was me yesterday,” the artist told Doctors of the World.

Doctors of the World: refugee drawing
Doctors of the world: refugee drawing Photograph: Doctors of the World charity

“I’ve never been to school. No school. No money,” a young Afghan man told aid workers, after drawing this image.

How to help

The Guardian’s annual charity appeal is for six organisations working to help refugees, including Doctors of the World UK. You can learn more about the charities here and make a donation here.

Most viewed

Most viewed