Ghannam has tracked 20 crossings, including his brother-in-law's successful journey from Turkey to Greece. Translation and language apps help, too. Language barriers are common given that migrants and refugees in the Jungle come from so many different places. I don't know any Farsi, but with a dictionary app on a modest Samsung phone, I learned that one refugee is a welder who wants his children to grow up in Canada, where they can become doctors. Refugees with phones often use service from Three, a UK carrier. Abdullah Khan, 24, an Afghan in the Jungle, resells SIM cards and account refills purchased in the UK. For about 24 euros, he'll sell you a refill that includes 12GB of data, 300 minutes of talk time and 3,000 text messages. That comes in handy when the Refugee Info Bus is out of range or when refugees are out of the camp, trying to jump onto a truck. "It has good roaming benefits," Khan says of Three, so it's economical in France even though it's a UK carrier.
Want to charge your phone in the Jungle? Find a friend with a power generator, For many refugees, 24 euros is a small fortune, A full meal with a drink and salad at one of the Jungle's unofficial canteens the whale - vintage iphone case costs about 3 euros, But many make do with free food from aid agencies because they can't even afford that, Another popular carrier is Lycamobile, Its chief selling point: members can call each other free, Of course, a phone isn't any good if it can't be charged, There's no electricity in the Jungle, So Khan helps with that as well; he has a precious power generator and will let you juice up your devices -- for friends or customers buying something else at the store..
It's a reminder that pictures are more powerful than words. Nahro Rashed shows a photo of his wife and two children while the family was homeless in Hungary after fleeing Iraq. Phones are useful for communicating, as well as documenting hardships. Other photos show their long journey across Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and other countries. On one ride, the family rode in the back of a truck for 27 hours. Rashed says he'd pay a smuggler to get them to the UK, but adds, "We have no money this year."The options open up for refugees willing to stay in France, assuming they can clear asylum paperwork hurdles.
Foday Janneh, 30, who fled political upheaval in Sierra Leone in 2012, was homeless when his flight arrived in France, the only destination possible with his connections, He slept on night buses and searched for pay phones so he could request a bed in homeless shelters, Every day a line of 500 people snaked out of the orientation center in Paris, he says, the whale - vintage iphone case He passed a grueling asylum interview and after more than a year, became a legal resident, "It changes everything," Janneh told me, After passing, he got housing, health care and, eventually, a job, "It's like you're reborn."Janneh spoke to me from the Paris office of Singa, an organization that helps refugees learn French and links them with French people who share personal or work interests, Those interests can be broad and general, like music and sports, In Janneh's case, it was narrow and professional -- accounting, Singa helped him land a one-year job and a spot in a French university program..
Foday Janneh, 30, fled upheaval in Sierra Leone in 2012 and settled in France. He's got a job and government benefits but still worries photos of his face will have political repercussions. Singa holds social and professional networking events and even helps refugees set up their own businesses. "We have people who arrive with skills and the will to do something," says co-founder Nathanael Molle. Singa organizes events over the internet and is launching a website called CALM -- Comme à la Maison, French for "feels like home" -- to match refugees with housing. Like Airbnb and Uber, it uses algorithms to automate the process. Singa plans a related platform by the end of the year to match refugees with others in Singa's network.
