Recording booths have been set up so that Oxford residents can exchange messages with inhabitants of the Calais migrant camp. Messages are swapped between the booth outside East Oxford Community Centre and the camp, via a handheld recording device and email.
Over 100 people have recorded or listened to the messages at the booth so far. The project runs from 10am to 3pm, weather depending, until Saturday.
The scheme is the brain-child of Oxford Brookes student Isobel Tarr, who commented, “For people at the camp I hope it can show that people in the UK support them and welcome them, and are capable of listening to them, in a situation where they don’t generally feel heard.
“For people in the UK, some have commented that it has helped them to think about what it means to find solidarity with others… having connected with an individual person rather than a mass of people.”
Oxford linguist Fuchsia Hart, who has been working at the camp in Calais, added that, “It’s important that people send messages back from the UK to show that they hear their struggle, and try to make a connection with the people as individuals.”
