Jungle Books Library, The Jungle refugee camp (since destroyed), Calais, France, 2016

For five years, this refugee camp, the most famous in Europe, was home to over eight thousand migrants trying to reach England via the nearby Port of Calais. The Jungle was filled with desperate men (the women and children had been moved to a different camp), and for many, this camp was the end of the line after an arduous journey fleeing war, starvation, and poverty. We met refugees here from many parts of the Muslim world as well as from many African countries. The volunteer tutors we met were mostly younger women and mostly British. The books in this library once offered education and sanctuary, but they disappeared with the refugees when the camp was destroyed by the French government in 2016. The Jungle was a sad place, and the Jungle Library was one of the few bright lights in a dark time.