The prayer talks about seeing the Holy Spirit in the refugee family, the migrant worker, the asylum seeker and the unaccompanied child. It dawned on my this morning that each person who fits in these categories are made in the likeness of God, like the rest of us.
It’s a simple Christian truth which undergirds the idea of human rights and equality, that we are all equally valuable. Yet the way mankind treats one another shows that we so often forget this truth.
It struck me that the video recordings I am making of asylum seekers telling their stories is a way of letting us see the Spirit in their lives and stories. Even in the tragedies and loss and pain and suffering many asylum seekers go through, God is seen in their relilience, courage and smiles, if only we took the time to look.
Here is an example, were in one of the tents on the right of the picture.
We’ll be wearing white T-shirts most of the time, but if it’s cold they’ll be covered by jumpers. If you definitely see us, please right-click on the picture, save it and email it to us, thanks!
There are mice at Parliament Square. I noticed them a few months ago when I was hanging out with Brian one evening. They are small and very fast and although they are used to humans and race around your feet, they’re quite twitchy.
When we had brought our food rations back to the tent, we decided to keep the tins and cartons in the entrance, and the other foods, like the bread, rice, pasta, fruit & veg etc. in the inner tent where we sleep so the mice wouldn’t get at them.
That night I heard plenty of mouse noises, scurrying and squeeks, and felt quite chuffed that they knew there was food in the tent with us but they couldn’t have it! I even saw a couple of mice climbing up the inner tent we were in, trying to find a way to the food.
At about 6.30am I woke up, opened my eyes and saw a mouse run over Ben’s clothes! They were in the tent!
I didn’t panic, I wasn’t that bothered because they hide as soon as you move, so they’re more scared of us. I woke Ben up and told him we had mice in the tent, it took a few minutes to register with him as he slowly came round from his sleep! Ben saw the hole they had knawed to get into the tent and pointed it out.
We eventually got out of our tent and took a look at our food, they had nibbled through the ASDA bag and plastic bags of both our loaves of bread, and helped them selves to some peanuts by knawing through the bag. They had also left droppings.
We’ve decided to tear off the bread that has been nibbled and eat the rest since these slices of bread are our breakfast and lunch for the next few days. I also taped up the hole, and found 3 other holes which I taped up too! We’ve also put the food which was in our tent into plastic boxes with lids which we borrowed, and we’re keeping them out of our inner tent from now on!
We rocked up to Parliament Square on Sunday night at about 9pm and started setting up our tent after saying hello to Brian Haw, Barbara and Maria. Then we saw in the start of our campaign which began at midnight. Here’s a video of it all:
After setting up camp safely and seeing in midnight and the start of the protest last night, the morning saw us heading off to Asda for our food for the week. We had our Red Cross food parcel shopping list, and had found out the nearest Asda was about 3 miles away. We had to use Asda because we had bought vouchers for that supermarket from a friend in Manchester who is a refused asylum seeker but who gets section 4 support so is issued with these vouchers by the government. We felt this was a small part of solidarity with those facing this system. Though we have concerns about the voucher system itself the main thing we were aware of is that most refused asylum seekers (unlike our friend) would get no support at all so in reality we would have had no vouchers to use.
It was a lovely sunny morning so made a nice walk but I was very concious of the time it took to get there when I am used to using our local shop across the road. Vouchers for Asda mean you can only shop there and believe it or not there isn’t always a store that near. Of course we didn’t have money for public transport to get there so you are immediately aware of how the ordinary tasks in life quickly become more of a challenge.
We started recording our shopping trip when we arrived but somewhat predicatably we discovered that this wasn’t allowed in the store. When Ben gets the video up online you’ll see my foray into the fruit and veg section only though we hope for permission to video next week. As we continued to shop I became aware of two things. Firstly how basic our menu was going to be and secondly how it wasn’t going to be easy as a vegetarian.
There is enough food to keep going I think (though camping always makes me more hungry) and it is relatively balanced but we were of course keeping costs down with saver items. In total it came to £19.11 for the two of us but the Red Cross parcel budget is only £6.50 a head. I know that they get savings from bulk buying but it worries me that with food prices going up the most vulnerable will get even less.
In terms of veggy food there is very limited fresh fruit and veg (1 apple, orange, banana and pear plus 2 onions, potatoes, carrots and 1 pepper) and there are hot dogs in a can, sardines and tuna. Plus the 1 stock cube for the week is chicken! At least Ben will swap me some veg for the meat/fish. The rate of trade at the close of the day was 1 tin for 1 onion!
The walk back with all the shopping was a bit of a pain and again makes you count your blessings with nearby shops, and money for the bus if you need it. When we got ‘home’ I drafted a menu for the week which has lots of bread at the start (before it goes stale) and lots of rice and pasta at the end. It will be good to appreciate the simple things in life as dry bread for breakfast and lunch has made me realise alreayd. Anyway I need to get back to camp to cook tea - baked beans and bread tonight. Sleep well everyone!
Well, our protest begins at midnight tonight - very exciting!
Ben & I have been planning and preparing the protest with the help from some friends over this last week, getting the right equipment for camping on Parliament Square and making banners and placards. Take a look at some of our preparations!
If you’re on Facebook, please join our group in support! If you’re not on Facebook, please signup then join our group!
Once you’ve joined our Facebook group, you’ll be able to join our discussions, upload photos and videos you might take while visiting us, leave us comments and post links so get stuck in!
Our campaign can now be followed on Twitter! Twitter.com allows you to post short messages about what you are doing or thinking or feeling so that your friends or family can know.
I have now enabled my mobile phone to send messages to my Twitter account which means that you can know what Ben and I are doing in these next few days in the run up to our Protest and while we are living at Parliament Square.
If you use Twitter, go to my page here and click “Follow” to keep updated.
Documentary maker Nick Broomfield has made a new short film for Amnesty International to highlight the issue of destitute refused asylum seekers in the UK. It is very good and well worth 13 minutes of your time!
As one of your constituents, I would like to arrange a meeting with you about the plight of refused Asylum Seekers both in Manchester, and the UK.
I am going to be living outside the Houses Of Parliament for 2 weeks from 29th September 2008 to the 12th October 2008 as a protest against the destitution of refused Asylum Seekers. I will be doing this with a friend (also called Ben) and we will be living as destitute Asylum Seekers, sleeping in tents at Parliament Square and eating the contents of a Red Cross food parcel each week.
To read more about our protest and campaign, please see our website: http://asylumstories.co.uk/protest/
I would like to meet you in your office at the Houses Of Parliament during the 2 week period I am living outside. I would also like to bring an asylum seeker with me to explain their situation.
I saw that on 22nd July 2008 you asked a question about the Independent Asylum Commission to the Secretary Of State, so it is clear that you care about this issue.
Please let me know when we can meet as soon as you can since the protest is rapidly approaching!
It’s a simple Christian truth which undergirds the idea of human rights and equality, that we are all equally valuable. Yet the way mankind treats one another shows that we so often forget this truth.
Our campaign can now be followed on Twitter! 
