08/06/2026
For the second time this year, Emergency Smile International is bringing its work to northern France.
In the Calais and Dunkirk region—one of the most challenging environments in Europe for forcibly displaced people—up to 2,000 people are present at any given time, many living in makeshift sites without shelter. Among them: unaccompanied teenagers, families, and children who have often been on the move for months.
Our healthcare clown artists are running circus workshops, clown shows, and play sessions alongside local organisations—reaching children, teenagers, and adults. They are also running sessions for frontline workers, who carry the weight of this work every day.
'The children speak a lot about the boats,' said our Head of Mission Salomé. 'It matters that they can forget about it for a moment and just play.'
Follow along for more from northern France.
