Dover, England:
When thousands of truckers had been stranded in southern England by France’s border closure, enable came from an unexpected supply: a compact volunteer army of British Sikhs who jumped into action to rustle up thousands of chickpea curries and pizzas.
Up to 10,000 truckers are stranded as they wait for COVID-19 tests to permit them to travel on to the Continent, even though their households collect thousands of miles away for Christmas.
“We in Sikhism, we have the concept of langar, which means community kitchen,” Ravinder Singh, founder of Khalsa Aid, which helped coordinate the deliveries, told Reuters.
Our teams are out there in the rain with the @kent_police , coastguard and highways agency distributing hot meals to truck drivers caught up in #OperationStack on M20 ! #BordersClosed@BorisJohnsonpic.twitter.com/HwH0zs9s8d
— Khalsa Aid (@Khalsa_Aid) December 22, 2020
“We are British Sikhs and the least we can do is to practise our seasonal goodwill: two days from Christmas we have people on our soil who are homeward bound and do not know what is happening.”
Many truck drivers have been consuming by way of their final provisions on the side of the road.
800 Hot meals prepared for the truckers stranded in #Kent due to #OperationStack !
Our thx to the #Kent Sikh neighborhood in particular Guru Nanak Gurdwara Gravesend. for preparing meals on brief notice #BordersClosed@Port_of_Doverpic.twitter.com/65WOnh1NG9
— Khalsa Aid (@Khalsa_Aid) December 22, 2020
“To see a solitary truck driver in his cabin on a horrible wet evening on the side of the motorway, it drives you to do more for them,” Singh stated.
“They were very appreciative but you could see they were down as they were unsure if they would get home for Christmas.”
()