Opening Sojourner Truth House

Moya Barnett on a new Calais house of hospitality

Sojourner Truth House Instagram, 2026

On the 15th of June 2025 the Quaker House WhatsApp group was created. Four of us, Missy, Bradon, Martin and I, all Quakers (or, in Bradon’s case, Quaker adjacent), all involved in refugee hospitality projects in Calais and with a dream of a new house of hospitality. We came together in response to the huge need we saw around us. From the everyday horrors of people living in tents with no access to running water, to the extreme emergency situations: women and children being sex trafficked, medical neglect, and police violence. We knew that there was a need for shelter and we hoped that we would be able to communicate this to people in the UK, particularly Quakers and people of faith, to raise the money for a new house for vulnerable refugee women and families.

The problems in Calais are systemic. Until the UK government stops using our taxes to pay for increased violence at the border, the unjust and immoral system of granting temporary asylum is changed in all European countries and, of course, we address the root causes of what people are running from, there will always be refugees. Climate change, causing droughts, floods, failed harvests and natural disasters. Wars, often sponsored by the same European countries that people flee to, and systems of injustice. These problems are huge, but we must do what we can. And what we can offer is a house and a community, even if only temporary. We can offer love and acceptance to people who have been hated and rejected at every turn. And we can offer rest along a long and arduous journey.

And so, using a GoFundMe, the four of us began to fundraise and spread the word. That summer, as the Union Jacks went up on lampposts, as the wave of hate we have come to know as normal became starkly visible, we also saw so many people give their money, prayers and support to our project. Quakers, Catholics, former refugees who had been through Calais themselves, people who had heard one of us speak about the project. It is one small, palpable way of fighting back against the wave of darkness.

Soon we found a house that we could rent, a normal terrace with three bedrooms and a garden with a shed that could be converted into a garden bedroom. It has sympathetic neighbours, having previously been used for a hospitality project, and the landlord was very happy that the house was going to be used for that purpose again.

A few months in, Paris joined our group. He had been involved with La Capuche, doing distribution of tents and bedding in Calais and he was doing a PhD in Ireland. Together, the five of us continued to fundraise, registered as a French charity, made safeguarding documents, talked about governance and ran monthly meetings for worship. Unfortunately, there was a lot of building work that needed to be done in the house and the landlord decided that he wanted to sell it rather than rent it. But, providentially, with the need came the resources and we found we had the €136,000 to buy the house outright.

Sojourner Truth, Robert Shetterly, 2003

In January we all met up in person for the first time. While many of us knew each other individually before, it wasn’t until then that we had a meeting that wasn’t over Zoom or WhatsApp video call! And in the Catholic Worker tradition we chose a name for our house. In the words of Paris in his ministry at Britain Yearly Meeting 2026: “After much discernment and looking within, we have decided to name our house Sojourner Truth House. Sojourner Truth was an African-American woman, from the 19th century, who regularly attended Quaker Meetings. She was involved in the Underground Railroad. She was someone who lived in a very divided world, but who held fast to the dignity of every person, even when others denied it. Acknowledging her in the naming of our house is a reminder that what unites us is a shared commitment to truth, to justice, and to seeing that of God in one another across all divides.”

In March we received the keys for Sojourner Truth House, renting it while the paperwork for buying went through and Missy moved in. There was still work to do. With help from volunteers from other associations, we painted, put up bunk beds and made the house a welcoming place. I trained and worked as a carpenter before becoming a Catholic Worker so in April I was at the house putting those skills to use. And finally in May we welcomed our first guests. Currently we have seven guests, three of them children. The house is full of life, play, laughter, toys strewn all over the conservatory floor. It is no longer an intangible dream of a house of hospitality, it has become a home.

There is still work to do; in the upcoming months we hope to welcome more short-term volunteers, for a month or more, to live in community with our guests. We also hope to buy a van so that we can do big food shops and help people get around. And we are hoping to finalise all of our paperwork – French bureaucracy is notoriously slow and complex – so that we can begin to apply for grants. We wouldn’t have made it this far without so many people supporting us, praying for us and donating. Through everything we have felt the presence of the Holy Spirit moving through us and through those who support us. Time and again, problems have been solved and everything has moved faster than any one of us could have imagined. We hope that Sojourner Truth House will remain open for many years, but even if it does not, even these few months of hospitality have made an impact on people’s lives, the awareness of what happens in Calais has changed people's hearts and we have a house, which, if needed, we can pass on to the next group with too much compassion and not enough money. I hope to be back in Calais twice more this year and then to spend a longer period of rest in the UK, followed by a year at Sojourner Truth House. Please hold us in the light and pray for us and the guests that we welcome.

Moya Barnett

Statement on UK Prisons Being Used in War Effort

It has been brought to our attention by someone currently incarcerated that British

prisons will be producing more equipment for the Ministry of Defence.

Prisoners will be making items such as camouflage nets, metal posts, and picket

drivers for use by the armed forces.

The new plan was created in the context of the UK increasing its military budget. As

well as in response to the criticism that too many prisoners spend their days in their

cells due to a lack of places in work and education.

As a pacifist organisation, we stand against militarism in all its forms and condemn its

encroachment into any institution.

Prisoners are some of the most vulnerable people in society and deserve access to

academic study and meaningful labour as much as any other group. We condemn that

they are instead being pushed into facilitating the military-industrial complex.

We pray that all prisoners will be made aware of the final destination of the products

they are making, and thus given the dignity of choice.

We pray that no prisoner will be penalised for refusing this work, even if the penalty

consists of being denied any other opportunity for stimulation and activity.

We pray that those in power come to see the humanity of people who are incarcerated

and begin to listen to the needs and desires of individuals, rather than viewing them as

a cheap workforce.

Finally, we pray for the reunion of families separated by the carceral system, for

community healing, and that we may learn to solve conflicts, both at home and

abroad, without relying on state violence.

Refugees in Ethiopia: Hospitality and Hope Amidst Global Indifference

Brother Johannes Maertens of London Catholic Worker undertook a pilgrimage for a month to Ethiopia, where he visited Jesuit Refugee Services Ethiopia — this report bears witness to their work of hospitality and hope amidst hardship.

Refugees in Ethiopia: Hospitality and Hope Amidst Global Indifference

When I arrived at the Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS) office in Addis Ababa, welcomed by country manager Solomon Brahane, I was struck by its scale and vitality. Behind the large metal gate in a quiet residential area, the organisation has a welcoming community center that embodies hospitality, in a city with more than 75,000 refugees. JRS runs three Refugee Community Centres in the capital: two in the Kirkos district and one in Ayat, 28 kilometres away. These centres are warm welcoming places, filled with the chatter, children laughing, traditional dance, and music. In one centre, young women recorded their traditional dance on a phone in the courtyard, in a small room young men played drum, guitars and sang. In another center young boys played football in the courtyard.

Refugees in Ethiopia — Some Key Facts (2025)

Total refugees & asylum seekers: 1.09 million (1,015,800 refugees + 78,580 asylum seekers)

Main countries of origin:

•    South Sudan: 41%

•    Somalia: 33%

•    Eritrea: 17%

•    Sudan: 8%

Demographics: 

•    52% children (0–17 years)

•    45% adults (18–59 years)

•    3% elderly (60+)

•    77% women & children combined

Internally displaced persons (IDPs): 1.9 million, with an additional 2.8 million returnees

Urban refugees: About 8% live in cities such as Addis Ababa and Mekele

The Refugee Reality in Ethiopia

Ethiopia is the third-largest refugee-hosting country in Africa, with around one million refugees, most from neighbouring Eritrea, but also from Somalia, and South Sudan. Addis Ababa alone shelters thousands, though some refugees will move on to Uganda or further afield in search of freedom and opportunity. Like Europe, Ethiopia is a crossroads where displaced people seek not only safety but the chance to rebuild their lives.

Nearly half of Ethiopia’s population already lives below the poverty line. Conflict, inflation, and climate shocks have reversed years of progress, with poverty projected to reach 43% in 2025. Beyond income, 72% of Ethiopians face multidimensional poverty, lacking access to healthcare, education, and housing. Rural areas are hardest hit, but rising costs also strain urban families.

The JRS Refugee Community Centres respond with four main areas of work:

Child Protection

Child Protection Officers and psychologists care for traumatised children, train foster parents, and provide safeguarding. At times, up to 3,000 unaccompanied children have been in their care. Foster families, often refugees themselves, receive only a very modest stipend - barely enough for cooking oil - yet they volunteer out of care.

Mental Health and Psychosocial Support

Counselling, suicide prevention, and hospital referrals are offered, with volunteers accompanying patients even to psychiatric care.

Education and Livelihoods

Refugees learn languages, computer skills, and even university-level courses online. Vocational training ranges from hairdressing to solar panel installation, with partnerships through Don Bosco and religious sisters. Graduates are connected to employers, and microfinance loans help launch small businesses.

Reconciliation and Peacebuilding

Dialogue sessions foster social cohesion between refugees and host communities, especially in resource-scarce regions near Somalia. Gender-based violence prevention and monthly interventions strengthen fragile bonds of trust. In 2024 alone, JRS Ethiopia reached 26,000 refugees across its centres. Outside the capital JRS works in Dollo Ado, Jijiga, and Shire, and accompanies refugees across the country with centres of education, protection, and peacebuilding.

The Shadow of International Aid Cuts

Yet this extraordinary work is imperilled. Cuts in international development budgets - particularly from western governments - have forced JRS to halve staff in some areas. International budget were terminated abruptly by the Trump administration, leaving volunteers and remaining staff to shoulder the burden. JRS USA stepped in with three months budget cover. These cuts mean fewer counsellors for traumatised children, fewer hands to accompany refugees in their struggle for dignity. As one person told me, “Budget cuts harm the most vulnerable in the world.” Cuts in development budgets in western countries mean cuts in real human lives and security.

Still, amidst this hardship, the staff remain resilient. At the main office, I saw them laughing over a game of pool during the lunch break - a small act of care for the carers. Their dedication rooted in faith and solidarity.

A Call to Solidarity

The witness of JRS Ethiopia is clear: accompaniment transforms lives. Refugees are not statistics but neighbours, children, and friends. Their laughter, their music, their resilience testify to the human spirit’s refusal to be crushed. As western governments retreat from their responsibilities, the question falls to us: will we stand with refugees in the world and with JRS Ethiopia? In Addis Ababa, I saw hope alive in the midst of hardship. That hope must not be abandoned.