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'Hamlet' is depressing, but to these refugees, it was a welcome escape.

A persistent mist fell on the audience, many of whom were bundled up in jackets and scarves. But the wintry weather would not dampen the spirit of the day. Not today. The large crowd gathered and waited in wonder for those six magic words to transport them somewhere else.

Anywhere else.


"To be, or not to be."

Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images.

The actors stepped onto the small, humble stage. No lights. Only makeshift curtains. Every footstep echoing on plywood boards.

It wasn't Broadway or the West End, but to them, it didn't matter.

"To be, or not to be."

That was the question.

But the answer was bigger than an old play. Much bigger.

Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images.

They were performers from Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, and they were in "the Jungle," a large refugee camp in Calais, France.

Shakespeare's Globe is on a mission to perform Hamlet in every country on Earth. Yes, every single one. Though the group has a performance scheduled in Paris later this week, they added Calais, which is 182 miles away from the city, as a stop on their world tour.

The Jungle encampment houses refugees from all over the world, many of whom made dangerous journeys from their home countries.

The encampment is one of the largest refugee outposts in the world, home to 6,000 people, including many from Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea, and North Africa.

A South Sudanese man prepares a fire in his shelter. Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images.

Inside the Jungle, refugees wait in bureaucratic limbo. Many have applied for asylum in France, while others seek permanent homes in the United Kingdom. The camp, which opened in 2015, was immediately overcome with people, resulting in food, water, and shelter shortages. There are few storage options and no refrigeration, so food-borne illnesses are common. Hygiene is also lacking, as there are few washing facilities and only one toilet for every 75 people.

"Refugees are hungry and distressed and they live in diabolical conditions," Leigh Daynes, director of Doctors of the World, told The Guardian. "Their suffering is all the more acute because the often perilous journeys they undertook to get to France were physically arduous and emotionally fraught."

Hemn, a Kurdish migrant, keeps warm in the Jungle. Photo by Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images.

Individuals and nonprofits have stepped up to bring positivity and activity — like theater performances — to the camp.

On Wednesday, Good Chance Calais, a nonprofit that brings music, art, and theater events to the Jungle, welcomed performers from the Globe to its stage for a production of Shakespeare's "Hamlet."

It's part of Globe to Globe Hamlet, a two-year effort to perform "Hamlet" in all 196 countries. The project began in April 2014 and will conclude this April at the renowned Globe Theatre in London, where many of Shakespeare's plays were first performed.

Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images.

"Globe to Globe Hamlet was created with the aim of performing "Hamlet" to as many people as possible, in as diverse a range of places as possible," Director Dominic Dromgoole said in a statement.

"The central principle of the tour is that Shakespeare can entertain and speak to anyone, no matter where they are on earth; and that no country or people are not better off for the lively presence of Hamlet."

Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images.

So far on their 150,000-mile journey, the Shakespeare's Globe has performed Hamlet for more than 100,000 people around the world.

The show has a diverse cast, allowing men and women of different ethnicities and backgrounds to see a bit of themselves in the production, often for the first time.

Whenever possible, Shakespeare's Globe stages the shows for free, performing for 3,000 people at the National Theatre in Khartoum, Sudan, and for schoolchildren in Myanmar, Belize, and Tanzania.


This is not the first time the company has performed in a refugee camp, either. It traveled to Cameroon to perform for Central African Republic refugees, to Djibouti for the Yemeni people, and to the Zaatari camp on the border of Jordan and Syria.

Despite the dreary weather in Calais, more than 300 people attended the show.

It was standing-room-only for much of the performance. And the actors, no stranger to outdoor venues large and small, performed with gusto.

Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images.

Volunteers worked hard to make the event special, providing popcorn and synopses in multiple languages so as many people as possible could participate in the event.


While Shakespeare's Globe can't relieve global strife, the artists can provide a moment of calm in a stressful world.

Art may not stop wars or end famine. But it can and does offer a moment to relax. A moment to let imagination take hold and feel transported to another place and time. A moment to experience something that has entertained and connected people from all walks of life for centuries.

While the performance only lasted a short time, we can hope that the gift of peace and joy it provided, amid a backdrop of anything but, lasts much longer.

Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images.

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Three women, three MS journeys: How multiple sclerosis looks different for everyone

Gina, Nathalie and Helga share their reactions to being diagnosed with MS and how they stay informed and positive in the face of ever-changing symptoms.

Courtesy of Sanofi

Helga, Nathalie and Gina all have MS, and their experiences show how differently the disease can manifest.

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It’s been 155 years since neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot gave the first lecture on a mysterious progressive illness he called “multiple sclerosis.” Since then, we’ve learned a lot. We know MS causes the immune system to attack healthy tissue, including damaging the brain and spinal cord. Resulting symptoms can be debilitating and include fatigue, blurred vision, memory problems and weakness. Huge advancements in our understanding of MS and its underlying causes, as well as treatment advances, have been made in the past few decades, but MS remains a complex and unpredictable reality for the 2.8 million+ people diagnosed around the world.

Ironically, the only real constant for people living with MS is change. There’s no set pattern or standard progression of the disease, so each person’s experience is unique. Some people with MS have mild symptoms that worsen slowly but sometimes improve, while others can have severe symptoms that drastically alter their daily lives.

All people with MS share some things in common, however, such as the need to stay informed on the ever-evolving research, find various lines of support and try to remain hopeful as they continue living with the disease.

To better understand what navigating life with MS really looks like, three women shared their MS stories with us. Their journeys demonstrate how MS can look different for different people and interestingly, how the language used to talk about the disease can greatly impact how people understand their realities.

woman with horse, woman riding horseGina loves riding her horse, Benita.Courtesy of Sanofi

Gina—Hamburg, Germany (diagnosed with relapsing multiple sclerosis in 2017)

When her youngest son was 4 months old, Gina started having problems with her eye. She’d soon learn she was experiencing optic neuritis—her first symptom of MS.

“Immediately after the diagnosis, I looked up facts on MS because I didn’t know anything about it,” Gina says. “And as soon as I knew what could really happen with this disease, I actually got scared.”

As her family’s primary income provider, she worried about how MS would impact her ability to work as a writer and editor. Her family was afraid she was going to end up in a wheelchair. However, for now, Gina’s MS is managed well enough that she still works full-time and is able to be active.

“When I tell somebody that I have MS, they often don't believe me the first time because I don't fulfill any stereotypes,” she says.

Overwhelmed by negative perspectives on living with MS, Gina sought support in the online MS community, which she found to be much more positive.

“I think it’s important to use as many positive words as you can when talking about MS.” It’s important to be realistic while also conveying hope, she says. “MS is an insidious disease that can cause many bad symptoms…that can be frightening, and you can't gloss over it, either.”

To give back to the online community that helped her so much, Gina started a blog to share her story and help others trying to learn about their diagnosis.

Though she deals with fatigue and cognitive dysfunction sometimes, Gina stays active swimming, biking, riding horses and playing with her sons, who are now 11 and 6.

Cognitive dysfunction is common in MS, with over half of people affected. It can impact memory, attention, planning, and word-finding. As with many aspects of MS, some people experience mild changes, while others face more challenges.

Gina says that while there’s still a lot of education about MS needed, she feels positive about the future of MS because there’s so much research being done.

woman in wheelchair holding medal, woman rowingNathalie is an award-winning rower with multiple international titles.Courtesy of Sanofi

Nathalie — Pennes Mirabeau, France (diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in 2002)

Nathalie was a teenager and a competitive athlete when she noticed her first symptoms of MS, but it would take four years of “limbo” before she was diagnosed.

“Ultimately, the diagnosis was more of a relief, than a shock,” she says. “Because when you have signs and you don’t know why, it’s worse than knowing, in the end, what you have.”

However, learning more about the disease—and the realities of disease progression—scared her.

“That glimpse of the future was direct and traumatic,” she says. Her neurologist explained that the disease evolves differently for everyone, and her situation might end up being serious or very mild. So, she decided to stop comparing herself to others with MS.

She said to herself, “We’ll see what happens, and you’ll manage it bit by bit.”

By 2005, Nathalie’s MS had progressed to the point of needing a wheelchair. However, that has not dampened her competitive spirit.

Nathalie began her international rowing career in 2009 and has won multiple world titles, including two Paralympic medals—silver in London and bronze in Tokyo. Now, at 42, she still trains 11 times a week. Fatigue can be a problem, and sometimes hard workouts leave her with muscle stiffness and shaking, but she credits her ongoing sports career for helping her feel in tune with her body’s signals.

“Over the years, I’ve learned to listen to my body, letting my body guide when I need to stop and take breaks,” she says.

Nathalie explains that she used to only look backwards because of the initial shock of her diagnosis. In time, she stopped thinking about what she couldn’t do anymore and focused on her future. She now lives in the following mindset: “Even when doors close, don’t miss out on those that open.” Instead of focusing on what she can’t do, she focuses on the opportunities she still has. Right now, this includes her training for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, where she will compete for another rowing medal.

“I only go forward,” she says. “Well, I try, anyway…It’s easy to say, it’s not always easy to do. But that’s what I try to do.”

woman exiting water after swimming, woman with great daneHelga's Great Dane has become a helpful and beloved companion.Courtesy of Sanofi

Helga—Johannesburg, South Africa (diagnosed with relapsing multiple sclerosis in 2010)

When Helga first started having balance issues and numbness in her feet, she chalked it up to her training as a runner. But when the numbness moved to her face, she knew something was wrong. She never guessed it was MS.

“When I was diagnosed, I felt completely overwhelmed and clueless,” Helga says. “I felt that I had nowhere near enough information. I did not know anything about the disease…I had no idea that it was going to be a process of continually monitoring and adjusting your lifestyle.”

In the beginning, Helga’s symptoms developed slowly, and she didn’t appear ill to others. She was even able to run for a few years after her diagnosis, but she couldn’t do marathons anymore, and she began to fall frequently due to balance issues and right-foot dragging. Then her cognition issues became more problematic, especially in her job as a trainer in a printing company.

“My executive function, decision-making and short-term memory were affected to the point that I was eventually medically unfit for work,” she says. She stopped working in 2017.

However, she didn’t stop living life. Even though she could no longer run, she continued to swim competitively. She got a Great Dane puppy and trained him as a service dog to help her walk. She also serves as vice chair of the patient support organization Multiple Sclerosis South Africa, and she advises others who have been diagnosed to join a patient advocacy group as soon as possible to get reliable information and meet others with MS.

Helga says she is “hopeful” about the future of MS. “I must say that I am so grateful that we have all the new medications available, because my life would not be the same if it wasn't for that,” she adds.

Part of how she manages her MS is by looking at the positives.

“If I could tell the world one thing about MS, it would be that MS is an incurable disease of the nervous system, but it's also the greatest teacher of valuing your health, family, friends, and managing change in your life,” she says. “My life is diversified in a way that I never, ever thought it would, and MS has been honestly the greatest teacher.”

Each MS journey is unique – with each person impacted experiencing different struggles, successes, and feelings as they manage this unpredictable disease. But the common thread is clear – there is a critical need for information, support, and hope. We are proud to participate in World MS Day and share these incredible stories of living life while living with MS. To learn more about MS, go to https://www.sanofi.com/why-words-really-matter-when-it-comes-to-multiple-sclerosis.

MAT-GLB-2301642-v1.0-05/2023

This article was sponsored by Sanofi. Participants were compensated when applicable.

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