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Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale
National
Jessica Phelan with RFI

Meet 'Mamie Charge', the Calais woman topping up migrants' batteries

Mamie Calais France Europe RFI
Brigitte Lips speaks with migrants as they hand over their mobile phones for recharging at her house in Calais, northern France, on 10 November 2014. © Denis Charlet / AFP

For more than 20 years, Brigitte Lips has witnessed Europe's migration crisis from her home in Calais, on France's northern coast. Rather than shutting her door, she opened it to migrants seeking a safe place to recharge their mobile phones – an act that has earned her the nickname "Granny Charge".

"It started off as 'Mama', and now as the years have gone by, it's 'Mamie' (grandma)," Lips tells RFI.

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