Could any of you knowledgable people point me to (French) resources relating to asylum seekers: what support they get by way of education or training, that sort of thing?
Muchas gracias.
The Secours Catholique (Caritas) offers free French lessons and maybe more.
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Depends on age, I know some of our students would like to do apprenticeships but have to stay in full time education until papers sorted out.
A few months ago we had to terminate our enjoyable French classes in Figeac (Lot) because they wanted to concentrate on getting asylum seekers up to speed in order to integrate with french society and culture. We were issued with certificates of achievement, but they’re not much use because we’ve previously been graded at at a higher level.
However this week we’ve signed up to a similar free course in Decazeville in the Aveyron, but I suspect the level won’t be right for our needs. We really need more daily, and more complex verbal interchanges with a varied range of native francophones.
Do you mind sharing the info of the courses they offer? We are only alittle more than 20 mins from there and are interesting in some formal classes. Also do the walks go on during the winter or will start again in the spring?
Hi, good to ‘hear’ from you again.
The course in Decazeville is in a rather anonymous building in the same square as the police station and tax office and where the Tuesday market is held. you just walk in (entrance gate at arrow below) and ask to enrol. Classes are Tues 9.30am (very handy for the market) and Thurs.
Walking has continued every Weds, but the only walk over your way these past few months was when we were away. Normally there’s walks every year from Marcillac, St Christophe, Clairvaux and St Cyprien but these tend to be in the Spring and Autumn because they all go up a few hundred metres and there’s little shade on many of these chemins.
Today we didn’t walk with the group because our poodle had a toilettage appointment, so my wife self and friend just did a local walk along the Lot veloroute from Boisse-Penchot to St Martin de Bouillac and back (with obligatory stop at the auberge - 9 kms easy walking, but I won’t be posting photos cos we usually do this walk once a week.
We’re starting the class next Tuesday, because my wife has a dental apt tomorrow. We learnt about the class from a Dutch friend in our walking group.
Initially asylum seekers may be provided with accommodation, medical services and a tiny amount of money a day; something like €7. Or double that if not given somewhere to live.
A friend of ours does weekly alphabetisation classes for the asylum seekers that are placed here, on a voluntary basis. And they get some physical support such as clothes, access to the food bank, and most recently my bicycle since I no longer use it.
But I think formal training and so on has to wait until they have their papers, which can take a long time.
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Our village has a CADA (centre d’accueil de demandeurs d’asile), they are throughout France. Families and individuals are accommodated in a little lotissement with staff on site and supported with their administrative, health and other practical needs, and children attend the local school. Locally we can volunteer to spend one day every week with an asylum seeker to help them get used to French daily life and conversation. Eventually they move on to more independent accommodation with support still available.
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Sorry for the slow replay we have had a bad cold thankfully not the flu. How were the classes?
Hope you’re over it now.
The class was not what I expected, but was really interesting and great fun. We (wife, self and half a dozen middle-aged Moroccan ladies) were shown how make lots of mendiants, a traditional Provençal Christmas sweet, and in-between chatted with each other. Enjoyable and well worthwhile - not least because of the different accents - didn’t pick up every word, but we got by.
This coming Tuesday, the class will be with a different person and I guess the format will be different too. Hope to see you there.
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Mostly recovered. Sounds very interesting. We plan to be there.
Great! Look forward to meeting up.
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Sadly my cold came back yesterday. Id rather not go to a class coughing and risk infected people. With Christmas next week is there a Tuesday class?
The clothes bank where I volunteer supplies clothes, make up,toys, and books on a regular basis to asylum seekers in the Department.The lady who collects the clothes etc says the majority are from countries in the Middle East. Whilst they will happily take anything from the clothes bank, they apparently drew the line at accepting what was seen as ‘debauched Western literature’. Out of curiosity I asked what in particular they had objected to. The answer was ‘Barbara Cartland novels‘ in French, that had rather dated images of damsels in distress etc on the covers.
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Funnily enough, I just placed in our village book box 4 paperbacks I had bought online second hand from Momox. These were tomes by Philippa Gregory quasi fictional histories of Plantagenet queens. Horrible covers of exactly that, young and beautiful obviously 20th century girls dressed up in medieval costume. I expect it was a Chic Lit standard that I’m happy to note more recent publications have abandoned. 
Sorry you couldn’t make it - there were a lot of people and several groups, so thought we might have missed you. This week’s class was very different - no choc, but a discussion about rights and duties under the French constitution (all in french) but very easy to follow. It was also a framing device for introducing some people to the three main tenses of devoir and pouvoir. Afterwards there was a lot of cake and coffee.
There’ll be a class next Tuesday and we were told that there’ll be a surprise. Well each class so far has been a surprise, but it’s useful and interesting and we’re getting to meet a lot of new people with all sorts of backgrounds.
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This is a photo taken today from the clothes bank showing debauched Western literature’ rejected by asylum seekers!
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One could put large stickers on the front! I used to do this when I lived in the States, and this is a book I’ve just put in box for recyclerie.
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It’s not just what’s depicted, but how - this is the most badly drawn book cover I’ve seen in a long time - those forearms and hands - bad enough to be AI!