France/From Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon to Clisson, twelve young people are discovering life in mainland France by helping out on a construction site
Twelve young people from Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon spent two weeks in Clisson and participated in volunteer projects with Animaje as part of a partnership between the two organizations.
It’s certainly a partnership. But above all, it’s a friendship and a strong bond between Animaje and the AJEP 975 (Jeunesse Éducation populaire) association in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon. Several years ago, Frédéric Guillaume, a native of the territory, moved to Clisson and was hired by Animaje as a program facilitator.
Since then, strong ties have developed between the two organizations. In recent years, Animaje has trained two youth workers from Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon. In 2023, the director of the Clisson-based association, Yannick Chanson, and Frédéric Guillaume traveled to the archipelago to develop a youth policy inspired by the Clisson model. This led to the creation of AJEP 975 there.
This year, twelve young people aged 14 to 18 from Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon participated in a two-week program. It was a guaranteed change of scenery for these young people from an archipelago with a population of just 6,000.
During the first week, they helped with the Smileys projects along the Sèvre River, notably by cleaning the laundry room after construction work and assisting at the Haute-Grange site. The second week took place in Perpignan.
Immersion in Clisson
The young people from Saint-Pierre were accompanied by Audrey Hacala and Arnaud Revert, two program leaders trained by Animaje. In Clisson, they stayed in tents at a camp set up behind the Jacques Prévert School.
“On our archipelago, far from everything, we obviously want to see and discover what’s happening on the mainland. Back home, there’s no public transportation, and we’re curious, for example, to see trains, as well as shopping malls and the very old monuments or historic sites that we don’t have where we live. We’re also eager to meet other young people and see what their daily lives are like,” explain Clélia, Chloé, and Marie-Lou, from the group from Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon.
