portrait of two young dropouts who have found their way to better “hang up”

In her notebook, Munevver has carefully detailed all the missions she has carried out within the FACE Flandre Maritime association, in which she works. Help residents of the Dunkirk conurbation in great difficulty, to fill out paperwork to obtain aid from the CAF, over-indebtedness files from the Banque de France, or even find solutions in the event of unpaid invoices of electricity.

Still, Munevver doesn’t like to take notes. “I learn a lot more on the field, in contact with people”, summarizes the young woman. At 20, she has just signed a two-year work-study contract with this association in Grande-Synthe, in the North.

“The young girl I was three years ago would be proud of me, for having found what I really wanted to do”smiles the one who admits never having been very academic. “Staying eight hours sitting on a chair in front of a painting, very little for me.” After her patent, she turned to a vocational baccalaureate in commerce and sales. Classes bore him, internships much less. She whips to get her diploma, and goes to BTS Commerce trades. Munevver does not complete the first year. She picks up. “I wasn’t the best student, we’re not going to lie to each other… It wasn’t for me, I wasn’t concrete enough, in the heat of the moment”she explains.

Determined to gain experience, to become a specialist educator, she did civic service, then found a place in DEUST Social Intervention, in Dunkirk, a work-study university course. But despite 40 applications, she cannot find any association or company that agrees to welcome her and train her. Against the wall, she contacted the Afev association, which included her in its Apprentis Solidaires program. For six months, in Grande-Synthe, with other dropouts, she carries out solidarity missions, works on her self-confidence, passes fake job interviews, works on her CV, her cover letters. “Everything to be ready for the world of employment” according to her. It is in this context that Munevver hears about the FACE association, applies and obtains her contract as a social mediator.

Grégory not only landed a contract with Afev, but also “found a family, that I would never leave”, describes someone who has experienced great personal difficulties. The young man begins to pick up in 5th. “Staying in class, taking lessons, it was not for me”, he describes. Like Munevver, he needs to be active. After his college diploma, Grégory left for a CAP in carpentry. He only spent a year there, personal difficulties returned. In 2020, he arrived in Dunkirk and entered a second chance school. Another failure. “Too many courses, and too long training” for him who wants “work fast to take [son] flight, [sa] life in hand”.

He left school and contacted Afev, which included him in its Apprentis Solidaires program. For six months, he worked a lot on his self-confidence, getting up to speed in French and maths. “When I arrived, I was reserved, in my corner”he recalls. “Today it’s completely the opposite, I talk to everyone.”

During one of his solidarity missions, he helps the founder of an association to sort through donations of clothes and sleeping bags destined for Ukraine: he is the one who hires him, a few months later. Grégory signed a three-year CDD in July. He does marauding, every night, to meet the homeless and migrants who want to cross the Channel and go to England. A logical investment for him. “I had a hard time in my life, I wish people would have reached out to mehe says. So today I do. I am someone who needs to help, to pay attention to people, to feel useful.” Grégory has even reconciled with school: he aims to follow training, theoretical and practical, to, in turn, support young people in great difficulty.

Young people like Grégory and Munevver, Fatima Aaross has helped dozens over the past three years. They are weakened by their school career. With sometimes “life stories that are difficult to hear, and we reconnect them through social ties, solidarity actions, in order to give them a framework, meaning, to feel useful”. The manager of the Apprentis Solidaires project in Grande-Synthe sees apprenticeship and work-study training as the most suitable type of training for these young people who are failing at school and/or dropping out. “They have a complicated history with National Educationshe explains. For some, school is a pain. They suffered harassment. There, by being most of their time in business, or in an association, it allows them to play down.” Furthermore, “these are young people who want to work, to have a quick income in order to be independent. Working is their way of feeling recognized in society, as citizens. And they also tell themselves that they will be able to be offered a CDI.”

Some of the oldest young people accompanied, from the promotion of 2020, have indeed won a stable contract. Of the 21, 15 are “come out positively”but “some did not go to the end of our support because their stories, their personal difficulties are still too strong, too complicated”, she admits. The Afev association will double the number of young people supported in 2022, going from 200 to 400 people helped throughout France.