While the country is in the grip of a serious economic crisis, in the oasis city of Tozeur a Centre, supported by PIME, focuses on schooling and civic education: “Today our children are agents of change”, says the director
Sugar, canned goods and some sweets typical of the Ramadan period: the products collected thanks to the collection in the shops of the Ras Edhraa district, in Tozeur, will end up in the parcels destined for the neediest families of this popular area inhabited largely by Bedouins from from the surrounding villages. The idea comes from Asma, Mahmoud and their friends from the OxyJeunes Youth Centre, all born and raised in the oasis city surrounded by the Tunisian desert, 450 km south of Tunis, which until a few years ago was a thriving tourist destination. Today, however, Tozeur is struggling in the midst of an unprecedented economic and social collapse. The terrible crisis that has hit Tunisia is hitting Tunisia harder here than elsewhere, precisely because the wealth of the area, together with the nation’s most prized dates, has always been represented by holidaymakers, who dropped significantly after the Islamic attacks and then disappeared completely during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many hotels have never reopened since then, as have numerous businesses linked to hospitality. In the meantime, the effects of the war in Ukraine, with the collapse of cereal imports and the increase in raw material prices, have hit Tunisians and today the situation is worsened by drought, which is slowing down local production. Thus, despite the iron fist of president-boss Saïed against speculators, empty supermarket shelves are now the norm and various products, from milk to flour, are rationed. In Ras Edhraa, also thanks to unemployment which reaches 25%, there are many families who struggle to put food on the table: the parcels prepared by the OxyJeunes boys will allow them to celebrate, despite everything, Eid al Fitr, the celebration that concludes the Islamic holy month.
The Center is a creation of the “Amal pour la famille et l’enfant” association, a local reality created to give a chance for a future to a generation that grew up in a climate of disillusionment, after the hopes generated by the jasmine revolution of 2011. «In a country where every year 100,000 students leave school before the age of 16 and where psychological disorders often arise at a very early age, it is essential to invest in young people, who make up a third of the Tunisian population but for whom there is no network of support that prevents cases of social hardship and deviance”, says Irene Baldissarri of New Humanity International. Since the beginning of 2023, thanks to the support of the Pime Foundation, the NGO has supported Amal’s educational activities for 150 children, from primary school to high school. Objective: «To combat school dropouts, cultivate the talents of young people in the most varied sectors, promote their potential but also their protagonism, training them for active citizenship».
An after-school club therefore operates at the Ras Edhraa Centre, with reinforcement lessons for various subjects and foreign languages, but cultural, socialization and training initiatives are also organized on issues such as children’s rights, non-violent communication, environmental protection. . «There are various “clubs” with proposals ranging from artistic workshops to sporting activities», explains the New Humanity operator, also underlining the attention to the families from which the children come: «For mothers, who often do not have studies behind it, Amal offers literacy courses, while trying to train parents in their responsibilities and the value of education for the future of their children, who in many cases they would instead prefer to see leave for Europe. Awareness of the tragedies linked to migration is low.” And, in the country chosen by the EU as a partner to contain the flow of people (despite the repeated violations of the rights of sub-Saharan migrants), poverty remains a very strong driving force that pushes thousands of Tunisians to abandon their land.
In recent years, therefore, the association has decided to focus on the age range from high school to the start of university. An intuition of the director – and soul of the structure – Moufida Hachef, a 36-year-old who also grew up in a poor family and achieved a baccalaureate in English Literature and Civilisation. «In these young people I see our future», explains Moufida. “We started with simple activities such as editing videos, writing a CV, using the internet.” Then, thanks to the support of PIME which has been present here since 2020, the first summer camp was organized last summer, in Djerba: «I still have in my eyes the joy of Jinel, a fatherless girl who had never gone to sea: when we dived into the waves he hugged me enthusiastically, he couldn’t stop thanking me.”
Trips to the desert and a summer camp at the seaside: many had never seen it
Irene says: «For the majority of the participants, in reality, that was the first time they had left Tozeur. This is why we also wanted to include trips into the desert surrounding the oasis in the project, to allow these teenagers to get to know the beauty of their land.” At the same time, Amal, which also has an office in Tunis where it manages a professional training center and a reception center for single mothers, has managed to rejoin the network of the Jeunes des 2 Rives programme, which aims to educate the new generations of Mediterranean countries to citizenship and international solidarity, through local construction sites – such as the one held in Tozeur and dedicated to environmental sustainability in the oasis – and abroad. «Some of us – says Moufida – took part in exchanges in Morocco and France: a precious opportunity to see the world and also to realize that emigration is not always the solution, because living conditions can be harsh even outside the Tunisia”.
As they grew up, the most “historical” visitors to the Ras Edhraa Center began to become its beating heart: «Slowly they began to take on some responsibilities, to help us with activities for the children, to engage in volunteering. Today this structure is their second home. Its name, which is a play on words between the terms “oxygen” and “youth”, reflects the opportunity to breathe the freedom and joy of expressing oneself, without stereotypes or gender discrimination. Here boys and girls have the same roles, everyone lends a hand and is involved in decisions.” Thus was born an Advisory Council made up of ten members, which organizes various community service activities: in addition to the food collection for poor families, the volunteers have recently carried out a project to redevelop some school buildings in the neighborhood through repainting, cleaning and creating murals.
«Our Center has become a real point of reference for families – says Moufida – and I try to make them understand that this can represent a springboard for their children towards a better future. Among the young people who have passed through here there are those who have now become teachers, those who work in the world of theatre… in whatever sector they have chosen to engage in, they are becoming agents of change. It is people like them who hold the future of Tunisia in their hands, starting with their own community.”
THE PROJECT
The support activities for the children of Tozeur are part of the project “K815 – Countering school dropout and social marginalization in Tunisia”, which refers to brother Marco Monti. Among the activities there are after-school activities for 150 children in Ras Edhraa, in which brother Marco himself volunteers, and a digital education course for 100 students in Tunis. You can contribute in the ways indicated on page. 2 or above centropime.org/progetti