What will remain of his stay in a learning colo? The tide talk? More certainly the odor mixed with iodized air and the donut with apple to taste. A scent of joy that will sweeten Moussou all summer ( the children's first names have been changed ). The summer of her 11th birthday. The one where she first met the sea. She took her courage in both hands to float in her life jacket, defying her fear of "falling into the background". "I didn't know there was salt in the water when I drank it: it's funny!" She laughs, now dry.
Opposite the other Baie des Anges, the promenade of Aber Wrac'h, customary for walkers, dogs on a leash, troops of penguins in black combi coming out of the water dragging their catamarans, gets used to another audience. That of children like Moussou, beneficiaries of the “learning colos” operation set up to mitigate as much as possible the effects of confinement and two months of closure of schools and colleges. The government hopes to send 250,000 kids to the green or to the sea by September, almost free of charge for families - stays are paid 80% by the state, and 20% by the municipalities. For the moment, 107,000 places are already offered, representing 5,000 stays, announced this Friday the Ministry of National Education.
In the center, we prepared with a little apprehension the arrival of these young people in great precariousness, of which we will not be able to show either the smiling faces, or give the real first names, "for the sake of their safety", insists the organization . All were sent this week by 115, the Samu social de Paris.
Next week, teenagers from Corbeil (Essonne) will come accompanied by their teachers. But no question of pouring into the math class. "The idea is that the child leaves with a little more culture, and especially the desire to learn," notes Frédéric Dadoy, regional director of the UCPA. “When they got to their rooms, they made a big wow! says Audrey Chazerand, director of the center. And every day, it's the same: they are happy with everything. ”
Ahmed, in fact, can't get over it. A wardrobe, a bed of his own! In Paris, he sleeps on the same mattress as mom, in the small room that protects them both from the street. So even if the sea is not entirely a discovery since he already saw it last year in colo in Hossegor in the Landes, "and then also at Paris Plage", this schoolboy from CP loves everything. And especially the animators. And the food "too good". And the evening "Incredible talent" of the day before. "My talent is to make the wheel," slips the boy before joining the pirouette to the floor.
An ant with a "lemon taste"
It's the off-peak time before the big shower-pajama-dinner tunnel that will soon make Yacine, the mono darling everyone calls Kiki, run. "Broomsticks, maggots!" »He throws to the greedy ones who squint on the rabbit of donuts. The girls discuss or refine their choreographies, as at every free moment. Ahmed explores the grass and takes the opportunity to "taste an ant". "It tastes like lemon and nothing at all," he says. " Lime ? Asked a little girl with quilts. "Normal lemon."
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Learning holidays? Living holidays especially, and that's the main thing, we say to ourselves while listening to Daniela recount her confinement, this cottony period bathed by Disney +. “I was afraid my mother would get sick. What would we become without her? I didn't want her to come out, ”says the teenager, the second in a family of six children.
Arthur, quiet in front of his shells, at dinner time, has a bit of the blues of his "twelve comforters" who stayed with his parents in Ivry-sur-Seine. Her cat has been looked after by her neighbors for three years, while waiting for the family to find a real home - animals are not allowed in the shelter. But his real concern is in his phone: "I have 83 subscribers on TikTok, I would like to overtake my mother who has 145 on Instagram", explains the kid, 9 years old, as if revived by this evocation of his screen. In front of him, Anthony focuses on his plate: "Why do we say cordon-bleu?" Turkey is not blue! Bandiougou, the director of the trip, melts on his phone: "Wait, I'll see why ..."
The chocolate eclair is swallowed. It's the vigil. The musical quiz puts the troupe of grown-ups in a trance - including Arthur. Dadju, Wedjene make the pajamas sweat, and when Vegedream in the enclosure still wants to "Bring the cup home", Daniela's dinosaur slippers no longer touch the ground. "Tonight, we will go to bed happy," comments the director, facing the hopping heads that draw a cheerful swell. They give so much. ”
