Melat Mengistu is an Ethiopian refugee who arrived in 2019 in a small town in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, where she still resides.
For Brut, she tells how she experienced her arrival in Oloron-Sainte-Marie where she first had to acclimatize to the cold "because in Ethiopia, she smiles, we are more used to the heat".
“The view of the Pyrenees mountains is too beautiful”
Exiled to flee the violence that reigns in her native country, Melat deplores that “many people die there because of their ethnicity”.
Normal, therefore, that she sees in her new environment a haven of peace.
"I feel good here because it's a quiet town, where you can find everything you need," explains the young woman.
And then when I arrived in Oloron-Sainte-Marie, I found that the view of the Pyrenees mountains was too beautiful!
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“I landed here because I found an ADVF training there, which trains as a home helper.
I was accompanied by the France Horizon association which helped me a lot.
My referent made me visit all the city, she showed me the public garden, the Post office, the cathedral of Sainte-Marie.
When I see this cathedral, enthuses the young woman, I think it looks like the church in my hometown.
I find it very beautiful, and I pray here sometimes.
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OUR “REFUGEE” FILE
But she won't be able to see her family again right away.
“I cannot return to my country for the moment, because I am a political refugee and I will have to wait at least 10 years.
But life goes on!
You always have to smile and stay positive because otherwise, you do nothing,” she concludes.
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