Young Moroccan Immigrant’s Journey: From Alps to Paris in Pursuit of Education and Better Life

"In my country, I see black. Everything is black," Ayoub, a young Moroccan who arrived in France with the dream of studying and living there, tells InfoMigrants. From Briançon to Paris, he met wonderful people who lent him a hand but also difficulties. "For about a month, I lived in a shelter, before being housed in the Chez Marcel house (an abandoned house renovated for a collective to accommodate migrants who have crossed the Alps)," he recalls. In Briançon, he was a cook and a bicycle repairman. "I sometimes worked, but not for money."

With the help of a young volunteer from the region, he gets a bus ticket to Paris. On arrival, he is temporarily housed by a Parisian friend he met in Briançon. He enrolls at the university and finds his first rented room. "It’s hard to describe in words. I left university in Morocco. I was a migrant who left, and now I’m at university in France. It’s such an incredible feeling," Ayoub rejoices. Unemployed, a friend and his parents help him pay his first months of rent. Later, he finds work at a market. His task was to unload and sell goods for two days a week. He received 50 euros for a full day of twelve hours.

Regularly searching for new housing in Paris is one of his difficulties. One of his university professors accompanies him in this regard. He finds him a free room for two months. He received free food in the university catering service, and clothes and shoes from the associations. In January, severe abdominal pain prevents him from continuing his studies normally. "I had been having regular pains for about a year, but I didn’t pay attention to them. The pain would eventually go away. But that day, when I had a French class, I was in so much pain that I couldn’t get up." Admitted to the hospital, he was operated on for acute appendicitis.

Unable to live in his apartment on the sixth floor without an elevator, Ayoub manages to be hosted by a couple. "I arrived at Giovanna and Sergio’s. They were very kind. They did a lot of things for me. They offered me accommodation, they gave me food, they gave me love, they gave me everything." The couple also helped him with his administrative procedures. In early June, Ayoub is assaulted by two people for a simple cigarette while waiting for a bus. He had to undergo an operation. The ups and downs do not undermine the morale of the young Moroccan student. He plans to complete his studies in Paris, take training in the hotel industry and realize his dream, that of working as a chef and perhaps one day opening his own Moroccan specialty restaurant. And he can count on the support of Giovanna and Sergio. They help him overcome some administrative obstacles to join a school in the fall and have a legal status.