• A reception center opened this Monday, March 28 in Vaulx-en-Velin to facilitate administrative procedures for Ukrainian refugees in the Rhône.

  • Of the 150 people who show up every day, the overwhelming majority are women and children.

  • Red Cross volunteers and civic service volunteers take care of the youngest by providing them with games, smiles and comforting attention.

A 5-year-old blonde builds a tower with a young girl in an orange sweatshirt.

Without speaking, they exchange the bricks, laughing.

It's like being in a daycare centre, while just behind, the blonde's mother is filling out the papers to be able to stay in France.

We are in a Reception Center for temporary protection, opened this Monday in Vaulx-en-Velin, where the administrative procedures for refugees are centralized.

150 people per day, almost exclusively Ukrainian women and children, are invited to follow a well-marked route, from box to box: preparation of residence permit application files (valid for 6 months and renewable for up to 3 years) , National Education (children can only go to school if the parents have obtained a temporary residence permit), Pôle Emploi, medical visit… Everyone waits calmly, although the wait is lengthened by the translation.

Smiles to overcome the language barrier

A tall bearded man, dressed in the vest of the Red Cross, warms the atmosphere by distributing bottles of water, sweets and winks.

François traveled 600 km from Agen to lend a hand to his colleagues, “on a whim, give what you have to give.

There is a language barrier but with smiles and a few jokes, everyone understands each other, he says.

These people have lost their bearings, but problems only exist if you think they are problems, so when you don't think about them, there are no more, it's only natural!

»

Marjolaine, a volunteer at the Red Cross, also welcomes women and children with common sense as instructions.

"As at the Bellecombe gymnasium, we have set up a space full of games for children, where volunteers in civic service can play with them," she explains.

It frees the parents, because spending a whole day here with hungry, thirsty or bored children can be hellish.

While there, they can devote themselves to filling out the forms.

»

A new mission for young people in civic service

The young volunteers seated on the play mat are dressed in orange sweatshirts with the Unis-Cités logo, the organization that brings together civic services.

Among them, Anaïs, 18, registered since November, for an 8-month mission.

"I wanted to get involved for the general interest, and civic service was a good option for me," she says.

“We were asked by the Red Cross to come here on Monday.

Until now, we accompanied the association ASET (Aide à la Scolarisation des Enfants Gypsies), which allowed us to gain experience with the children.

In this Centre, “the most important thing is to be there for them, to have a good time.

They surely want to forget the rest a bit and live their life as children,” she says.

Judith, 24, took a gap year after her master's degree in occupational health.

She has just arrived at the Center and takes pleasure in taking care of these joyful children, very focused on their constructions.

“I don't think they realize, they show a certain carelessness, they just seem happy to spend some time with us,” she remarks.

François agrees: “The children see their parents, their loved ones around them, so it's fine, everything is going very well.

They are in the same situation as our grandparents who lived through war situations.

Afterwards, like them, they will grow and build their happiness.

So, might as well bring them some happiness now.

»

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  • War in Ukraine

  • Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

  • Lyons

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