Migrants from Paris and Val-d’Oise invited to play football with PSG

“Offering the migrants a way out of a daily routine life”. This is the challenge set by Patrick Paszkiewiez, General Secretary of the Secours Populaire du Val-d’Oise. On Thursday the 25th of October, the association takes about fifty migrants in the Puy-de-Dôme for two days of sports activities and discoveries. An operation entirely funded by the Paris-Saint-Germain Foundation. This initiative mainly aims to provide an escape from the hassle of life that migrants face every day. Among them, about twenty come from the Adoma emergency shelter of Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône. Another twenty are from Paris.

A tournament supervised by PSG staff

The theme of these holidays in Auvergne is football. Staff members of the Parisian club were supervising the participants; while two other teams of migrants hosted in Puy-de-Dôme were invited to face the teams located in Ile-de-France during a tournament on Friday 26th of October.

“I do not know how to play very well, but I like it. I’m going to meet other people like that, “said Mohammed Ousman, a 26-year-old Sudanese man who has been at Adoma for more than a year. Because he is not having a refugee status yet, he is currently not allowed to work. “On a daily basis, I sleep a lot to pass the time. I also like helping people, continues Mohammed who is also a volunteer at Secours Populaire. But I want to discover other cities and other cultures. ”

The field trip, which also included a hike on Saturday morning, is an opportunity for these migrants to practice the French language. Those of Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône follow courses regularly. And their trainers also went to Puy-de-Dôme with them. “I have a little trouble with the language, but I will be able to practice,” smiles Mohammed Ousman, visibly delighted to discover a new horizon.