Adama Diara is a young farmer who decided to leave his home region of Koulikoro and set off for Europe in 2007. One day he would like to extend his plan and start selling the produce he grows himself. “I was really worried about what’d happen once I got home, but OFII kept all its promises”, he says, with a smile on his face.
« I’ve made my childhood dream come true in Tunisia ». The grant from the OFII allowed him to buy some livestock and, with his own small savings along with his mother’s, he took over a farm and opened a grocery shop in Sers, in north-western Tunisia.
"I cannot describe with words how I felt when I went back to Armenia". Narek come from Garni in Armenia and takes care of his own greenhouses with OFII 's help.
« Now I’ve got two apprentices who’re being trained up just the way I was ». In the hope of finding a better job as a carpenter in France, Apollinaire decided to leave Cameroon in 2010. Unfortunately, he received a very poor reception when he arrived, even among his friends and family who were already living in the country. “I saw everything fall apart”, he tells us. Apollinaire, who is 35, now dreams of opening a sawmill and buying machines to expand his workshop.
Yaya Kané is from Mopti in Mali. At the moment he is doing an internship at Care International, an international organisation which works in 710 villages in Mali in order to set up grants relating to child nutrition, family farms and sanitation.
« I had no papers, no money and I was losing all hope ».
Hamda is now 60, and hopes and wants to get all kinds of plans going. When he thinks about France, he imagines all the exhibitions of towels and weaving work in which he will be involved and the market that will open up to him.
