From: pnmideast@igc.apc.org
Newsgroups: alt.discrimination
Date: 07 Sep 92 13:06 PDT
Subject: French Youth Plan Tunisian Bike Rid
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1522100006:000:4410
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!pnmideast    Sep  7 13:06:00 1992


From: <pnmideast>
Subject: French Youth Plan Tunisian Bike Ride

DISADVANTAGED YOUTH OF FRANCE PLAN TUNISIAN BIKE
RIDE

MANTES-LA-JOLIE (SEPT. 1) IPS - A year after clashes between
youths and police claimed three lives in this industrial center 27
miles west of Paris, a group of 11 young people has started
working to change the image of their communities and themselves.

All are residents of the "cities", as the French call them --
state-subsidized high rise blocks, crowded with French and
immigrant families.

They have grown up with that stigma and are now determined to show
themselves and others that they are capable of organizing an
ambitious project -- a 20-day bicycle ride across Tunisia,
beginning on Sept. 6.

The group is made up of 11 people, 10 men and one woman, and half
of them are of North African descent.

"We are doing this to show we are responsible," said David Robert,
one of the organizers who works as a sports instructor for the
private foundation Tamerantong. "The project is, above all, for
the youth, to show they are capable of doing something."

Kadour Boudali is 22 and has Algerian parents. He said he was
looking forward to showing his French friends the hospitality of
the region at the farms where they have arranged to stay during
their 420 mile trip.

Although born in France, Boudali feels half French and half North
African.  "But this is not Los Angeles," he said. "There is
solidarity among young people of the many ethnic groups here in
the cities."

The group has raised some 130,000 francs ($26,000) for the
bicycles, support van, equipment, food and other costs by applying
for subsidies from two government programs and contributing $400
each themselves.

So far only five of the bikes have arrived, so most of the
expedition members have been training by running or doing other
sports.

All those making the trip want to become sports instructors and
work with youth in their communities. Most left school at 16 with
few marketable skills and less luck at finding work.

They also have in common the traumas of last year, when riots in
May over conditions in the cities lead to the death of an
18-year-old in police custody.

In June, a policewoman was run over while trying to stop youths
who were joy-riding in five stolen cars. One young man was shot to
death by another officer. More clashes followed.

Mantes-la-Jolie became a symbol of rebellion in the poor areas of
the major cities where immigrants from North Africa live among
impoverished French citizens.

For the 11 going to Tunisia, the riots were more immediate. The
dead were friends.

The French government has spent millions of francs on housing,
youth programs, education and other projects for disadvantaged
areas, with Mantes-la-Jolie a major target.

Yet the program has been criticized, not only by the conservatives
who object to the cost and the right-wing anti-immigration factor.
There are others who say some programs gain media attention
without going to the heart of the problems.

"If there was less unemployment, there would be less conflict,"
said expedition member Herve Clerin who is 23 and has had nothing
but part time or temporary jobs since he left school seven years
ago. Unemployment is about 10 percent in France.

Stephane Henry, also an expedition member, says the education
system creates problems for youth by holding them back a year if
they have problems in any subject and by limiting their exposure
to sports and the arts. He spent this summer working with a
theatre program for six to 14- year-olds from his community.

Henry, Clerin and other expedition members said one of the worst
problems in the area is being misunderstood. There is, in broad
terms, a lack of communication between youth and police,
officials, journalists and adults in general.

"They reproach us for speaking aggressively and vulgarly.
Paradoxically they only listen to us when we are vulgar, when we
threaten them," said Robert. "We just want to be recognized by
society."

Robert said he believes a small project such as this will have a
more profound impact on the community than some of the broad
governmental programs.

The group will not consider their expedition is over until all the
participants have trained as sports instructors, found jobs and
launched projects of their own.

"It is not that sport is a miracle," he said. "Sport is a way to
show that we are capable."

Xref: sparky alt.discrimination:4349 alt.atheism:17102 alt.politics.homosexuality:5938