According to the leaders of the social centers which assure marauding to meet the inhabitants, confinement is much more strictly respected in the districts than in the city center.
V ou want certificates madam? All is well at home? Questioned in the street by Gwenaël Caillaud, director of the sociocultural center of La Blaiserie, this resident of the Bel-Air district, replies with a smile: “No, thank you, the printer is still working, everything is fine!” ” A little further, another resident does not refuse the same proposal, especially since each sheet of paper contains four certificates. But the distribution of confinement “passes” is far from the only mission of the marauders, these walks in the heart of the neighborhoods to meet the inhabitants, which are organized three times a week (1) the socio-cultural centers of Poitiers. For Gwenaël Caillaud and Dominique Rudnik, his counterpart in Cap Sud, after four weeks of experience, the lessons are numerous. Interview.
“The working classes are enormously afraid”
After a month of regular raids in the neighborhoods, what has struck you the most for the moment?
“It is obvious that confinement is much more strictly respected in the districts of Poitiers than in the city center. A majority of the people we meet in the neighborhoods, at the foot of their building, or at their window, allow themselves only one outing per week: only one person from the household goes out to go shopping, and c ‘is all. However, if the rules of confinement are overinterpreted, it is first of all because behind all this, there is fear. People are also very concerned about the health conditions in which children will return to school. “
What specific problems have you noticed since the start of containment?
“First, the digital divide. From the first week, we realized that many families did not have the necessary tools, often with only one internet connection on a mobile phone for four children. We took stock of the Marcel-Pagnol elementary school: out of 142 students, 44 did not have access to a computer at home! We have taken the place of National Education a little by transmitting the paper versions of the homework to the families concerned. But we have also noticed in some households an extreme budgetary tension. When you have five or six children and you have to provide one more meal than at school time since there is no canteen, the budget takes a hit. It is estimated at 50 to 60 euros the additional expenses per month and per child! There are also those who worked in temporary work and for which all professional activity is stopped. And then for some teenagers, 19-25 year olds, it can become unbearable to live 24 hours a day confined to their parents. We also referred people in food insecurity to social grocery stores or the Secours populaire. And put isolated elderly people in contact with the CCAS. “
What reception is generally given to your interventions?
“People really appreciate that they no longer feel abandoned. Often, they are the ones who come to us, knowing that we distribute exit certificates, but also a brochure with emergency numbers to contact. And then, they also ask for our news, it’s not a disproportionate relationship, we have nothing to sell, no show, no activities. So everyone worries about the health of the other. However, it is clear that the working classes are enormously afraid. This fear is expressed viscerally, or through questions structured around the problem of masks or social distancing. But the fear is still there. “
(1) The marauders take place in each district, Monday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesday from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Friday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The teams are made up of one person from the neighborhood and two who are not, part of the city’s social centers (Cap Sud, Blaiserie, Trois-Cités, Couronneries and M3Q) having pooled their raids.
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