Their chasuble is not yellow but neon pink. About twenty women from the Zup have just created a citizen intervention brigade called the “Pink Vests”. For the national holiday, they organize their first action: a citizen and festive meal open to all in Valdegour.
200 meters of pennants and two large tricolor flags have been ordered. One will be placed on the stage and the other next to the paella pans. All that remains is to buy the ingredients to feed 500 people. Organized, effective, Tuesday, July 5, about fifteen women meet in the premises of the House of school support, the MAS, of Valdegour. They live in this district of Nîmes or that of Pissevin. They are mothers or even grandmothers. All wear, despite the heat, a fluorescent pink chasuble. On the left side is drawn a blue-white-red heart. Their name: the pink vests.
party together
Their flashy outfits appeared during the passage of the Nîmes Urban Trail May 29. They were present on June 29 during actions carried out to bring the police closer to the population at the social center of Valdegour. But this citizen intervention brigade is organizing its first event on July 14: a free Republican banquet open to everyone, not just the people of Valdegour. “We want to party together, launches Amina Benkhelouf-Segueg, director of the Valdegour school support centre. The date of July 14 marks the adherence of the Republic to human rights and the refusal of all despotisms. We want to reconcile with the image of the nation, to commune together. »
A musical and festive banquet
The banquet will be held on the terrace of the Simone-Veil social center. The evening will begin around 6 p.m. An opera singer and the Les Volques association will sing the Marseillaise and songs from the French repertoire. From 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., singer Mouhcine will take over to perform songs from the North African repertoire. The Alegria group will perform dance demonstrations. The Unique association will offer workshops for children. The association Aux fils d’or will prepare the meal with the pink vests. The State finances this action as part of the 2022 summer quarters scheme.
State-supported pink vests
The idea of the pink vests emerged following runaway minors but also because of the difficulties encountered with school transport which had been canceled after incivility. It is Stéphanie Merah, former president of the MAS who coordinates the Pink Vests. She followed a DU “values and secularism” at Unîmes. With certain mothers, she made a stay in Paris to discover the authorities of the Republic.
When they returned, they discussed: what could they do to help? “They thought of creating pink vests like there are in Marseille or Parissays Amina. We got permission from the prefecture. » Mario Rodrigues-Vaz, delegate of the prefect for the Pissevin and Valdegour districts, is convinced of the need for everyone to act together: “The real added value of the pink vests is to intervene with the public they know well to appease the conflicting relationships that there may be. “For him, these women who” soothe and transmit are a link between the inhabitants and the actors of the local communities.
Help
« We want to lend a hand sums up a “pink cardigan” dressed in a loose green dress. They occupy the field, inform, engage in social mediation. ” We have already gone to the open doors at the Jules-Verne college. Young people came to us. We asked them: are you doing stupid things? Do you have good grades? “says Embara. They would like to mediate on school transport, talk to young people who put their feet on the seats, loud music or who stone the buses… Some have already participated with other associations from March to July 2022 in actions of mediation with Transdev in school bus lines.
Talk to young people
Another project will consist of going, in teams, to meet young people who hang out in the street. “We will ask them: do you go to school? Why don’t you go to school? », Farida adds. The Prefect’s delegate recognizes that, thanks to their associations, these women are well aware of the various existing systems, that they will be able to find leads for young people. Whether for transport or elsewhere, they will act in complementarity with the systems that already exist. These women known in their neighborhoods assure us: the young people respect them. ” I have already spoken with young people, says Farida. If I say a word in Arabic, they tell me “oh sorry tata”. »
Sabrina Ranvier
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