We welcome young refugees

Spring 2021, Marie Claire steps back on the grass after a year of absence. The pandemic has hindered any practice, therefore back to training. Terence, the coach, requests them to warm up. Two rounds of the pitch! « I am breathless but I believe that I won't have any pain, I am doing sit ups twice a day », shouts the sporty 50 year old.

Marie Claire, 51 years old, comes from Cameroon where the work on the fields was her daily routine. Once arrived in Europe, she dreams of becoming autonomous as quickly as possible. While she is waiting and for staying in shape during her asylum aplication, she has started with football.

The hands in the soil

Marie-Claire comes from Obala, a village 45 kilometers north of Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon She has grown up there in a family of farmers. Her mother cultivated manioc and peanuts.« The work with the land was hard and everything was done manually » Though she didn’t practice any sport, physical tasks were part of her daily life since very young age.

Marie-Claire arrived alone in Europe After the stay in Italy where she was exploited by a family she found refuge in Belgium together with her daughter, Vanessa.

Marie-Claire and Vanessa are talking in front of the gates of the Fedasil centre in Rixensart. Both mother and daughter are keen sports enthusiasts. Marie-Claire loves football whilst Vanessa prefers basketball.

What a surprise was her discovery of the sedentary life of our western societies! « I didn’t know that one could live without going to the field. I would like that my daughter sees how one lives outside of Europe so that she realises that it is possible to live thanks to the land. »

Since 5 years, she and Vanessa are living in the Fedasil Centre of Rixensart, waiting for their regularisation. « It is very long Sport lets me forget all this. When I will have my papers I would like to work and be autonomous. »

Vanessa, 10 years old, is going to the communal school. She is passionate for sport, just like her mom « Once we leave the centre she ould like to have a garden for being able to move. »

Marie-Claire is regularly receiving news from her home country through call with her mother. “Now, with the internet, the world is open. I see that there are also in Cameroon footbal clubs for girls. When I was small, the hard balls, that was for the boys, we had only small soft balls.”

Marie Claire is on the phone with her mother in Cameroon. The latter is not surprised to hear that her daughter is playing football as Marie-Claire has always been into sports.

In Rixensart, one of the animators of Fedasil had invited her to join the club FC Kraainem. « I didn’t imagine that I would play football one day. When this was proposed to me in the beginning I was not very motivated. »

And finally, why not? Finished the time of soft balls. And like that, Marie-Claire enters the pitch with other girls and women of the centre. « One needs courage, here, the cold is hitting you. »

Salah, club player and volunteer driver, drives Marie-Claire from the Fedasil centre to FC Kraainem. It’s an opportunity for them to talk about life and their training.

Back on the pitch, this evening of May 2021. After a year which was dictated by the coronavirus, it is good to come back on the grass. Terence whistles the end of the training. « I missed that, it feels good. When I play, it is good exhaustion. »

Marie-Claire

Football for staying active despite the waiting

The hands in the soil