“Our future is in Buzançais”

The news broke on November 14, 2024. Moustapha Barry received a favorable response to his asylum request. The end of two years of endless waiting, always tinged with hope, for this father and his two children. “Given everything I suffered in my country, the persecution, the violence against my children, I had confidence. But it was still long”, confides this single dad who did not wait to obtain this precious sesame to “make your life here”. Neither do his children.

“It is not with prayers that we will solve the problems”

His 14-year-old son continues to nurture his football dreams. Her daughter is involved in the municipal youth council of Buzançais and is involved in the life of her high school where she became an ambassador for gender equality. A commitment to which his family destiny is certainly no stranger. “She is aware of everything we have fled. She also experienced things in Guinea and told them. It was built with this story. »

Refugee status obtained for him and his two children means a new life begins. None of the three imagine it anywhere other than Buzançais. “We feel at home there. My children don’t want to leave. They have their circle of friends, their activities. Our future is here. » The father of the family already has the lead in the administrative procedures linked to his new refugee status. “We will have to leave the Reception Center for Asylum Seekers (Cada) in Buzançais. I am therefore looking for another accommodation with three bedrooms, in the town. I will also be able to look for a job. I am going to do training in cyber security to focus on this professional field from 2025.”

He doesn’t hide his haste. The impossibility of being able to provide for the needs of his family through his work had weighed on him since his arrival in France. He who previously enjoyed a good situation with his computer engineering diploma in Guinea. “I did receive some job offers here, but my situation as an asylum seeker prevented me from following them up. » In the meantime, Moustapha has put his skills and goodwill at the service of associations. A volunteer at the Buzançais solidarity grocery store, he was also involved in the CCFD Terre solidaire, of which he became the regional delegate in June 2024.

A book committed to raising awareness

At the same time, the Guinean immersed himself in writing. He has just published his first work entitled Guinea, the unbearable life of paradisededicated to the political history of his country of origin. He addresses “the influence of the authorities and the influence of religion on the population, corruption, dictatorship, obscurantism, the lure of international cooperation more focused on the interests of leaders than of the people. I give my observations and thoughts on Guinea. This country is in the midst of a paradox: it is both immensely rich in its natural resources but its population lives in poverty. »

With this committed book, Moustapha hopes to raise awareness and enlighten Westerners on what pushes populations to migrate. But above all he thinks “to the Guineans. It is to them that the book is addressed by denouncing this vicious circle in which leaders trap them. They don’t have the chance to see the world differently because they live under the weight of religion. I try to tell them that it is not with prayers that we will resolve the problems and that other paths are possible. These paths go through education”, develops the father who considers himself lucky to have been able to study and thus nourish his curiosity. “My father only allowed me to do this because I continued to study the Quran seriously. If I hadn’t done both, he would have pulled me out of school. »

Moustapha will perhaps tell this story one day, in a second book. In the meantime, another battle awaits him: bringing in his youngest son, 3 years old, whom his wife, disagreeing with his decision to flee, had brought back with her to Guinea. “Since then, she has suffered other violence and ended up fleeing the country as well. But my son is still there. I hope to be able to bring him to France for family reunification. I work there. »

“Guinea, the unbearable life of paradise”, by Moustapha Ditinn Barry. Price: €13.