“I feel like a fish in water,” comments Abderrahim El Wahidi, 36, soberly, a few minutes after receiving his nationality title. Originally from Morocco, he is one of the twenty of the thirty new French people living in Finistère who insisted on participating in the very official “welcome ceremony into French nationality”, organized this Monday, October 14, in the living rooms and by the prefecture of Finistère. An appointment included in the protocol responding to the “duty to welcome those who are legally in our territory”.
Bachelor’s degree in mathematics in Morocco, master’s degree in Marseille
His smile speaks of contained emotion and the words redraw the points of coherence of a chosen migration route, not necessarily easy, but rectilinear.
Holder of a degree in mathematics prepared in Morocco, Abderrahim El Wahidi obtained a master’s degree in physics of materials and technologies at the University of Aix-Marseille (13). “I had one year to find a job like all foreign graduate students in France. I turned to teaching. It didn’t take long. I had applied to several academies. I was caught in that of Rennes (35).”
Nine years of temporary employment
This year, the maths and science teacher hopes to be tenured in his position, after having taught nine years as a temporary worker in public vocational and technical high schools in Brest, Concarneau, Pont-l’Abbé, Carhaix and Quimper. “I am considering taking the Certificate of Aptitude for Teaching Technical Education,” says the thirty-year-old, suggesting that a new stage of life begins with obtaining French nationality.
Under the chandeliers of the large reception room, the prefect Alain Espinasse recalls the principles of the French Republic. In particular the separation of Church and State, such as that of freedom of worship at the foundation of the secular structure. “You are now the custodians of part of the collective ambition of our country,” concludes the State representative.
“There are principles in which I recognize myself, that’s for sure. That’s why I chose this country. I was welcomed there, trained. I work there and met my wife. A Franco-Moroccan with whom I had two little girls, now 3 and a half and 1 year old. In Quimper, I have friends. A life. I feel good here. For all this, I feel a little indebted. » The transmission of knowledge to younger generations in a language that covers ethnic origins would be worth all the cash balances, if they existed.
* 369 in the department in 2023 (Prefecture sources 29).
