Our objective: Promoting the integration of vulnerable people having fled their home countries, particularly children.
Lake Aid having developed a lot over the years, we currently follow too many families and unaccompanied minors to introduce them all to you, but here are the first stories that we had put online.
In order to protect them, we cannot use their real names or show their photos.
B & M, 13 year old twins, arrived in France in 2014 from Kosovo. Moved from one precarious accommodation to another (emergency accommodation in winter, a car rented for the night, a cabin in a Roma camp …), they have never missed school and speak French fluently. Our volunteers met them in the winter of 2015, through a Homework Club that Lake Aid had set up in an emergency shelter. While their situation remains unstable, B & M regularly attend Lake Aid outings and holiday camps.
File still not accepted.
T, 7 years old, and her mother arrived in 2017 from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They were sheltered in Menthon St. Bernard by a member of Lake Aid, before the arrival of T’s two big brothers a year later. They were housed 3 hours from Annecy, and then relocated even further. Despite the distance, the children continue to attend Lake Aid-funded holiday camps. Their big brother has just got an internship in a company in the south of France: Lake Aid will cover the travel costs.
File still not accepted.
E’s mother brought her to France in 2017 from Kosovo, where it was not possible to take care of her disability. E, now 8 years old, is a cheerful little girl who requires help with all her daily needs. Several Lake Aid volunteers have brought support to her mum, who was very isolated, with this challenging situation. The father has now joined them.
File still not accepted.
A is now 17 years old. His family, from the Ukraine, has been granted asylum and lives in Annecy. He is currently at high school and, with the help of one of our members, has just got an internship at a bakery. His best memories with Lake Aid are the outings, the Christmas party and the holiday camps.
B, an unaccompanied minor who came from Eritrea in 2015, remains faithfully in contact with the Lake Aid volunteer who became his “godmother”, despite the passing years and the distance. Now granted the right to stay in France, he works as a turner in a factory in Belfort and is preparing to pass his driving license. He asked to come and spend Christmas 2019 with his “godmother”, along with three other children supported by Lake Aid.
A, A & A arrived in Annecy with their mother in 2016, while their father was a political prisoner in the Democratic Republic of Congo. After being sheltered in Menthon by a member of Lake Aid, they were moved to Valence. The children regularly return on holiday to the Annecy area to stay with their adoptive “godmother”, thanks to Lake Aid. Their father was eventually able to join them in France, and a little sister was born in late 2018!
They were granted asylum in 2019.