Rose’s story
The journey
My name is Rose, i’m 16 years old and i’m from Ivory Coast.
We spent three days on the water, but we couldn’t get back because the boat sank. It was the Tunisians who rescued us and brought us back to Tunisia. Tha sea was very angry, but it was God who saved us.
Two weeks late, we tried our luck. We spent the day on the water, and the next day we were rescued by a big Italian boat which took us in Lampedusa. We spent two days in Lampedusa and were then put on the bus to Casanova after a big boat crossed the water with us to take us there.
Arrival in Marseille and minority evaluation
After Italia, i took the train for France.
When I arrived, I was with a group of women, because I couldn’t be on my own. One of them was pregnant, but they left for Paris and I went down to Marseille.
I slept at the station after asking people for help. I was shown where to apply and a young man took me to ADDAP13.
When I got there, they asked me if I’d slept at the station, if I’d been hurt, and so on. I explained that I’d come from Italy and had no place to sleep.
They put me up in a hotel in the 6th arrondissement, and I spent a week there, then they sent me to a hotel in the Old Port. Once there, I was taken for my assessment:
“Do you have any siblings?”
“Are your parents around?”
“What were you doing in Ivory coast?”
“How did you get throught it?”
“Did it go well?”
“Why did you leave the Ivory coast for France?”
That’s what I was asked, I explained that it was because I wasn’t well, I was often sick. It was my aunt who sent me to Tunisia:
“Why did she send you to Tunisia?”
I told them I didn’t know, probably because I was often sick, my chest ached, my stomach hurt: “She’s the one who put me on the boat, but she hasn’t crossed yet”, that’s what I told them.
Thank God it worked. It went well, I was a bit scared but thank God it worked anyway.
I took the test for school a week ago now, so I’m waiting.
French isn’t too hard for me, I understand and get by just fine.
I don’t know the city yet, but I like going to the beach and the swimming pool and I like watching the dancers… We went to the Opera once and I loved it.