Sexologist and midwife Nadia El Bouga leads a workshop in the Basseau-Grande-Garenne neighborhood in Angoulême, June 24, 2023. PAULINE TURMEL
The first rays of morning sun flooded the glass-walled room. Greetings mixed with the soft drip of brewing coffee. Outside, children from the Le Monde de Zarafa day care in Angoulême's Basseau-Grande-Garenne neighborhood were running around under the watchful eyes of childcare workers.
Inside, seated on chairs arranged in a circle, were men in landscaping uniforms, women wearing headscarves, a young person with a hippie vibe – a wide range of accents, languages and ages ranging from 18 to 62. Most wore shoes, but some were barefoot. Among them were parents who had just dropped off their babies at the day care and were now attending the 42nd workshop of the "Women of the neighborhoods, agents of change" program, organized by Isabelle Chasson, project manager and head of communications for the local association Régie Urbaine. This social action organization operates in what are known as "priority neighborhoods," marked by socio-economic hardship, in Angoulême, a town in central France. The organization's mission is to create jobs, offer social and professional support and bring residents together.
