Bidonvilles à Bordeaux. Caravanes, cabanes en bois… « Nous ne vivons pas ici par choix »
No shower. Toilets dug into the ground. The place ticks all the boxes of the definition for a word that we thought was forgotten: shantytown. A water point has nevertheless been installed by the Métropole. And secure access to electricity, too, limiting the risk…
No shower. Toilets dug into the ground. The place ticks all the boxes of the definition for a word that we thought was forgotten: shantytown. A water point has nevertheless been installed by the Métropole. And secure access to electricity, too, limiting the risk of fire.
“It’s difficult, we lack the minimum,” testifies Ivo, 65 years old. Like everyone here, he is Bulgarian, from the Roma minority. He is a speaker of Bordeaux Metropolis Mediation who does the translation. “We generally use in the vineyard, rain or shine. Back on sale. He points to his jacket. “These same wet clothes from the day before, we put them back on the next day to go to work, because we don’t have anything to dry them. »
“Here, it’s difficult, we lack the minimum. How do you expect my grandchildren to follow school in good conditions? »
I lead the visitor into the extension of his caravan. ” Look. One would be able to pay for a small accommodation. Don’t think we want to live in those conditions: we have no choice. He takes out three pockets and spreads the contents on the hood of a car: “These are all my work contracts, year by year. I couldn’t even count them, there are so many. And never accommodation for us. »
Thirteen years of poor housing
The sexagenarian is a veteran of the squats and slums of the Metropolis. Floirac in 2019, Villenave in 2010, Thiers-Benauge in 2011, Ambarès in 2013… Then round trips between Mérignac and Le Haillan, before landing in Lajaunie in 2018, being expelled from there in 2020 and ending up here, Brazza quay.
In a nearby caravan, Katya lives with her partner and children aged 11, 12 and 16. Two years she’s been here. “I had an apartment, but the owner died. She worries about having to raise her daughter and boys in these conditions. “I don’t want them to get discouraged and drop out of school. So far, they are motivated. The problem is not just the showers or the toilets: I think that living in this atmosphere could prevent them from going to the end of school. »
Roma who fled poverty and discrimination in Bulgaria found themselves at the end of the journey. “We are mixed up, we say ‘the Bulgarians’, but we are not all waiting for CAF with our arms crossed behind our heads, pleads Katya. Maybe some have bad habits. But this is the case in all communities, right? »
A hairdresser, a bar
An apartment, we have already offered one to Penka, 48, and his family. “But I don’t see myself abandoning my animals. “Two dogs, pigeons, rabbits… However, a home, she dreams of it. “All we want is a classic family life. »
“What exactly are you doing here?” The daughters of Katya and Penka challenge the visitor, both curious that we are so interested in their home, and happy to receive them. They are both enrolled at the Jacques-Ellul college, love the classes and their classmates. The story is told in perfect French. And make their mothers’ eyes shine with pride.
Besides the animals, in the middle of the field there is a hairdresser, and even a bar. “Sometimes people come from outside, it creates a mess and it gives us a bad image”, regrets Ivo.
The inhabitants have not made the choice to live here. Nor oblige to live together. Since the closure of the former Borifer site last summer due to pollution, Turkish-speaking Roma have settled here. Another Bulgarian minority, with whom the agreement is not required cordial. But cohabitation is the price for having peace with the owner of the place, the Metropolis.
5:30 p.m. An old Citroën Jumper makes its entrance. A small troop of exhausted men and women descending. They are tired and in a hurry to warm up over a coffee. “It was the first day of work in the vineyard, which represented today, explains Vasko, 24 years old. “We look for work on the Internet. If we are told: ”we need ten people”, we gather them and we go. » Today, it was a matter of « pulling the woods »: removing the cut vine shoots from the trellising wires and then crushing them.