Anaya arrives in France from Morocco by Soukayna LAABDOUI and Emmanuelle JEAN

This is the testimony of my grandmother, Anaya. She's 65. She's going to tell us about an important part of her life.

Me : Hello grandma so what are you going to tell Emmanuelle and me ?

Anaya : I'm going to tell you about my departure from Morocco and how I came to France which was such an important turning point in my life.

Emmanuelle and I : Ok great explain everything, when you arrived, your feelings, when that happened...

Anaya: So it was during the late 1970s, I was 31 years old. I was married to your grand father, Moustapha. At that time, I had 6 children and we were living in a village close to Marrakech in Morocco. I didn't see your grandfather a lot because he had been working in France since the early 70s. He came to see me once or twice a year. This situation lasted about 6 years. It was very difficult. I was living with my stepmother, my sister who was in the same situation (but at that time she didn't have any kids) and my children. In 1980 thanks to "family reunification law" (‘la loi de regroupement familial’)my husband could sort out all the administrative papers and we could all come to France including my sister. My sister's husband was my husband's brother. Her husband stayed in France and my husband came back to Morocco to drive all of us to France. The farewells were very difficult and hard. I didn't know when I would come back, it was a very strange feeling because I was excited about this new life but so afraid and sad at the same time. I remember, there were 9 of us in the car, the journey lasted three days, I had never been so far from my home. We arrived at Orleans in October 1980. My sister went to join her husband in Haute Savoie because he was working there. The first day, the weather was so bad, it was pouring with rain. We lived in a furnished appartment. In the neighborhood, there were a lot of Asians. It was the first time I had seen Asians. The district was very cosmopolitan. My husband worked a lot so I had to take care of children and take them to school. I did not speak a word of French but it didn't prevent to me making friends, because indeed I met Moroccans and Turks who were in the same situation as me. Sometimes I felt homesick for my country but thanks to my children and to my friends I remained strong.

Concerning my children, they adapted better than me thanks to school and learnt the language very fast. For me it was very complicated to do something myself because I did not speak French, I was illiterate because i had never been to school. I had to wait for my husband until the week end to accompany me to do some shopping, or bring the kids to the doctor...

In 1981, I gave birth to my seventh child and in 1983, my eight and last child. Our situation was better and better so from 1984 we spent 2 months every summer in Morocco and it was good to see the whole family. My sister Aicha and her husband came with us every time. When the holidays were over, we had to come back to France. It was very difficult because we had to leave again the whole family. In 1984, we had to move because my husband had opened a grocery store in Chambéry. This was complicated because we had to abandon our life in Orléans, our friends, the children had to leave school... We had to start a new life in LA ROCHETTE. It was more difficult to adapt. My husband came back every time home late, so I had to take care of children. Soukayna's mother and her sister studied in Chambéry and slept all the week at my sister’s Aicha, because she lived next to the school. Indeed Aicha had moved to Chambéry so every weekend we saw each other, it was nice to see a familiar face.

Over the years, I enjoyed my life in France. I had more and more friends. My husband’s grocery worked very well, so we enjoyed life a little more. We bought a house in 1990 in Morocco. In 1996 we moved to La Motte Servolexe, it was better because we were near to Chambéry. Over the years my children have grown, my husband opened a larger grocery and a butcher shop. He retired, and my children are now working in this store. In 2002 we built a second home in Morocco bigger than the first one and on the ground floor we built a restaurant. One year later, Soukayna's grand father bought apartments in Marrakech. Since he retired we have spent a lot more time in Morocco and he has devoted himself to his passion, horse racing. Now, Souayna, as you know your grandfather is no longer of this world. he changed my life. Today I feel good in France, my children and my grandchildren live next to me. I speak little bit better, I often see my sister Aicha who lives in Grenoble now. I have many friends in Chambéry, I always spend all my summers in Morocco with my children and their families because Morocco is our country and our roots are there no matter where we live.

Emmanuelle and I: Thank you for this touching testimony.