Department 101
A month after Cyclone Chido passed, Maore is getting back on its feet but still faces the same problems as before—now exacerbated.
The poorest department of France is home to more than 150,000 children, making up half of the island’s population. These children are forced to deal with issues whose roots are beyond their control, as well as their parents’.
In such economic hardship, children spend most of their time outside the home, in villages and neighborhoods. Their friendships become deeply rooted within the same area.
Rivalries emerge between groups of friends from different villages and neighborhoods. Often, the initial reason for the rivalry is forgotten, yet the violence between groups continues. Children from different areas find themselves in the same schools and high schools. Sometimes tensions rise. Sometimes, those tensions escalate to murder.
Undocumented parents risk being subjected to police checks in front of the school when they come to pick up their children. These checks are becoming increasingly systematic. Sometimes, this means that a child cannot safely go to school if the journey involves passing through a rival village or neighborhood, where they may receive death threats.
The average monthly income on the island is 200 euros. Many families practice small-scale farming to feed themselves and sell any surplus. Children help their parents on their small plots of land. Others, who do not own land, cannot do the same and rely on food aid.
Some children face these difficulties—along with many others, including anti-Comorian and more broadly “anti-African” xenophobia if they come from immigrant backgrounds—without the support of their parents, due to the latter’s expulsion.
In this context, children live and grow up without a promising future in sight. These difficulties, which impact education on the island, make any eventual way out seem unlikely. Aspirations of becoming an engineer or a “chartered accountant” will not come true for most, living in mainland France will not be possible for most, and the situation on the island shows no signs of change at present.
And yet, children dance to hip-hop, play in the river, football training continues, and weddings postponed because of Chido are finally taking place. Life goes on in France’s 101st department. It is called Maoré on the island. Mayotte in mainland France.
