It is no longer the same Eugene. Under his FC Barcelona cap, the look has changed. The eyes sparkle, the smile is omnipresent. Under the light rain that he cursed so much it rotted his already precarious life, Eugene jingled the keys in his hands and laughed. His laughter is discreet but seems unstoppable. For less than twenty-four hours, he has been the happy tenant of a small apartment located not far from the rue de Nantes, in Rennes. ” I do not believe it. I did not believe it anymore. Since yesterday, I dream, I dance on a cloud. It’s like starting life over again. I was born yesterday at 2 p.m. when they gave me these keys, I’m like a baby. I will grow up and start all over again, ”he testifies.
Without a fixed address since the confinement of March 2020, Eugène had difficulty surviving in a makeshift shelter installed along the boulevard Sergent-Maginot, a few meters from the Vilaine. A precarious camp that he and his dog King left very little, for fear of having the little they had stolen.
Before leaving, Eugene wants to put everything away
The man who fled the genocide in Rwanda in 1995 for the Netherlands and then France had a stable situation before the arrival of Covid-19: a resident card, student accommodation in Strasbourg where he was preparing a double degree in mathematics and computer science. . In the spring of 2020, the building collapsed when Eugène decided to return to Rennes, where he had lived since 2005.
It’s like starting life over again. I was born yesterday at 2 p.m. when I was given these keys
Without a solution, in an almost closed France, he had no choice but to sleep outside. In April, he would have “celebrated” his first year squatting on the banks of the Vilaine, with an RSA to live on. The one who will soon be “former homeless” will not have to blow out a candle. Thanks to the tremendous mobilization of Martin Rousselot, volunteer and founder of the association Tous Inclus, and to the work of Alfadi Association, Eugène obtained housing offered by the social landlord Archipel Habitat. “If I could go right now, I would. But I have to transport everything first”.
After a year spent in his squat, the man has accumulated a nice mess but refuses to let everything go. “A friend has to come and help me with his truck. We can take all this stuff to the dump. I gave myself a week to do everything. This new accommodation comes as a relief for him. It was following the publication of several articles in the local press, including that of 20 minutes, that Eugene was contacted by the Alfadi association two weeks ago. Before rejoicing, the Rwandan waited to have the keys. In December, the same promise had been made to him but had not succeeded.
“I saw him go out, lose hope”
This weekend, Eugene should spend his first nights in his new apartment. Far from the noise, the rain and the din of traffic which kept him from sleeping. Housing that should allow him to find a normal life and the path to work. And maybe even studies at the university, where his course is still not complete. ” It is a relief. What scared me the most was seeing Eugene lose hope. I saw him go out, he was brooding. With the storms, he was very scared, ”says Martin Rousselot. To see the smile that hung on Eugene’s face when we went to see him, we say to ourselves that hope has returned.