[LUM#9] A child of the century
Thierry Escolar is undoubtedly committed to his era. A student at the Institut de préparation à l'administration générale (IPAG) and a graduate in political science and history, he is also co-founder of the Montpellier-based humanitarian association Jeunesse s'engage.
" After philosophy comes action". This phrase by Victor Hugo has become the motto of the Jeunesse s'engage association, and " a way of looking at life " for its co-founding president Thierry Escolar. For more than three years, this student has been organizing weekly collections and marauding for the homeless in Montpellier and Paris, promoting health prevention among young people, developing institutional and inter-associative partnerships... In 2015 and 2016, he even put together a team to travel to Palermo on two humanitarian missions with migrant children.
"A way of seeing life
It was during previous missions to the Middle East and Egypt that this Montpellier native from working-class neighborhoods got the trigger. " When I saw countries that were bankrupt or colonized, I realized in retrospect how lucky I was to have structures and civil servants - things on which we may disagree, but which ensure that there is peace and that things work ".
Back in France, he began a double degree in political science and history. However, current events caught up with him with the shock of the 2015 attacks, but also the growing precariousness in Montpellier. "We were seeing more and more people on the streets, and the migratory crisis was starting to make headlines..." Thierry reflects, " in political science you discover an interesting way of looking at the world. We were really encouraged to put things into practice, to work on collective projects. With his friend Olivier Saunier, he decided to found Jeunesse s'engage.
A third way
Their aim? To offer young people a third way, a commitment that is neither religious nor partisan political action. Just to enable them to take part in a one-off action that might make them more aware of our collective responsibility ". Since then, over 500 young people have responded to this appeal.
As for the political science student, he opted for a career in administration, believing that it was there that he could "make himself useful ". After some experience as a parliamentary attaché, he is now doing an apprenticeship at Place Beauvau: " Symbolically, where I come from, a payslip from the National Assembly or the Ministry of the Interior is just proof that in France, too, it's possible." Someone else will soon be taking up the torch at the head of the association, but Thierry Escolar's commitment remains intact.
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