Can you tell us more about your involvement in social action?
For the past 20 years or more, I have been involved in the Éducation Populaire (MJC) movement as an administrator and since I retired, I have been very involved in humanitarian (NGOs in Asia and Africa), social and solidarity activities, where I volunteer my professional experience and skills.
My most recent volunteering experiences include the Réseau Etincelle association. This association, created by a group of entrepreneurs, focuses on “Transforming abandonment into motivation” among a specific group, early school leavers.
 
How are you involved in the Réseau Etincelle association?
During the Réseau Etincelle training courses, I contribute by providing a professional perspective or as a member of a benevolent panel for the student presentations at the end of the course. 
This is an opportunity to exchange with young people who are discovering the professional world, and to whom I teach things that may seem obvious to us but are not to them, for example, how to shake hands properly. 
It’s also about improving self-esteem by recognising and valuing qualities that they have been able to demonstrate (through sports, music, ambitions, etc.).
 
What do you think you bring to the Réseau Etincelle association?
In terms of the Réseau Etincelle, my involvement and that of my colleagues, means that young people are able to meet someone who demonstrates a solid professional career path through their job and who, at the same time, recognises them as someone of value. 
Given my background, I have a special relationship with young people whose families have emigrated from Asia, Africa and North Africa, or who are immigrants themselves, because I know the countries and the people thanks to working on construction projects there for over ten years ... they can identify with this.
This is a key element to getting them to believe that they too can find their place in society. 
Using their passions as a starting block, the other elements of the course help to give them direction and roadmaps, but first of all they need to believe in themselves.
 
What do you get out of your involvement with the Réseau Etincelle association?
The Réseau Etincelle association gives me the opportunity to act as a “passport”, in the sense that I volunteer my skills for these young people, associations or NGOs. It’s what my life, family and professional experience have naturally led me to become.
 
What advice would you give to Eiffage current or retired employees to encourage them to get involved in social projects?
For me the construction sector was a “school for life”: the places and the experiences changed all the time, I had lots of encounters which were often rewarding. The projects we built were always different, interconnected and included working  with the various local populations… we dealt with heat, cold, rain… we also had to deal with worry, fear, sleepless nights… but we always experienced great joy and great satisfaction… so why not share all that?