As the fundraising evening for the Association d'Entraide des Français de l'Étranger (AEFC) approaches on 24 January in the gardens of the French Embassy, we take a look back at some extracts from a previous interview with its President about the association.
So Jean-Pierre, as well as being an entrepreneur, you are also Chairman of the AEFC. Can you tell us a bit about the origins of the association?
Well, the AEFC was set up a good ten years ago by Dr Daren and a number of other kind souls who were in Cambodia because the French state was no longer able to provide for the financial problems of our nationals. We are the only association, and have been for a very long time, that supports our nationals, because unfortunately the other nations don't have any associations and don't support them any more than that, either at the embassy or elsewhere.
The AEFC was set up by Jean-Claude Garen and since then our vocation has been to provide support, firstly information, to adults, but also to children, as we also manage the orphans of French fathers or mothers who end up in Cambodia and who need education. So we work with the French embassy to ensure that they get grants, that they are monitored and that they do not remain in a precarious situation with a mother who unfortunately did not have the education that her husband had.
We also look after pregnant women, single women, single men, people who unfortunately no longer have insurance and therefore need support because they need care and then we also send back to France those French people who at one time or another have no solution left in Cambodia other than to return to a France that will continue to help them.
OK, so on the issue of insurance, would you like to make a small appeal?
The problem today is that ‘if you don't have insurance, you don't have money, you don't get sick’, as Coluche used to say. Today, we still see non-French foreign nationals dying in front of hospitals, it exists, there was one three weeks or a month ago.
“The idea is to have a minimum level of insurance cover, even if it's just for day-to-day care and hospitalisation. We had a case recently where this gentleman's costs came to $15,000. Who pays?”
These days, the association's funds are not stretchable either. The AEFC evening will be held at the embassy on 24 January, and we hope to raise funds to continue to help our nationals.
How many cases do you handle each year?
At the time of Covid, we dealt with around 400 to 500 cases. We helped around 150 children, from memory, and around 300 adults. We allocated a sum of 300 (adults) and 150 (children) to help them deal with their problems, but this was only a one-off payment.
The number of 400 is still enormous, was it linked to Covid or a regular figure every year?
Well, it was linked to Covid because we're helping less now. Have people found a calmer situation by finding work, for example? This year we've helped around a hundred people in different ways. Sometimes it's a pension problem, for example: “My life certificate didn't arrive on time, I haven't had a pension for six months, it's a problem, can you help me?”
We have two people in the team who are fully qualified to help them get back to their normal pension, but there are also people with health problems who need help, people with money problems or children who need support. In fact, this year we organised an event at the embassy, bringing 60 orphans, disadvantaged or vulnerable children to the embassy, where they were able to visit the embassy offices, play a game in the embassy gardens and have a snack with the ambassador's wife. That's the kind of thing we do.
Are you all volunteers with the AEFC?
Completely voluntary. There are four of us on the executive committee and around ten on the board of directors, and we are lucky enough to have someone, Bernard, in Siem Reap, who is our counterpart and our point of contact, and in any case enables us to identify the cases that need help today.
Are you the only French association working locally?
As a charitable organisation, we are the only one in Cambodia. There is UFE and Florian Bohême's association in Siem Reap. There's also Yvan Chalm's association.
Anything to add?
No, I'm going to come back to this next event that we're organising, to encourage people to come to this evening. First of all, it's an opportunity for everyone to get back to the embassy, which is the most beautiful garden in Phnom Penh.
It's a buffet evening with disco entertainment and all the little things that we enjoy when we're in France and that we like to find here. So on 24 January, we'll be getting together again for this operation to help the association.
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