In rural France, the Rura association opens horizons for young people looking for a future

Sitting cross-legged on her bed, Méline, 18, straightens her phone which she has propped up against a box of souvenirs taken from her cupboard. “Do you think this IUT is a good option?” At the other end of the phone, Sandrine, 60, whose face appears on the small screen, replies: “It matches your curious profile and your desire for concrete things. But you have to prepare well, because admission seems very selective!”

The final year student and the training advisor are starting to get to know each other well. For a year, the duo has called each other by videoconference once a month to talk about orientation. “At the moment, the meetings are more regular, because the post-baccalaureate wishes are approaching,” confides the young woman.

Born and raised in Chalain-le-Comtal, a small village in the Loire where she lives with her parents, Méline benefits from this mentoring offered by Rura free of charge. For nine years, this association has been fighting against territorial divides by giving a helping hand, each year, to 3,000 young people from rural areas and small towns to enable them to have the same opportunities as those in large metropolises.

Correct inequalities

“High school students from the countryside and small towns represent more than 30% of French youth. However, they must overcome a long list of obstacles to make their way,” estimates its founder and general director, Salomé Berlioux, originally from a small town in Allier. For her, rurality acts as an enhancer of inequalities at the time of orientation.

Among the most impactful: a concentration of low-income households, a lack of models and networks, the geographical distance from training and professional opportunities… not to mention the consequences of possible uprooting, between rent and transport costs. As a result, “these young people struggle to project themselves,” she concludes.

Created under the name Chemins d’avenir before becoming Rura, the association relies on human support, thanks to its community of volunteer mentors. Students at the end of their course, working people in the middle of their careers, retirees… all commit, for a minimum of two hours per month and remotely, “to refine their desires and give them confidence, but also and above all to open up their fields of possibilities,” explains Salomé Berlioux. Half subsidized by the State and by private funds, a partner of various institutions and now with around fifty employees, Rura also offers opportunities to correct gaps, such as cultural visits, professional events, scholarships or internships.

Among the target audience, from fourth grade to bac +3, young people who have dropped out of school as well as students with high potential, like Méline, for whom this support has “changed everything” over the last year. Passionate about dance and attracted to journalism, the young woman, who grew up in a village “whose main club is pétanque”, she smiles, was able to visit the Opéra-Garnier and enter the premises of France Télévisions, in Paris.

“When I started mentoring, I was told about Science Po and the job of diplomat… I do well in class, but I never would have dared to imagine that for myself!” she still wonders. On the other hand, Sandrine considers herself playing a modest role: “I am delighted to put my experience and contacts to good use for a young person who needs it, especially when we know the lack of information regarding guidance in establishments.” The mentor also appreciates the bond established with the teenager.

Give the choice

With a gaze full of pride, Virginie, the mother, does not regret having raised her daughter in this green and peaceful setting, thirty minutes from Saint-Étienne, but recognizes that it has sometimes become a constraint. “She is already very resourceful, but the support of a third party helps her broaden her horizons!” In the sights now, a dual training at a university in Lyon or an IUT of journalism in Brittany.

The objective, however, is not to distance them from the world in which they grew up, Rura is keen to point out: “Whether they go to higher education in a big city or stay to take over a family business in their native land, it is above all a question of giving them the opportunity to have a choice.”