The Ikambere association has set up a comprehensive support program for exiled women with chronic illnesses. The association has set up two day centers in the Val-de-Marne (Ivry-sur-Seine) and Seine-Saint-Denis (Saint-Denis), where beneficiaries receive social, therapeutic and employment support from professionals trained in the care of ill refugee women. Women can also take part in weekly group activities. The vast majority of women welcomed by Ikambere are migrants from sub-Saharan Africa or the Maghreb, who face violence throughout their migratory journey.
The violence suffered during their exile (trafficking, sexual and/or physical violence) continues once they arrive in France, where most of them live in extreme poverty. This violence and precariousness exacerbate the prevalence of chronic illnesses. To deal with this, the Ikambere association offers its beneficiaries a pathway involving discussions with health mediators, whose role is to explain what the pathology they suffer from is, and why it needs to be treated. The health mediators then coordinate the women’s therapeutic accompaniment, and refer them to volunteer doctors. Each day center is staffed by two social workers, who help women to regularize their administrative situation and access their rights, housing and healthcare. Finally, in partnership with partner companies and experts, women are accompanied towards employment.
The aim of the association is to help women living with chronic illnesses (HIV, diabetes, obesity and/or high blood pressure) in extremely precarious situations to achieve autonomy through social and professional integration. The choice of these illnesses is justified by the fact that people in precarious situations are particularly exposed to them and must learn to live with them throughout their lives. The association also carries out mediation activities in hospitals.
