From Wallis and Futuna to Paris, the Rosier-Rouge offers accommodation for the sick and families

The place is serene in the midst of the tumult of the city of Vanves, south of Paris. And for good reason, the Rosier-Rouge took its quarters in a former Franciscan convent transformed into a mAh in 1973, at the initiative of the Catholic Relief. Around eight o'clock in the morning in the cloister, Wallisians and Futunians eat their breakfast. Sick or accompanying, they're almost like home. Telesia, who accompanies her daughter, confirms: "we really feel at home."

A real living space that does not stop at the accommodation, details Isabelle Nicolas, the director of the establishment: "we accompany along the care route, in the files for expenses, in Paris with the métro, we create activities to change their minds and allow them to meet."?

"this place makes it possible to bring the family, it is a real service," explains Gladys Taputai-Tuifa, assistant to the Delegate of Wallis et Futuna in Paris. "before, it was complicated for families, I took home members accompanying the sick, but since the 2017 agreement signed by the territorial authorities, the territorial Assembly, the prefect, the Caisse primaire d'assurance maladie (CPAM), the Regional Health Agency and Le rose Rouge, everything has been taken care of," she added.

A valuable help

This convention moved the lines since before, families had to pay everything to come. However, it was expensive and many could not afford it. However, the director of the Red rose explained that "the family is very important, it allows you to heal faster, it is a support". Now everything is taken care of and this represents a real budget for the territory of Wallis and Futuna since "the full pension is €66 with TV and WiFi per day," explains Gladys Taputai-Tuifa, and people usually stay for several months.

A cost, but it is very important for the health of Wallisians and Futunians. In fact, the Director points out that "the Overseas Territories are less well equipped with hospitals, and overseas residents are obliged to come to metropolis to see specialists". One of the big problems in this Pacific Territory is the lack of doctors. Like the countryside of France, it's a medical desert. "I have a sister waiting for her appointment at the cardiologist, but there are already 500 people waiting," says Gladys.

Nevertheless, thanks to this comprehensive care, up to "thirty people from Wallis and Futuna come here each year", says the Deputy to the Delegate of the Territory in Paris, adding that "people come here to treat cancers or receive a transplant". More broadly, the Ultramarins came to the Rosier-Rouge, since the director said that "out of 55 families welcomed, about 40 came from overseas". For Tuineau Pauga, also a member of the Wallis and Futuna delegation in Paris, the rose Rouge is "very important, a foster home, it is to ensure that the patient is well, that he takes care of his illness and nothing else".

Saving lives

Coming to France for the sick makes it possible to treat them, even in some cases, to discover other pathologies and save their lives. For example, Suliana, a 31-year-old woman who came for surgery from a retina detachment, underwent a triple bypass surgery. "I didn't expect my heart to be operated on," she admits. A very heavy cardiac operation that probably saved him a heart attack. She says it herself, "I'm a miraculous." In the same way, will suffer, coming to support her daughter who suffered from eye cancer, getting treatment for various more or less mild problems, starting with her asthma.

And then there are those who came to get their cancer treated. There are two of them now. Kristina, 12, shy but brave, who's in the middle of treatment for ovarian cancer. Then there is Sapeta's husband, who is currently hospitalized. But the latter "visits him every day". Serious pathologies, which necessitated the arrival of these people in France to be treated by the best specialists.

A complicated situation with the Covid

A problem exacerbated by the Covid epidemic in New Caledonia, since the doctors who came to assist are all busy and Wallis and Futuna has closed all its borders except for freight. Since the first indigenous cases of Covid in New Caledonia on 6 September, the health situation has been extremely tense. Unfortunately, many Wallisians and Futunians initially went to the CHT in Nouméa, going to Paris only if necessary.

More than an inconvenience to those who wanted to be hospitalized not far from home, it is above all a hindrance for others to be able to return home. Gladys Taputai-Tuifa says that "many are at the end of the treatment course, but flights are prohibited, so they continue to be accommodated pending eventual repatriation".

This is the case for Pâra and her family, in France since July 6: "we wait for the return as we no longer have care". Although it was possible to return to New Caledonia from Paris with a health pass, the authorities in Wallis and Futuna had closed the borders. "the families agree to wait," says the Deputy to the Delegate. Although the prefect wants to rely on departing cargo aircraft for medical evacuations, no decision has yet been taken and the situation remains frozen.

Watch this report by Jean-Michel Mazerolle and Emmanuel Morel: