In July 2019, the mayor of Lassigny left his seat which he had occupied for more than ten years and his commune to go and live in Morocco where he had requested his transfer as a teacher.
Almost four years later, Thierry Frau says he has no regrets. Quite the contrary. This left-wing man had certainly left during his term of office (8 months from the municipal elections) but he had left tied up files awaiting subsidies and which are gradually being realized to the delight of his approximately 1,400 citizens, “Lachenois and Lachenoises of this village located in the department of Oise and the region of Hauts-de-France (formerly Picardy).
From Casablanca where he still resides, the leftist told his new life to the French newspaper Oise-Hebdo. He said he was happy to have started again at his age, both a professional and an individual experience, which since he began it has proven to be a great mission, rewarding, very enriching and which gives meaning to his life.
He somehow found what he was looking for” by coming to this magnificent country where everything was discovered”.
” Very quicklyhe says, I met Moroccans, bon vivants with whom I spend excellent moments like with real long-time friends in France. Life here is so much simpler. They are very open to the diversity of peoples, ideas and religions. It’s not uncommon to see rabbis walking down the street, there are churches and masses, synagogues… They have a culture and a vision of the world that enchants me. They are very tolerant with me because they express themselves in perfect French like the students elsewhere”.
The policy that motivated him when it was the result of a passion and a mission to move forward and always bring more to the population with no other ambition than to be useful, he does not really miss. ” Here, I am involved and I will soon create with a Moroccan friend an association to help isolated peasants in the mountains near Marrakech and I will give lessons free of charge in a public establishment… “, he says.
On French politics he will say: Yes, I read the national and international press every day. I see how opinion about France has gradually deteriorated here and elsewhere. In a few years, for incomprehensible reasons, the President of the Republic destroyed a healthy relationship with Morocco. There is still time to renew the dialogue. Moroccans are great people “.
He advances to back up his claims: I travel through this magnificent country where each time, I am welcomed with open arms. I have contacts in all the places I have visited and what is exceptional is that I then always continue to communicate with the people I met after my visit.“.
He tells, in this sense, this anecdote which represents the essence of what he had come to seek: A year ago, I died on the highway 150 km from Agadir. I call a waiter with whom I had befriended a year ago to ask him if he knew of a serious garage in Agadir… He sends me the location, comes to meet me, asks the boss to keep my car until next day and invites me to his parents’ house for dinner and accommodation”.
For ordinary Moroccans, this is how we translate the sense of hospitality. Thierry Frau will conclude by saying: “Morocco is summed up in what I have experienced and experience daily. Happiness “.