01
Leaving
“Was there really a choice?”
This first step invites the participant to consider the reasons that can lead someone to leave their country, and the very notion of choice: is leaving always a freely taken decision?
Report · Pacé, 5 September 2026
On the road of exile, at the associations fair in Pacé
For its first appearance at the associations fair, Le Prix des Promesses d'Exil went to meet the people of Pacé with a card game in six steps, savoury fritters and bissap. Here is that morning of conversations.
A first appearance
Informing without blaming, raising awareness without imposing
At the Pacé associations fair, Le Prix des Promesses d'Exil took part in order to make the association known, to present its values and to begin a first conversation with local people about exile, migration journeys and human dignity.
It was also a first chance to show the public our approach: informing without blaming, raising awareness without imposing — and above all creating a space for dialogue where everyone can question the realities of exile.
Making the association and its project known, presenting our awareness-raising approach, talking directly with local people, handing out our materials, inviting the public to our 2026-2027 launch evening and identifying the first people who might join us as volunteers: those were the aims of our presence.
The heart of the stand
The card game “On the road of exile”
To make awareness-raising more approachable and more interactive, we built a card game in six steps. Its purpose: to let participants test what they know, express their own point of view and discover some of the realities of exile, in a playful and welcoming setting.
The principle was deliberately simple: there was no wrong answer. Every question was a starting point for a conversation.
02
Crossing
“What happens along the way?”
An invitation to think about the hardships and the dangers met along the journey. The step opens up the idea of the road of exile and brings the public's own assumptions to the surface.
03
Enduring
“Which rights remain when everything collapses?”
The participant is led to think about fundamental rights and human dignity, and to recall that an administrative situation erases neither a person's humanity nor their rights.
04
Arriving
“Is that really the end?”
This step questions the idea that arrival is the end of the journey, and looks at what continues afterwards: waiting, precarity, separation, uncertainty and rebuilding.
05
A right, or not a right?
“Test what you know.”
A short quiz setting what each person knows against the fundamental principles of the law that applies to migrants and asylum seekers. The aim is not to penalise a wrong answer, but to shift assumptions.
06
And you?
“What would you take if you had to leave?”
The most personal moment of the game: imagining that you must leave quickly, and may carry only a few objects. The step from knowledge to empathy, from reflection to something intimate.
A very warm reception
Dialogue becomes possible when the public takes part
The game was very well received by the fair's visitors. Almost everyone who stopped at our stand was glad to play.
The playful, participatory format made conversation easier. The card game proved an excellent way of approaching subjects that are sometimes complex or sensitive, without moving straight into institutional language.
- How playful the game was
- Being able to give their own answer
- The absence of judgement
- The conversations that followed each question
- Discovering realities they sometimes knew little about
Conviviality in the service of dialogue
Savoury fritters and four litres of bissap
To set our awareness-raising within a convivial moment, we had prepared savoury fritters and four litres of bissap for the visitors. Both were an enormous success.
The bissap in particular drew many warm reactions and proved an excellent way into conversation. One moment deserves mention: the deputy head of local life in Pacé, having tasted it, declared with enthusiasm that it was worth every juice in the world.
Creating a bond, sharing, letting people discover, and opening the conversation.
Stories, another way in
Also on the table at the stand were Les deux frontières and Le rêve brisé — Odyssée d'un migrant, two novels by Ibrahim Sountara, the association's president.
Where the card game opens a conversation in a few minutes, a story carries the encounter further: it gives the long span of time needed to enter a life and follow it to the end.
What the day produced
Concrete and encouraging results
The launch evening announced
Many visitors took our flyer and several expressed interest in the 2026-2027 launch evening. We gathered a good number of promises to attend — a first, very encouraging sign.
See the launch eveningA first volunteer contact
The day let us identify the first people who might become more involved. One person in particular expressed interest in becoming a volunteer within the association.
Write to usMeeting the area
Beyond presenting the association, the day let us test in practice our ability to go out and meet the public, and to approach exile differently.
Join the associationThe morning in pictures
Stand no. 7, Salle Émeraude
Ibrahim Sountara, president of Le Prix des Promesses d'Exil, at the association's stand at the Pacé associations fair
Photographs: Le Prix des Promesses d'Exil — Pacé associations fair, Saturday 5 September 2026.
In closing
Understand · Inform · Act
What we take from the day is that dialogue becomes possible when the public is given the chance to take part rather than simply to listen. Play, conviviality and speech appear as three complementary levers for raising awareness, taking prejudice apart and making people want to go further.
Le Prix des Promesses d'Exil will carry this approach into its launch evening and its next awareness-raising work.
What remains when everything must be left behind?
Key facts
The event in a few lines
Date
Saturday 5 September 2026
Time
9 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.
Venue
Salle Émeraude — Mail du Champ Ragel, 35740 Pacé
Our place
Stand no. 7
Admission
Free, open to everyone
Did we miss you?
The fair was only the first of this season's gatherings. You can write to us today, join online, or book your place for the launch evening of the 2026-2027 programme, on 25 September in Rennes.
Le Prix des Promesses d'Exil — for human dignity.
11B chemin Jean François, Le Gonidec, 35740 Pacé · contact@leprixdespromessesdexil.fr
The venue
Salle Émeraude — Mail du Champ Ragel, 35740 Pacé. Parking on site; bus line 65 (Rennes ↔ Pacé), Duchesse Anne stop.