The single idea behind this project, founded by Julien Lourdes in 1978, was to provide persons facing difficulties to function in society, with an alternative living environment and way of life. The idea evolved from experiences of attempts at bringing relief to the underprivileged of deprived regions such as Cité Barkly in Beau Bassin.

The settlement in Camp Créole, Albion, a small village on the west coast of Mauritius, occurred in 1979 and coincided with the visit to our coast of a vessel named FREE. Terre de Paix owes much to the way of life of the crew in terms of generosity, solidarity, living with the bare minimum and most of all, respect for the worth and dignity of the individual in whatever difficult situation he might be. From then on, the initiators of the project started to build a tiny house out of used tin sheets and wooden poles.

Terre de Paix grew up to meet the felt needs of people. In this process, the action gathered both momentum and respect from larger society. Today, the action of the association renamed Fondation pour L’Enfance – Terre de Paix remains in line with its original aim: to combat poverty and its resulting consequences on the most vulnerable groups of society, particularly children, in a non-discriminatory way through the child’s rights approach.