•  
  •  
 

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

employment, education, African, LDS church, Mormon studies, Paris

College

Humanities

Department

French and Italian

Abstract

As the world becomes more and more international, residents of third-world countries are immigrating en masse to more developed countries, where they see a promise of a better life — a higher standard of living and acceptance into the world community, from which they feel excluded in their own countries. In France, a large majority of these immigrants are African; the French colonized twenty-one present countries on the African continent and taught the natives their language and many of their customs, so France seems the natural place for these former colonies to look to as their “land of opportunity.” This influx of Africans in France has become a concern for the French people, but also for the LDS Church there, because many of their convert baptisms are Africans. These immigrants accept the gospel, but their lives are unstable and unsure, and too many of them struggle to remain active in the Church. My research project proposed to investigate the obstacles these immigrant members face in establishing permanent living situations and employment. It is my hope that once these difficulties are more clearly understood, the solutions will be easier to see. I also hoped to find ways that BYU, and more specifically students participating in BYU Paris Study Abroad Programs can serve the African members there as a service learning component of the programs.

Download

Share

COinS