They are in the Paul Suitman secondary school.

In a few months they will leave their village on Camopi, a few hours by pirogue from Saint Georges, to go to the coast to continue our studies.

It will be the first time they leave their families. For some it is a one-way trip, a dream, for others an obligation.

It is a new way of life and a new culture that they will discover.

Here they are immersed in traditional culture.

It is this culture that defines them… as Teko and Wayanpi… This is how, from the age of their first menstruation, they undergo the Maraké ritual: an isolation and then a series of tests such as the application of red and black ants on the body which marks their passage into the world of women. And then, from the age of 14, they are married.

At the same time, these young girls are also interested in this other-worldly culture, which they discover thanks to the telephone or the internet. They are the generation of the in-between, the children of these two cultures and they want to show who they are.

In short, their identity…

Some of them have managed to bridge the two worlds and the two cultures, like Lucien Panapuy from the group Tekomakan.

His music comes from rap or hip-hop and his lyrics are committed. Their video No Suicide has been seen thousands of times. He dared to talk about a taboo subject and it’s good to talk about it, according to these girls who add: “Maybe he should do it again and talk about the mockery and rape of young girls in the community. A subject that is not talked about and yet the videos are circulating on the phones.

These girls are ready to speak out and express their wishes. And they say it loud and clear:

“Different in skin colour, different in culture, different in lifestyle, we are going to Cayenne with all our differences

We girls want to succeed so that our parents will be proud of us.

We want to succeed to silence the words that hurt us so much.

We want to have a good job and a good husband who does not drink or smoke.

We want the violence to stop

We want to be free and happy.“

Their voices will soon be heard in “Eképé”, the podcast of the identities of the 3rd grade class of the Paul Suitman school in Camopi.