The young rural people of the Terrou Rural Family Home They have just reached a new milestone in their civic engagement. Between the European Parliament and the international jury of the Liberty Prize, their journey illustrates how an institution rooted in its local area can open up real European opportunities for its students.
On May 21 and 22, 2025, a delegation of students from the MFR of Terrou participated in the Festival for Peace young people in rural areas organized at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, as part of the project PEACEAt the heart of this meeting: peace with oneself, with others and with the world, and the place of rural youth in European democracy.
These young people were prepared, supported, and placed in situations where they speakdebating, formulating proposals, and discovering firsthand how European institutions work. This experience also marked the beginning of a new opportunity: connecting with the Freedom Prize.
Among the students involved, the career path of sonamSonam, in her final year of the CGEH program, particularly illustrates this growing commitment. Already involved in several significant projects – participation in the Best Apprentice of France competition, involvement in the "Spirit of Resistance" project, and the "Young Leaders Challenge" – has chosen to take a further step by applying to become a jury member for the Prix Liberté 2026.
Supported by the Normandy Region, the Freedom Prize Each year, it invites young people aged 15 to 25 from all over the world to nominate a person or organization engaged in an exemplary struggle for freedom, peace and human rights, in connection with the memory of the D-Day landings and the struggles for liberation.
It was within this framework that, with the support of his educational team, Sonam was able to compile a solid application in record time, combining his professional background, field experience, and civic engagement. His application was accepted: he thus joins the young people selected internationally to sit on the jury for the 2026 Freedom Prize, which will review applications from around the world and highlight contemporary struggles for freedom.
This trajectory was possible also thanks to the structuring framework offered by the Erasmus+ project. PEACEwhich allowed us to:
- to finance the participation of the Terrou delegation in the European Parliament,
- to put young people in direct contact with committed European actors,
- introducing them to initiatives such as the Liberty Prize, in line with the theme "peace with oneself, with others, with the world"
Beyond the individual example, the story of Sonam and his comrades shows how a European project can become a a true lever of rural citizenship : by giving young people the means to understand the issues, to get informed, to act and, sometimes, to access symbolic decision-making spaces on an international scale.
By mobilizing its students in this way, the MFR of Terrou illustrates a conviction shared throughout the network: when young rural people are supported, listened to and encouraged, they can fully contribute to the great causes of our time – here, freedom and peace – and raise the voice of their territories high on the European stage.
