PIERREFITTE-SUR-SEINE – PIERREFITTE-SUR-The man they call “the Captain” runs a tight ship, reaching into his years of military service to inculcate confidence, courage and a love of France in his proteges, youths from poor French suburbs,.
But first they must learn how to wake up on time and brush their teeth, says Nourouddine Abdoulhoussen, a former member of the 8th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment, who heads an association called Laissez Les Servir (Let Them Serve) with a unique approach to integration.
In his own way, the white-bearded, 53-year-old Abdoulhoussen is working to uplift some of France's battalions of impoverished youth, often from heavily immigrant housing projects known for unemployment and delinquency, and to restore