Jôli

Jôli was born in 1971, he grew up in a small village in Western Switzerland and confessed Jesus as his Saviour when he was 19 years old.

He is married and the father of four children.

In 1998, he went to North Africa with his wife to get involved with an NGO based in a working class neighbourhood close to the locals. Over the eleven years spent in Muslim countries, Jôli noticed on many occasions that the media often conveyed an anti-Western image.

Back in Europe, he noticed the same lack of objectivity of the media about Muslims. These simplistic opinions generate suspicion and intolerance that isolate us from one another.

All that prompted him to communicate a powerful message: Yes, even being a Christian, I can have Muslim friends and vice versa. It was through the comics that Jôli decided to communicate this message.

He began with an 8-months internship with Alain, a Swiss cartoonist, and it was in August 2010 that he started the first board of the Comic Strip “Sam and Salem.” It took him almost four years (part-time) to bring this project to life.

As it is not really possible to make a living out of comics, Jôli also works as a part-time employee among the asylum-seekers, which involves sharing friendship, and encouraging Swiss nationals to get involved in welcoming them, too.

For his work in comics, Jôli lives from donations.