VICTORIA, Seychelles — Two Mahe districts, Perseverance and Grand Anse Mahe, received donations on Tuesday from honorary consuls as part of the ‘Adopt a District’ programme, which was officially launched in October 2022 during the honorary consuls conference. The initiative aims to bridge the gap between Seychelles’ honorary consuls and grassroots communities. The donations were presented at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the honorary consul general in Rome, Italy, Paolo Adelmann, through his daughter Paola Adelmann, who assisted Perseverance with its request for IT equipment for the district’s primary school.
The honorary consul in Mauritania, Ebe Babah, represented both Sonja Udovicic, honorary consul in Croatia, and Paul Campbell, honorary consul in Northern Ireland, who collaborated to refurbish the kitchen of the Grand Anse Mahe district administration office. The contributions received today will go a long way and will benefit mostly the youth of the country, Myrna Hoareau, director general for Consular and Diaspora Affairs, said. The visits in the districts allowed them to be closer to our people, understand the challenges and development priorities of the districts, Ms Hoareau noted.
Paola Adelmann, representing the honorary consul general in Rome, shared her personal connection to Perseverance district, expressing the importance of technological advancement for the younger generation. The honorary consul general in Rome, Paolo Adelmann, donated eight Lenovo notebooks with Windows 11 operating systems and i7 processors. I am strongly aware that we live in an era of fast technology development which has to be understood and followed by the younger generation, Ms Adelmann noted. She also acknowledged Mr Penati, director of 02 PC, a provider who contributed to the donation and offered his expertise to develop IT centres in Seychelles.
For his part, Mr Babah emphasised ongoing projects, including twinning schools between districts and countries, and a potential pen-pal project connecting students from Grand Anse Mahe with those in Ireland and Italy. He also shared they visited the coastal area of the district and identified needs to tackle the erosion problem. The three of us came together and personally financed to equip the district administration office with a fully furnished kitchen to benefit the administration as well as the youth of the district, Mr Babah said. We have also participated with some donations to the December 7 Disaster Relief Fund after the disasters in December.
Denise Clarisse, director general for community affairs, expressed gratitude for the impact of the ‘Adopt a District’ programme. Grand Anse Mahe district received valuable cooking utensils, and Ile Perseverance district received eight computer sets for its primary school pupils, Ms Clarisse said. She also extended sincere gratitude to the honorary consuls and their representatives and recognised their crucial role in investing in the youth of Seychelles. We also acknowledge the National Assembly members, respectively Waven William and Desheila Bastienne, along with district administrators, for their dedication to the programme’s success, Ms Clarisse added.
