Baie Ste Anne EcoAride Club members

Lee and Martin

Kimberly and Jean-Luc

Edward and Emelie

Chloe and Chris

Aaron and Arnaud

Benjamin and Brandon


Martina

EcoAride Club spreads to Baie Ste Anne

Hi Class 4
There are two primary schools on the island of Praslin, one at Grand Anse, where most of our work so far has been focused and then one at Baie Ste Anne. Well last week I managed to visit both schools and it was excellent to meet the children from Baie Ste Anne, who have also formed an EcoAride club. I was greeted by 15 eager smiling faces as they waited to hear what I had to say about that special place, Aride Island. We talked about fairy terns and frigate birds, skinks and sooty terns, hawksbill turtles, hermit crabs and habitats. The children were very knowledgeable about the environment and they were very keen to learn more.

They would also like to learn about Somerset and how different life is there compared to the Seychelles, and hope that you will help them. Over the next few weeks like Grand Anse children, those from Baie Ste Anne will also write letters to you, so look out for the postman!

During my visit I received an invitation to a tree planting event to be held at the school later in the week. The school has only just been built and recently opened; as a result the school grounds are very bare and don’t have many plants or trees. So to try and green up their school grounds, the children were going to plant some native trees and shrubs.

So on Friday last week, I went back to the school, and had a very enjoyable time. The event started with a short speech in the school hall. The hall is an amazing building, and reminded me of an aircraft hanger, with open sides and high roof, it was a lovely and cool, with the shade it cast and the south easterly breeze blowing through. There were children present from right across the school; from the crèche to 12 year olds and they were all eager to play their part in planting trees. We set off in small groups and began to marry up trees to the holes which had been prepared earlier.

The trees and shrubs were provided by parents, teachers and the Ministry of the Environment and even Island Conservation Society, who I work for, donated a couple. Fortunately adult volunteers had dug all the holes ready during the morning, as by the time we came to plant the trees it was over 30’C! It was warm work but great fun and we ended what was a very satisfying afternoon with a welcome glass of juice.

The other excellent news is that the school has just got an internet connection, so hopefully by the time the south east monsoon sets in, when it is often too difficult for me to leave the island; we can all communicate via the blog.