Queen’s Young Leaders Award winner Demien Mougal |28 July 2017

‘What will really help change our country is to promote the good things our young people are doing’

Demien Mougal aged 19 years of age is this year’s Queen’s Young Leaders from Seychelles.  Demien, who’s passion is to tackle issues regarding reproductive health, won the award earlier this year, to become the second Seychellois to ever win this prestigious title.

The Queen’s Young leaders Award recognises and celebrates the positive work and the achievements of inspiring young people aged from 18 to 29 from all across the Commonwealth. The award was first given in 2014. Winners of the award benefit from trainings, mentorship initiatives and a residential programme in the United Kingdom along with the opportunity to personally meet Queen Elizabeth II in an official ceremony.

Meet Demien Mougal

Demien, who has been active in several community and national initiatives here in Seychelles, is most passionate about tackling the issue of reproductive health which he has done so through Youth Action Movement Seychelles (YAM). 

“Reproductive health is still a taboo in Seychelles, it has always taken a back seat,” says Demien. “It’s not that there are not enough information on reproductive health, the real issue is that there are a lot of misinformation, for example when we organise outreach programmes and workshops we often get a lot of questions from young people who in one way or another has acquired a misinformation about sexual health and are seeking to clarify it”.

He also reiterated the fact that young people often says that ‘Personal Social Education’ (PSE) alone is not proving to be enough to educate our young generation. 

On its side to help tackle such issues the YAM, of which Demien is the chairperson, has organised several initiatives such as peer education programme, puberty talks and zero discrimination campaign against LGBTI among other efforts to raise awareness.   

Apart from YAM, Demien is also the vice-chairperson of ARID, vice-chairperson for World Merit Victoria Hub, a member of SYAH-Seychelles, a member of UN Youth and he is also one of the youth representing other young people on the Seychelles National Youth Assembly.

Winning Queen’s Young leaders

“I applied for Queen’s Young leaders because I felt that this would be a good opportunity to develop my leadership skills for example,” says Demien. Elaborating further on what drove him to apply for the prestigious award, he says he thought that there will not be many applicants who would have a background of work in reproductive health thus he wanted to apply to ensure representation of reproductive/sexual health advocacy.  

“To my surprise however there were so many Queen’s young leaders winners who had been engaged in raising awareness on reproductive health including islanders from the Caribbean,” says a beaming Demien.  

When asked if he had expected to win the award, Demien says that when he first received the call from England, he did not answer the call, as he thought that the international number was one of the frequent scam calls from individuals abroad calling to ask for money. After a few minutes he decided to call back, and when the receiver answered the phone he remembered the lady saying “Oh my God! You are the next Queen’s Young Leader”.

“It was extraordinary!” he says smiling.  

Residential Week

As part of the prize for winning the annual QYL award, all winners benefit from a residential programme in the UK.  

“I arrived in the UK in the evening and as soon as I handed my Queen’s Young Leaders documents to UK immigration, one officer greeted me and said “Congratulations, pass right through,” says Demien laughing.   

While there Demien had the chance to attend networking sessions carried out by professional networker.

“We were taught how to reach anyone in the world in only six connections, I was stunned,” says Demien. 

Demien explained that these sessions are already bearing fruit, for example when he attended the national SDG conference on July 13-14, he was able to effectively network with extraordinary individual who was attending the same event.

“In the UK I also attended another session on how to take on and tackle issues that society is afraid to talk about which was very useful for me, as sexual reproductive health is sometimes treated as taboo,” explains Demien. 

From this session he learned that it is always good “to address the ghost in the room”.

He goes on to explain that when one raises an issue that is seen to be out of bound,  other people in the crowd who may have wanted to address this same  topic will gain the momentum to do so thus creating what may become a fruitful discussion.

“This is what I did at the national SDG conference and it worked,” says Demien. 

We also learn more on how to use team work to help solve issues that may take the government ages to solve, we learned about good collaboration, the difference between leadership and management and motivation and membership.  

Demien also visited the Facebook headquarters where he learned more on advertising one’s work using social media. He also visited the BBC office where the Queen’s Young Leaders had the chance to learn more about liaising and interacting with the media. Demien also visited the Royal Court of Justice whereby he learned more on how rape cases are handled in the UK and thus learning more about how the rule of law is related to sexual reproductive health.

“In Seychelles the issue of rape is quite a taboo subject, I have not really been involved in reproductive health issues relating to rape, but it is a field that I am willing to venture in now,” says Demien.

Meeting Queen Elizabeth

As part of the residential week, winners of QYL have the chance to collect their award from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in an official ceremony. 

“When I met the Queen I remember walking in and taking a bow. As soon as she spoke to me I was speechless, I was so shocked,” exclaims Demien. 

“Her Majesty asked me how I was doing and what work I was doing in my country to make a difference and I was so stunned, so much so, I  momentarily forgot what work I was doing in Seychelles,” he says amusingly.  

Regaining his composure the Queen’s Young Leaders winner from Seychelles explained his work to the Queen, and in turn was sincerely congratulated by the monarch. With a smile Demien explains how the Queen encouraged her to keep up the good work which he had been doing for the past years.

Demien also had the chance to meet and exchange a few words with Prince Harry as well.

Demien’s message for the youth

“I will definitely encourage all other young people to apply for the Queen’s Young Leaders,” explains Damien. “The experience is life changing, whoever applies will come back with great ideas, and will be wiser and ready to lead.”

Demien explains how the experience has also open new doors full of opportunity both for him as an individual and for YAM as a group. 

“Your country will also benefit from it, and it will show the world that youths are here and ready to make a difference,” says a proud Demien.

“In Seychelles when young people are doing good things it is the negativity that often overshadow the good. I think what will really help change our country is to promote the good things our young people are doing,” explains the Queen’s Young Leader.      

“Young people need to be inspired, they need to have a goal, they need to have role models,” adds Demien, while seizing the opportunity to thank Angelique Pouponneau for always inspiring him and Anael Bodwell for making YAM a reality.

“I would not be here without Ms Bodwell,” says Damien and of course Shantana Barbé for always encouraging her, and for helping her whenever he needed help. 

Lastly he also wants to thank the YAM and SYAH family and everyone else who have supported him throughout.

“I feel that in Seychelles we have a very powerful network of youth who supports each other ...Youth should know that they are not alone,” concludes a thankful Demien. 

The accompanying photos show highlights of Demien’s education stay in the UK.

S. M. Barbé