Museum marks 30 years of educational kids’ club |26 August 2021

Viewing the exhibition

By Elsie Pointe

The National Museum’s educational kids club yesterday celebrated its 30th anniversary, making it one of the longest running non-school based educational programmes for children in the country.

To commemorate the event, the National Museum yesterday hosted a brief ceremony to thank the staff and volunteers behind the success of the club followed by an exhibition depicting activities undertaken during the three decades.

The ceremony was attended by Indian High Commissioner General Dalbir Singh Suhag, Mayor of Victoria and head of the culture department David Andre, principal secretary for culture Cecile Kalebi and chief executive of the National Council for Children Yasmin Umarji.

Also in attendance were staff of the National Museum, past and current participants of the club, and parents and volunteers.

Conceptualised by museum curator Stella Doway, the kids’ club officially kicked off on August 25, 1991 although it was known as ‘Sunday Activities’.

At that time, it catered to participants aged six onwards and was held once at month, either at the National Museum or outdoors at different historical and cultural locations.

The educational kids’ club, which is still operational to date, seeks to educate children on the history and culture of Seychelles through a myriad of activities including expeditions, nature trails, storytelling, guided tours, among others.

Former participants Jonathan Azemia, Anil Jacques and Vincent Larue all gave their testimonies and reflection on the positive impacts of the programme.

From camping trips to Silhouette to visits to cemeteries and learning that Lazare Picault actually disembarked at Anse Boileau rather than at his namesake Baie Lazare, the past members of the club noted that the club provided them with not only knowledge but also unforgettable memories and experience.

The many people behind the National Museum kids’ club, including Mrs Doway, were yesterday deservedly rewarded with a token which they received from PS Kalebi and Mayor Andre.

In her speech, PS Kalebi highlighted that, throughout the 30 years, a total of 8,905 participants have gone through the educational programme and a total of 2,880 activities have been organised by the club.

“It has not always been straightforward to continuously organise such activities with limited resources but I am really proud to state that the National Museum club has persevered thanks to support from the government through the annual budget, the parents who volunteered their time, teachers from the Wildlife Club as well as our partners and sponsors,” stated PS Kalebi.

The principal secretary further noted that the National Museum has and will remain committed towards the cultural development of youths in Seychelles.

On her part, Mrs Doway noted that she is proud of how far the National Museum educational programme has reached even after she left in 2003 to take up a post at the Seychelles People’s Defence Forces (SPDF) museum.

“The idea for the club derived from one of my museum studies ‘Gestion et Animation du Musée’ in Tunisia in early 1991 whereby I participated in the preparation of several museum activities for all ages,” explained Mrs Doway.

“On my return to Seychelles, I shared my ideas with my staff and we came up with a series of both indoor and outdoor activities in line with studies retaining its objectives of safeguarding our cultural heritages,” she said.

With great interest for the educational club, the once-a-month Sunday activities morphed into twice-a-month and over the years it has gradually started being held mostly during school holidays.

More recently, it lost steam due to the pandemic but current museum curator and facilitator of the education programme, Jeanne Pothin, said the activities are expected to resume in full swing in 2022.

“We will take this year’s plans, which we were unable to implement, and implement them next year,” noted Ms Pothin.

The National Museum’s education programme is open to children aged from six to 15 years old although the number of participants are capped at 40.

Elsie Pointe

Photos by Louis Toussaint