Plaisance primary school opens new shade house |07 June 2022

A newly built shade house at the Plaisance primary school was officially opened last week, in the presence of teachers, district administrators, students and parents.

Representatives of the Seychelles Centennial Women Lion’s Club (SCWLC), Ministry of Education, Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Grand Anse Farmers’ Association (GAFA) also attended the opening ceremony.

Sponsored by the SCWLC, the shade house project began back in 2019 but was delayed for reasons mainly related to the Covid-19 pandemic and harsh weather conditions. The completion of the shade house was finalised this year, with the support from the Small Grants Programme of UNDP and the GAFA.

“I would like to extend my gratitude to Daniel Morin, representative of the Grand Anse farmers’ association, with the support from UNDP, which has willingly contributed voluntarily to finalise the project,” said the head teacher of Plaisance primary school, Therese Athanase, in her speech during the opening ceremony.

She expressed her gratitude to all the sponsors, to the Eco School club and to the community, including farm owner Jacques Matombe, who provided the school with the fruit and vegetable plants to furbish the shade house.

Head teacher Athanase then went on to say that the shade house will bring many benefits for the school.

“The project will help staff and pupils to have some hands-on activities when it comes to ECA clubs, science lessons and other subjects,” she said, noting that it will create a positive and green school culture.

Mermedah Moustache, the past secretary of the SCWLC, said a few words during the ceremony as well. “Today’s shade house is the tenth or eleventh shade house that we have sponsored in primary and secondary schools. I would like the garden to be used to develop the skills, knowledge and techniques of the students and teachers so that they can learn how to grow their own food. It’s about protecting the environment but also about using the environment sustainably. We use it to produce food to sustain ourselves!” she said.

Some students then performed a dance and sang the song ‘Sa se nou zoli lanvironnman’ composed by their teacher, Sheila Zialor. This was then followed by the cutting of the ribbon to officially open the shade house.

The accompanying photos show some highlights of the ceremony.

Sylia Ah-Time

Photos by Thomas Meriton