Samuel Morel makes Seychelles proud at the 7th India Deaf expo |07 February 2023
Samuel Morel, who is an art student and who is preparing his IGCSE in Art, participated in the 7th India Deaf Expo at the Sri Sairam Engineering College Chennai India from January 27 to 29, 2023.
He was accompanied by Anita Adeline Gardner, chairperson of the Association for Persons with Hearing Impairment (Aphi).
According to Ms Gardner, Samuel’s work on display in the exhibition was well appreciated.
The main objective of this conference cum exhibition was to promote public awareness about the deaf, its rich culture, and sign language development and to achieve national support for the deaf giving them several opportunities to improve their life.
The conference is held once every two to three years in different cities of India.
This is the second time that Seychelles participated in such a programme.
“This time we gave the opportunity to Samuel Morel, a young student, and we are giving him all the support he needs to achieve his goals. We hope he takes a career as an art teacher and work at the School for the Deaf,” shared Ms Gardner.
Ms Gardner added that it is important for the deaf students and artists to get the chance to participate in international events in order to boost their confidence.
This event was attended by thousands of deaf people coming from all over India and Seychelles was the only country to have a stall.
Samuel Morel shared with us his feelings after his participation: “Wow! I feel so proud to have been able to exhibit my work at this level. It is the first time I meet so many deaf people in an event!! I had the chance to meet other deaf artists. I was the youngest among them! They shared their experience with me and they encouraged me to continue working hard. I also enjoyed other activities that were organised during the event such as the X factor and the Miss and Mister Deaf pageant! I made so many friends! I am now so confident to help all the students at school. I want to be a role model for them. I thank everyone who sponsored me. Special thanks to my family and the Deaf Association. I wish to thank Sir Ryan and Miss Noella for all their help. I wish to thank Miss Anita for making my dream come true.”
To make this trip possible, the two participants from Seychelles got sponsored by President Wavel Ramkalawan, Barbara Focktave, Mr Palani and the general public through sponsor forms. Special thanks to art teachers Ryan Chetty and Noella Ernesta.
The next event for Samuel is to stage an exhibition locally in June this year. Bravo Samuel!
The accompanying photos show some highlights of Samuel’s participation at the 7th India Deaf Expo.
Vidya Gappy
Photos contributed
