‘Manman avan ler’ |06 December 2023

A partial view of the viewers

Documentary sheds light on teenage pregnancy challenges in Seychelles

Around 140 viewers including the First Lady, Linda Ramkalawan, and other dignitaries, converged at the Deepam Cinema on Monday evening for a special screening of ‘Manman Avan Ler’, a documentary on teenage pregnancy in Seychelles.

The documentary by local non-governmental organisation Elles Foundation tells the story of several young people who became pregnant while they were teenagers and touches controversial issues such as age of consent and access to contraceptives, and laws that may need to be reviewed in the country.

Chairperson Loréa Rassool and vice-chairperson Raisa Saley said the primary reason for the documentary was for people outside the foundation to see what was really happening in Seychelles and for the government and law makers to take notice.

“People can realise that we have societal issues in the country regarding teenage pregnancy, such as consent, lack of education and so on. We need to change the situation and we need to put our hands together to actually make a difference,” they both agreed.

One major issue was accessibility to contraceptives without parental consent.

“You cannot tell people that you have the capacity to have sex at 15 but no access to contraceptives.” The documentary also highlighted a lack of education about sexual reproductive health and sexually transmitted diseases.

Amy Dina and Melle Payet, two teenagers who watched the documentary, stated it was an eye-opener and it touched both of them emotionally.

“I think it is amazing what they did. To raise their voice and raise awareness. You see clearly that we need a change in society.”

For her part, the First Lady commended Elles Foundation for the initiative, stating the documentary touched on all the relevant issues within the society.

“Teenage pregnancy is a subject that is very alarming,” she stated.

With regard to amending the law to facilitate access to contraceptives, which was a key point of the documentary, the First Lady said the country should take this into consideration.

Another viewer was the chief executive of the Citizens Engagement Platform Seychelles, Alvin Laurence, who also praised Elles Foundation for coming up with an innovative way of passing the message by including cold hard facts.

“This is a good example for other associations that want to reach out in a new way and as an audience member, I see this as extremely important,” he stated.

Elles Foundation said they were overwhelmed with the reaction from the audience, including the positive messages and support.

“I think we touched everyone with that documentary. Moreover, the people they worked with were also really surprised to find the true statistics and figures of what is actually happening. This is a call for help and call for action. We need more people to get involved,” said Mrs Rassool.

Elles Foundation will be uploading the documentary on to their website and YouTube channel soon.

Text & photos by Sunny Esparon