Retired in Seychelles; Special gifts to share |17 May 2025

The Mullen couple

Seychelles is a paradise; a land of turquoise waters, lush green hills and warm, vibrant communities. Into this paradise, a couple arrived in December, 2023. They came to retire following a combined 80 years of teaching blind adults and blind and multi-disabled school-age children. Today, this couple calls the serene community of Anse Etoile their home.

Dr Elina Mullen, a proud Seychelloise, born in Kenya to Seychellois parents, has returned to her ancestral roots after decades of distinguished service abroad. Her husband, Edward Mullen, born and raised in the United States, is a Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS) with a deep passion for empowering blind and seriously visually impaired adults and children to travel independently.

Their decision to settle in Seychelles was not accidental; it was a deliberate act of service and belonging. Elina, returning home with decades of professional experience, brings global knowledge back to her people. Edward, having spent a lifetime in special education and rehabilitation, joins her with the heart of a volunteer and the vision of a mentor. They are here to uplift and to share where needs exist.

What they offer is more than just professional skill; it is a lived philosophy that every individual, regardless of impairment, has the right to live a full and independent life. With Edward’s experience in mobility training, and Elina’s leadership in adapted physical education, the Mullens are hoping to contribute towards the existing programmes of education and rehabilitation for individuals with special needs.

A case for change: A nation’s unseen need

Despite Seychelles’ progress in healthcare and education, the blind and visually impaired population remains largely underserved. Estimates suggest that anywhere between 200 and 400 people in the Seychelles may be living with severe visual impairment or blindness. Most are adults who were once fully sighted but lost their vision to eye conditions, such as diabetes, glaucoma and cataracts. The school-aged severely visually impaired and blind would be a much smaller percentage of the adult blind population, or approximately 4-8 children.

Individuals with special needs can be trained and educated to become productive members of society. The adult blind want to return to work, raise their families, contribute to society and reclaim their sense of self-worth. The school-aged blind and seriously visually impaired students need trained professionals and structured programmes to be educated to the upper limits of their intellectual abilities, and to be employable.

This is where Edward and Elina come in; not as outsiders, but as neighbours who would like to make a difference in their new home of Seychelles.

Edward Mullen: Restoring freedom of movement

Edward Mullen is a Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist who holds master’s degrees in education and mobility. Since October 2024, he has been volunteering his time and experience in Seychelles training members of the Seychelles Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired (SABVI) to navigate their surrounding with confidence and independence.

The training includes everything from safe movement while using a mobility cane to interpreting the soundscape of a city; that is, teaching SABVI members to travel by bus from their homes to Victoria’s bus terminal and walking independently from the terminal to shops and offices in Victoria. Already, two SABVI students have achieved this level of travel skills.

Edward’s vision is long-term and community-centered. He is not simply offering services; he is building capacity. He is ready to train sighted Seychelles’ citizens to become orientation and mobility instructors to instruct adults and school-age students. In this way, the work will continue long after Edward cannot. His dream is a future where Seychellois professionals lead the way in mobility and rehabilitation serving their own communities with culturally relevant training.

Dr Elina Mullen: A Seychellois champion of inclusion

Dr Elina Charlette Marie Therese Mullen (nee Nalletamby) is a committed teacher.  Her remarkable journey began in Kenya, East Africa, but her spirit and achievements have had a global impact. For over 30 years in the United States, she was a master teacher and sports coach at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired while mentoring Kinesiology students from the University of Texas. During her teaching years in Kenya, she trained physical education teachers at Kenyatta University and coached university students in sports and athletics.

She has developed physical education programmes for blind and visually impaired students, and for students with multiple disabilities. She was chosen Teacher of the Year in Texas for the multi-disabled, and was nominated for national teacher of the year.

Living permanently in Seychelles, Elina is ready to support programmes and to integrate adaptive physical education where needed. She has the capacity to mentor local educators and to build programmes that promote health, inclusion and lifelong confidence for children with disabilities. She has done it before, and she is prepared to do it again.

In Edward and Elina Mullen, Seychelles has the opportunity to benefit from two experienced professionals with proven results and a shared commitment to training others. Their goal is not to be the solution, but to help build the solution from within Seychelles’ own people.

With the right collaboration from ministries, NGOs, and the community, they can spearhead initiatives that not only serve today’s needs, but train the next generation of Seychellois experts in mobility, education, and adapted recreation.

Their work offers dignity to the blind, confidence to the impaired and a new life to those who have been overlooked. And above all, it could provide a model of service and empowerment that Seychelles can proudly claim as its own.

Text and photos by Dawn Athanasius