Heritage awards 2019 Bel Ombre primary, La Digue secondary and Salome Abel clinch top prizes |10 December 2019
The winners in a souvenir photograph with guests (Photo: Joena Meme)
Bel Ombre primary, La Digue secondary and Salome Abel clinched the top prizes of the heritage award under the theme ‘A community heritage’ organised by the Seychelles Heritage Foundation.
Despite being exam time, students from seven schools took part in the contest and on Sunday they wore their uniform to attend the prize-giving ceremony organised by the Seychelles Heritage Foundation at the Domaine de Val de Près at Gran Kaz, Au Cap.
“This competition is a means to engage more children and youth in the preservation, conservation and promotion of our heritage. This year we have been able to welcome many children at the Domaine de Val de Près and we were able to educate them about the importance of preserving our heritage. We also had a group of children from Reunion island who came to visit us and learn more about our heritage. We are trying to organise an activity per month to sensitise more children and we hope that many children will develop an interest,” said Benjamine Rose, chief executive of the Seychelles Heritage Foundation.
This award will be held annually and the students have to conduct their research within their community.
In the primary category, Bel Ombre primary school won the first prize with their project entitled ‘Important figure in Bel Ombre district, Mr Nicholas Prea, the National Assembly speaker’. Each member of the team received a certificate and the school won R10,000 as cash prize.
The second prize went for Au Cap primary school with its project on ‘The oldest woman in Seychelles – Mrs Nancy Marie aged 110 years.’ The group won a cash prize of R7,500.
La Digue school won third prize with its project ‘Traditional furniture and home appliances’ and it received R5,000 as cash prize.
In the secondary category, La Digue secondary won the first prize with its project entitled ‘The changing face of La Digue’ and as prize it won R15,000.
La Digue secondary also won the second prize with its project about ‘Past activities men and women used to engage in during their leisure time on La Digue’ and it brought the school a cash prize of R10,000.
The third prize was won by English River secondary with its project titled ‘The history of La Bastille building’ and it was worth R7,000.
Salome Abel won the award in the individual category with his project on his family member ‘The father of literature – Mr Antoine Abel’ and won R5,000 as cash prize. Emilie Marie won the second prize with her project ‘Plane crash at Quincy’ and won R3,500 as cash prize.
Vidya Gappy