Miss Seychelles launches Beauty with a Purpose Project |10 July 2021

A souvenir photograph to mark the occasion (Photo: Louis Toussaint)

Kelly-Marie Anette, the 2020 Miss Seychelles, launched her ‘Beauty with a purpose’ (BWAP) project – the ‘Maylene Hope Foundation’ – yesterday in a virtual ceremony at the Ministry of Family Affairs’ office.

It was attended by First Lady Linda Ramkalawan; Minister for Local Government and Community Development Rose-Marie Hoareau; the Minister for Youth, Sports and Family Affairs Marie-Celine Zialor; Honourable Regina Esparon, Honourable Naddy Zialor among other guests.

The Maylene Hope Foundation is an NGO aimed at empowering and providing emotional and psychological support to semi-orphans and orphans.

It is the namesake of Kelly-Marie’s late mother who is the driving force behind the foundation.

“Today, we gather to officiate the establishment of an organisation that has been long overdue. As a semi-orphan myself, I know all too well the feelings of ‘what if?’, ‘where do I go?’ and ‘what do I do now?’ In all those years of manoeuvring through the thoughts of confusion, loneliness and dread, I did not realise the value of the simplest thing as a listening ear. Someone once told me: ‘Tell your story, it will heal you and it will heal another soul out there’. And those words stuck with me. It was a moment of deep reflection, which, unbeknown to me at the time, would mark the beginning of the journey towards creating the Maylene's Hope Foundation,” said the Beauty Queen in her opening address.

She continued by noting that her dream was to create a platform for children and adolescents who have lost one or both of their parents to provide them some therapy, motivation and help them go forward.

“Today my dream has come true and I am proud of the work that Maylene Foundation will be doing,” she said.

She also shared her own journey of dealing with the loss of a parent as her mother died when she was just 14 years old.

“When my mother died, I found myself thrusted in a very traumatising situation where I assumed her role in taking care of my younger siblings,” she said.

She said that it was many years after her mother’s passing that she found the courage to work on her mental health as the situation had taken a toll on her.

Kelly-Marie further added that at times she felt alone as there were certain things she wished she could talk to her mother about.

“To the orphans and semi-orphans, I feel your sadness and despair. For the 207 semi orphans in primary and secondary, this foundation is a gift to you, use it as a shoulder to lean on as you do not need to carry that sadness by yourself. If the foundation can touch at least one life, that in itself can change the

whole world,” she said.

She ended by saying that we, as humans, are social creatures. It is normal for us to crave human connection.

“That craving for human connection exists in all stages of our lives – as children, as adolescents and as adults. I believe truly that human connection is an untapped healing mechanism in Seychelles. My hope, as I'm sure is my dear mother's hope as well, is that this Foundation will be the hub for such connection for my fellow orphans and semi-orphans. A place where we can share in all

our grief, all of our joys and all of our mixed emotions. A place where we can build a community for those of us who have been overlooked. A place where we can create and maintain human connection so that the hole in our hearts does not feel so empty anymore.”

First Lady Ramkalawan, who serves as the patron of the foundation, also said a few words during the ceremony

“Losing a parent is one of the modern traumatising things that can happen in the life of a child, especially if it was the parent that was taking care of them every day.”

She added that a loss like that can sometimes create a void that may never be filled as most times family members do not know how to help that child deal with their emotions and mental well being.

“Maylene’s Hope Foundation will serve as a savings grace to these kids and help them,” Mrs Ramkalawan said.

The First Lady also tipped her hat to Kelly-Marie for using her tragic experience and turning it into something that can help others.

Although it was just launched yesterday, the foundation has been active for many weeks. During the ceremony the attendees got the opportunity to watch testimonies given by Greg and Mary-Louise who recently lost their mother to cancer.

The siblings spoke highly of the foundation and how it and Kelly-Marie are helping them cope with the passing of their mom and helping them move forward.

The foundation will also have a group of people that will make up its board with Kelly-Marie serving as chairperson, Naddy Zialor (vice-chairperson), Lisette Lablache (secretary), Amanda Hortere (treasurer), Samina Morelle (events manager), Aaron Dine (marketing liaison officer).

Following the ceremony Kelly-Marie spoke to the press where she noted that their next step now is to start conducting their activities.

She also thanked everyone involved in setting up the foundation, that include Beauty Empowerment Seychelles (BES), her family and the supporters and volunteers of the foundation.

Maylene’s Hope Foundation will be working in collaboration with both the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, and the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Family Affairs as it is a project that will benefit the entire community.

Christophe Zialor