‘We are thinking about the children who are vulnerable and those living without their families during the festive season’, is the message conveyed by Minister Francourt during her visit to three orphanages situated on Mahe.

On Monday 21^st December the First Lady Mrs. Linda Ramkalawan and Minister for Employment and Social Affairs visited three orphanages - Foyer de Nazareth, Foyer de la Providence and Foyer de la Solitude.

The visit started at Foyer de Nazareth at Anse Etoile, where the children had prepared a warm welcome song and dance for their guests, followed by a presentation of flowers to the First Lady and the Minister. In addition, both the First Lady and Minister presented two hampers as gifts to the orphanage.

After the small welcoming ceremony, Sister Jeanine who is in charge of the Foyer offered a small tour and the children were very excited to show their guests their home.

Minister Francourt expressed her appreciation and gratitude to the staffs for the devotion and love given to the children, she mentioned that she has visited the orphanage before and is very impressed with the changes that have taken place since then.

The same sentiment was also expressed by the First Lady who said that she was deeply moved by the earnest devotion of all the staffs in their work that are being done on a daily basis for the children, as this job she recognizes requires a lot of patience and love.

Foyer de Nazareth currently have 15 boys aged between 4 and 15 years and are well taken care of by 10 staffs including three nuns.

The visit proceeded to Foyer de la Providence in Victoria (well known as Ste.Elizabeth), where in this orphanage is accommodated 19 children from the age of 0-10 years. The delegation was welcomed by Sister Rosefine and her team. The same welcome was extended to the guests through a song and presentation of a small bouquet of flowers to the First Lady and the Minister who in return offered them a hamper and some educational toys. The First Lady and Minister interacted with the children and for those who were not shy shared their satisfaction about their school, teachers and their friends and for some they only preferred to shows how energetic they can be.

The visit ended at Foyer de la Solitude at La Misere. The Orphanage has the ability to accommodate 10 children and currently have only three teenage girls. There was also an exchange where the children offered a basket of flowers to the First Lady and Minister and in return the girls received a hamper.

The First Lady and Minister had the chance to speak to the three girls where they shared their career aspirations that they want to pursue after their studies and spoke about their challenges .The distinguished guests were impressed with their choices and had words of encouragement for them. The Sister in charge Sister Suzanne uttered her gratitude towards the assistance they receive from Social Services and other partners. She made known that her biggest wish for the girls is to see them become young responsible adults when they leave the orphanage, a message that was echoed by the First Lady when she stressed that in the end the biggest gift for everyone responsible will be to see them successful in life.

On a final note the First Lady echoed that’’ her wish is for society to become more responsible towards children. She expressed her sadness to see children having to live without their parents and made a special call to all concerned in society to help reduce the number of such cases.

Accompanied on the visits was Principal Secretary for Social Affairs Mrs. Linda William-Melanie and two Senior Officials from the Social Affairs Department.

The accompanied pictures shows some of the highlights of the visits in all three orphanages.

FOYER DE NAZARETH

 FOYER DE LA PROVIDENCE

FOYER DE LA SOLITUDE