Stories from Quick Reads and Reunion
Another Shark Attack Claims a Teenage Surfer on Reunion Island, Post-Attack Policy in Effect
A 13-year-old boy was killed by a shark on April 12 near Les Aigrettes on Reunion island. Elio Canestri was a promising surfer and a member of the local surfing club. The local community is shocked by the tragic news. A Facebook page was set up to commemorate his life, with...
Clashes between Police Forces and High School Students in La Réunion Island
Clashes between students and police forces broke out on January 31 and February 1 in Saint-Denis, La réunion Island. Some shops in the district of La Chaudron were looted and some vehicles were torched, according to a police source. Anne Mariotti, a reporter at Journal de l’île de la Réunion, writes that...
PHOTOS: Cyclone BEJISA Wrecks Havoc on Reunion Island
Cylcone Bejisa made landfall on January 2 on the French island of Reunion. One person died, 15 people were seriously injured and around 82,000 homes reportedly suffered power cuts. The cyclone has now left the island and the red alert is lifted. Here are additional photos and videos of the...
Snowfall in the Tropics
The tropical Island of La Réunion experienced a relatively rare snowfall on the top of the volcano, Piton de la fournaise on June 3. Linfo.re explains that [fr] the first snowfall on the island was observed in 1988 and the latest was in 2007.
Mauritius and Reunion Island Brace for Cyclone Dumile Impact
Lexpress.mu reports that Mauritius is on high alert [fr] as cyclone Dumile makes landfall on the island. Agaléga island was hit hard [fr] and was in blackout for 24h. Réunion island is also on high alert [fr].
Madagascar & Reunion: Maraina, The First Opera from the Indian Ocean
Marie-Clémence & Cesar Paes present a trailer of Maraina, a film that showcases, in their words, “the first opera to be created in the Indian Ocean region” [fr].
La Réunion : A Dynamism far from the Cliché of Dependence on Public Aid
Sandrine Dionys interviewed [fr] Emmanuelle, a young entrepreneur from La Réunion for the Bondy Blog. She rails against the cliché of the Réunion Islanders being dependent on the French government for aid.
Africa : Delicious Peanut
Nadia Khouri-Dagher writes a post on afrik.com [fr] where she praises the peanut, a condiment that has been integrated in most African cuisines: “Senegalese Chicken Mafé, Malian Peanuts Tiguadegue sauce, Ghanean Inkatse-abè sauce, Togolese Azindéssi sauce, Beninese Aziin nusunnu sauce, Congolese moambe chicken, Peanut rougail from Reunion Islands,… : The peanut...
French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique: March 19th 1946
Guadeloupean blogger Anba pyé mango-la wonders [Fr] about the situation of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Reunion, former colonies which became the four overseas departments of the French Republic, sixty-four years ago.
Reunion: Creole becomes second official language
In the midst of the International Creole Month, Guadeloupean blogger CaribCreoleOne discusses [Fr] the now official use of Creole language alongside French in all the administrative procedures and places, in the city of Le Port in Reunion.
South Africa: Drumming to freedom
cueTV interviews a dance collective from Mauritius, Reunion and Madagascar about the dance, Ma Ravan’, a ritual and a performance, and paying homage to slaves and freedom fighters performed at the Grahamstown Arts Festival in South Africa.
French Overseas Departments: Questioning the “Estates General”
Guadeloupean Mycho blogs [Fr] about her doubts concerning the “Estates General of the French Overseas Departments” to re-think the status of its distant departments, while bloggers Anba pyé mango-la and indiscrétions [Fr] also report on developments.
Martinique: President Sarkozy
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has finally met with elected representatives of French Guiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe and Réunion, regarding the crisis which has been shaking the French West Indies for the last month. Martinican bloggers Imaniyé and blogde[moi] are dissatisfied and note that his TV address raised two questions: Why was...
France, French Caribbean: Mobilization in Paris
It has often been said that l'Ile de France (Paris and its surroundings) is the Fifth French Overseas Department, due to its huge population of French Guianese, Guadeloupeans, Martinicans and Reunionese. In this announcement published by CaribCreoleOne, a group called Continuité LKP [Fr] invites the diaspora to march in Paris...
Reunion: Mild earthquake felt on the island.
At. 15:17 local time, an earthquake (3.6 on the richter scale) was felt all around the island of Reunion today. There is no report of major damages as of yet. Jonathan Gravier said he was driving in St-Denis at the time but did not feel the earthquake (Fr).
The face of racism in Reunion
Rachiri Mayotte writes about racism in Reunion (Fr) as politics on the island move toward the right.
Reunion: New Community Political Blog
Éric Fruteau announces (Fr) the launch of echosale.com, a community blog run by the local opposition in Etang-Salé, Réunion that aims to serve as a forum for debate and a political organizing tool.
African Journalists on Franco-African Relations
African journalists working in France are calling on the two remaining French presidential candidates, Nicolas Sarkozy and Segolene Royal, to begin a new chapter in Franco-African relations (Fr), according to the blog of the Alliance for Democratic Progress. “We have to reconsider everything, make a fresh start, a sort of...
La Reunion: Women's Day and Women's Magazines
Blogger Pierrot Dupuy comments [Fr] on a local women's magazine's Women's Day issue: “One of the main articles is titled Mentalities Must Change. Sure, no doubt. But why then do all the ads featured in the magazine contribute in conveying a negative image of women?“
La Réunion: After Decolonization, Responsibility
La Réunion local official Eric Fruteau writes (Fr): “After the end of slavery in 1848, after departmentalization in 1946 and all the other fights to end colonial misery, instaure the great social laws that have marked our island, after the achievement of social equality, we must now anticipate and prepare...
Mayotte: Who Lives There?
Reunion Passion usually blogs on her homeland but recently she focused on nearby Indian Ocean French overseas department Mayotte (Fr): “Many cultures cohabitate in Mayotte, the first, of Comorian origin, constitutes 60% of the population, the second is Malagasy and is heavily influenced by the first and finally the French...
