Global Voices » Reunion

La Réunion : A Dynamism far from the Cliché of Dependence on Public Aid

Jane Ellis — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 21:23:29 +0000

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

Thalia Rahme — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 21:29:08 +0000

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 or goober composes a wide array of dishes and popular and delicious in the majority of Sub-Saharan African countries !”

Martinique: Election, tension and abstention

Fabienne Flessel — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 17:15:45 +0000

On Sunday March 14th, all French citizens including those in the four French overseas departments (Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana and Reunion) were asked to vote for the regional elections and the regional assembly in charge of devolved powers such as planning adult professional training, building and funding public high schools, financing and promoting cultural projects.

The vote took place in a very busy electoral period: Martinicans were asked to decide for more autonomy in their department, only in January.

Two major elections in a three-month period may have been too much for the 55.55% of Martinican voters who decided to stay home and not vote, as shown by Bondamanjak's post [Fr].

Blogger Evolution Martinique comments on [Fr] this high abstention figure:

Le grand vainqueur de ce 1er tour, est à l’évidence le taux record d’abstention (plus de 55%) […].

The winner of the 1st round is obviously the surprisingly high abstention rate (more than 55%) […].

In the same post, the blogger also gives possible reasons to explain why people resorted to abstention:

1. La répétition soutenue des consultations et des scrutins sur une période très dense entre le 10 janvier et le 14 mars.

2. La question du statut institutionnel aura été un enjeu majeur aux yeux des électeurs, reléguant les régionales dans la sphère de la politique politicienne.

3. La qualité bien terne du débat et des propositions politiques de même que le climat délétère dans lequel se déroula cette campagne.

4. Le choix incongru du vote au 2ième tour.

1. The repetition of ballots in a very short period from January 10th to March 14th.

2. The issue of the institutional status must have been more important in the eyes of the citizens, whereas the regional elections are considered as politicking.

3. The low quality of the debate and of the political programs as well as the noxious atmosphere of the campaign.

4. The incongruous choice of voting for the 2nd round.

Martinican blogger [moi]'s playground shares her opinion about the first round of the elections, in a post which details the results for each list, along with her personal comments. Incidentally, she sums up the central stake of this election in Martinique [Fr]:

Trois listes se maintiennent donc pour un second tour ou le duel Marie-Jeanne/Letchimy annoncé va connaître son épilogue.

Three lists are still in for the second round, in which the legendary duel between Marie-Jeanne and Letchimy will meet its end.

The same duel is acknowledged by Bondamanjak in a post entitled “André Lesueur, la troisième voix” (André Lesueur, the third voice).

Both [moi] and Bondamanjak comment on the significant decrease of right-wing voters in Martinique. She wonders [Fr]:

Depuis combien de temps la droite ne s’était pas retrouvée à un second tour d’élections régionales ?

Since when hasn't the right-wing qualified for the second round of regional elections?

A comment to Bondamanjak's post says [Fr]:

Juan […] j'ajouterai
pour terminer que la droite pour moi est menacée d'inutilité politique.

Juan […] to conclude, I'd say that in my opinion the right wing is threatened by political uselessness.

The remarks made by Martinican bloggers concerning the poor quality of the campaigns, the tiredness of the population with elections and the difficult position of the right-wing parties is not an exclusive feature of the overseas departments, since mainland French elections followed the very same pattern, as this post by French blogger Ma Liberté, explains.

French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique: March 19th 1946

Fabienne Flessel — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 12:53:43 +0000

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

Fabienne Flessel — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:55:21 +0000

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.

Global: International Creole Month

Fabienne Flessel — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:18:07 +0000

October has become the month of the worldwide celebration of Creole language and the Creole blogosphere is paying attention.

What is Creole, exactly? This is probably one of the most debated topics among linguists worldwide - it is an incredibly complex and diverse language. The fruit of migrations and population mingling, Creole language has been, since the distant times of slavery, a vernacular language, either prohibited or underrated. But things started to change in the 1980s, as explained by the Creole-oriented Reunionese blog, Renyone [Cr, Eng]:

In 1981 scientists having Creole as their mother tongue started asking themselves questions about the methods that could be used to promote the Creole language, following a scientific symposium organised by the international committee for Creole studies working on the theme: a Creole / Creoles, continuity and creativity in the Creole world.

Renyone gives more details about the establishment of what has become a tradition in most Creolophone countries [Eng]:

In 1982 the Seychelles government organised a Creole week.
[…]
The first international BANNZIL KREYOL day took place on the 28th October 1983. Ever since, the 28th October has been celebrated annually in all Creole countries the world over.

Since then, the preservation of this vernacular language, sometimes called a dialect, has been a great concern for many people as shown by this statement of objectives published by the International Organization of Creole People. A Facebook group named “Annou Palé Patwa” (Creole for “Let's speak Patois/Creole) relays this concern since in a topic entitled Creole Month, a Trinidadian user wonders about this year's celebration [En]:

Well October is Creole month the world over, what can we do to promote it in Trinidad?
[…]
What do you think will be the best way to go if we were to do something national?

Initiatives to promote, preserve or celebrate Creole are local field work as much as governemental policy. Here is a post published by Dominican blogger Living Dominica two years ago in which we can see that in some countries, this celebration is not just a token gesture [En]:

This month is Creole time here on Dominica, which is my very favorite celebration. This time of year is a festival honoring all things Dominican. Everyone gets into the spirit of things in the days leading up to Independence Day (Nov. 3) and the World Creole Music Festival (Oct. 26-28)

Mentioned above, the World Creole Music Festival was born 13 years ago from the Dominican government's will to associate the International Creole Month to its celebration of the Independence of the island on November 3rd 1978.

From all this, it is quite obvious that Creole Month and Creole Day, October 28th, are not uniformly celebrated worldwide. Here are some posts about 2009 Creole Day events:

From London, the group MBMB “Minm Biten, Minm Bagay” (Guadeloupean and Martinican Creole phrases which mean “it's all the same”) wrote a post in order to invite people to the event that took place on Sept. 27th 2009 and also to recall previous editions of their “MBMB Kreyol Day”.

In Canada, the Creole-oriented organization Kepkaa invites people for “Mwa kréyol la nan Monréyal” (Haitian Creole for “Creole Month in Montreal”) in a post entitled “Ann fété kilti kreyol nou yo” (Haitian Creole for “Let's celebrate Creole cultures together”). Another Canadian event was announced on Miss Creole Canada Pageant and relayed on Facebook, it was the first of its kind, crowning of a Miss from Creole heritage, which took place on October 17th, as part of the celebration of the Creole Month.

In Paris, blogger Anba pyé mango-la announces a cultural evening called “Tan Kréyol” (Creole for “Hear Creole”) where the oral transmission of Creole is given a place of honor [Fr Cr]:

Senn-la wouvè ba tout moun : poèt, chantè, slamè, makè, kontè, mizisyen… .

The mic is open to everyone: poets, singers, poetry slammers, writers, storytellers, musicians….

In Guadeloupe, the local authorities have organized a month-long program taking place in different locations, in order to celebrate “Mwa òktòb kréyol an mouvman” (Creole for “October, Creole in motion). Here are the two main points of this program posted by guadeloupe.coconews [Fr Cr]:

1. Prèmyé dékatman ba tout moun
2. Dézyèm dékatman èvè zanfan-lékòl

1. First session of activities opened to everyone
2. Second session of activities reserved to pupils and students

Finally, from Martinique, montraykreyol publishes a post which questions the Creole Month celebration there and most precisely the relevance of celebrating Creole in a week-long festival [Fr Cr]:

Es ou ka kwè ki an sel simenn pou défann kréyol adan tout lanné-a sifizan ?

CLAUDE MARLIN : Dapré mwen non, sa ja an pal pou kréyol-la menm manniè ki tout travay-la ki za fet asou lang-lan. Men fok pandan tout lanné-a, ni travay ki pou fet, fok véyatif toulong, pas menm si kréyol ka rantré latélévizion, laradio, nan piblisité kontel, bien délè sa ka an kréyol toubònman, tjòlòlò ek sa pé désèvi lang-la.

Do you believe that one week a year to defend Creole is enough?
CLAUDE MARLIN : I don't think so but it's already a great thing for Creole as everything else that has been done about the language. Yet, things must be done all year long and we have to be careful all the time, because even when Creole is spoken on TV, on the radio or in commercials for exemple, most of the time it is rough or broken, which can be harmful to the integrity of the language.

The thumbnail image used in this post, “Openness and Collaboration”, is by psd, used under a Creative Commons license. Visit psd's flickr photostream.
This post was also translated by the author.

South Africa: Drumming to freedom

Ndesanjo Macha — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:26:20 +0000

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”

Fabienne Flessel — Mon, 04 May 2009 18:09:14 +0000

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.

France, Americas, Africa: The “Y'a Bon” Awards

Fabienne Flessel — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:24:35 +0000

Photo courtesy that_james, published under a Creative Commons License. Visit that_james' flickr photostream.

“Banania” is a popular French hot chocolate mix, launched in France in 1912. In the marketing strategy, the choice was made to associate this product (made of chocolate, banana, milk and sugar) with Africa or the French West Indies, in order to make it sound more exotic.

In 1915, during the First World War, soldiers came from the French colonies in Africa to fight for their Motherland. That was the beginning of a long relationship between the brand and the image of the Tirailleur Sénégalais. At the time, Senegal was enough of a household name in France to lend “exotic” authenticity to this product, originally exported from Nicaragua. The image of this happy, smiling soldier coming from Africa to fight for France in the war, was associated with a now-controversial slogan: “Y'a bon”. This phrase - supposedly a form of broken French used by Africans to say “It's good”- was, for decades, (certainly up to the 1970's) linked with the image of the Senegalese soldier as a symbol of the product's authenticity.

Image courtesy just.Luc, used under a Creative Commons License. Visit just.Luc's flickr photostream.

Back in 2005, blogger Alain Mabanckou published a blogpost [Fr] entitled “Y'a Bon Banania ou Y'a Pas Bon Banania” about an action group of Guadeloupeans, Martinicans and Reunionese called Collectif DOM which sued Nutrimaine, the company which produces Banania, for…

…d’utiliser des clichés insultants pour les personnes de couleur noire, en exploitant l’image du tirailleur sénégalais et son fameux slogan « Banania Y’a bon » créés au début du siècle dernier…

…using insulting prejudices against Black people, by commercializing the image of the Senegalese soldier and its famous slogan “Banania Y'a Bon”, launched at the beginning of the 20th century…

In 2008, another action group, le MRAP [Fr] (Movement Against Racism and for Friendship between the Peoples) sued Nutrimaine again for not respecting an agreement signed in 2006 with the Collectif DOM, after the charges were laid against the company. According to blogger Storytelling, the MRAP was nonsuited [Fr]…

au prétexte que ce slogan ne trouble pas l’ordre public ni n’est contraire aux bonnes moeurs.

under the pretext that this slogan does not disturb public order nor breaches good morals.

Photo by ɐılnɾ, used under a Creative Commons License. Visit ɐılnɾ's flickr photostream.

Today, Banania uses a sort of cartoon character as its mascot and the controversial slogan has disappeared - but most black people in France are still not reconciled with the brand. On March 17th 2009, a group called les Indivisibles [Fr] launched the “Y'a Bon Awards”, a dubious honour, bestowed upon politicians, journalists, or any public officials who have contributed to the spreading of racism in France. Montray Kreyol [Fr] posts the link to the list of all the recipients of the “Y'a Bon Awards”, and you can follow more reactions to this century-long advertising campaign on just.Luc's Ethnic Stereotype flickr page.

International Women's Day: “All women are queens”

Jennifer Brea — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:09:25 +0000

Yesterday was International Women's Day, and francophone bloggers around the world used music, poetry and art to honor the beauty, achievements, and continuing struggles of women.

In Martinique, Imaniyé [Fr] marks International Women's Day by posting this video by Senegalese singer, Ismael Lo:

In a video slideshow, Fontenay d'Avenir writes, “women have long fallen prey to the violence of this world” [Fr] and while she isn't necessarily opposed to a women's day, she doesn't see that it has changed anything.

Antonia Neyrins blogs on a plane between Benin and France. She posts the Alicia Keyes music video, “Superwoman,” and writes:

Je pense à toutes les femmes dont les droits élémentaires ne sont toujours pas respectés en 2009, toutes celles qui doivent lutter pour protéger et nourrir leurs enfants, trouver un logement et travailler, toutes celles qui sont victimes de violences conjugales, de violences ou de mutilations sexuelles ou toutes celles qui sont victimes d'atrocités commises au nom d'une guerre ou d'un intégrisme religieux, quel qu'il soit.

I think of all the woman whose basic rights, in 2009, are still not respected, all of those who must fight to protect and feed their children, find housing and work, all those who are victims of domestic violence, sexual violence or mutilation, or those who are victims of atrocities committed in the name of whatever war or religious fundamentalism.

Je pense aussi à toutes les femmes épanouies au bras d'un homme (ou d'une femme) qu'elles aiment et qui les aime, qui ont réussi à trouver un équilibre entre leur vie de femme, de mère, d'épouse, d'amante, à toutes les femmes heureuses d'être nées femme.

I also think of all the women, happy in the arms of a man (or a woman) whom they love and who love them, who have succeeded in finding an equilibrium between their lives as women, mothers, wives, lovers, of all the women who are happy to have been born women.

Tout être humain équilibré et intelligent devrait souhaiter avoir près de lui un autre être humain, à son image, c'est à dire libre et epanoui.

C'est étrange en même temps cette fête, car nous sommes et restons femme tous les jours de l'année…

Every balanced and intelligent human being should wish to have, close to him, another human being, in his image, free and happy.

At the same time, this holiday is strange, because we are and we remain women every day of the year…

In Réunion, Noemie at TiBazar [Fr] posts photos of a local gathering celebrating the women of St. Paul.

And in Morocco, citoyenhmida pays hommage to women through poetry which, he writes, would not be complete without “Black woman,” by Senegalese poet and former president, Léopold Sédar Senghor:

Naked woman, black woman

Clothed with your colour which is life,
with your form which is beauty!

In your shadow I have grown up; the
gentleness of your hands was laid over my eyes.

And now, high up on the sun-baked
pass, at the heart of summer, at the heart of noon,
I come upon you, my Promised Land,
And your beauty strikes me to the heart
like the flash of an eagle.

Naked woman, dark woman

Firm-fleshed ripe fruit, sombre raptures
of black wine, mouth making lyrical my mouth
Savannah stretching to clear horizons,
savannah shuddering beneath the East Wind's
eager caresses

Carved tom-tom, taut tom-tom, muttering
under the Conqueror's fingers

Your solemn contralto voice is the
spiritual song of the Beloved.

Naked woman, dark woman

Oil that no breath ruffles, calm oil on the
athlete's flanks, on the flanks of the Princes of Mali
Gazelle limbed in Paradise, pearls are stars on the
night of your skin

Delights of the mind, the glinting of red
gold against your watered skin

Under the shadow of your hair, my care
is lightened by the neighbouring suns of your eyes.

Naked woman, black woman,
I sing your beauty that passes, the form
that I fix in the Eternal,

Before jealous fate turn you to ashes to
feed the roots of life.

Martinique: President Sarkozy

Fabienne Flessel — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 21:46:18 +0000

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 the speech exclusively broadcast on RFO: the French overseas media network and why was it only 10 min. long?

France, French Caribbean: Mobilization in Paris

Fabienne Flessel — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 20:02:44 +0000

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 to support the strikes in Guadeloupe and Martinique.

Reunion: Mild earthquake felt on the island.

Lova Rakotomalala — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 19:25:42 +0000

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).

Madagascar hosts Indian Ocean Island Games

Lova Rakotomalala — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:12:53 +0000

The Indian Ocean Island Games are underway in Madagascar and people are quite thrilled about it.

Harinjaka gives us a preview of the anticipation back home:

“C’est parti pour le 7 ème Jeux des îles de l’Océan Indien (JIOI).
La flamme olympique arrive aujourd’hui au stade de Mahamasina (Tananarive) pour annoncer l’ouverture des 7èmes JIOI, qui se tiendront du 9 au 19 août à Tananarive.
Plus de 200 athlètes originaires de sept îles de l’océan Indien, à savoir les Comores, les Maldives, l’île Maurice, Mayotte, La Réunion, les Seychelles et Madagascar, participeront à 16 différents sports pour cette competition.[..]

j’ai pu ressentir l’excitation des malgaches dont l’émotion est vraiment palpable [..]
Sachez quand même que 86 pays vivront en direct la plupart des compétitions. ”

« the 7th Indian Ocean Island Games are underway (IOIG).
The Olympic flame arrives today at the Mahamasina stadium (Antananarivo) to signal the opening of the 7th IOIG, which will be held from the 9 to the 19th of August in Antananarivo.

More than 200 athletes from seven islands in the Indian Ocean: the Comoros, Maldives, Mauritius, Mayotte, Reunion, Seychelles and Madagascar, will take part in 16 various sports for this competition. [.]

One can sense the excitation of the Malagasy people whose enthusiasm for the event is undeniable[.]
Note that 86 countries will be able to follow live most of of the matches.”

Su adds in the comment section that the event is so important that the day of the opening ceremony has been declared a national holiday.

( Ravi, the official mascott of the Indian Ocean Island Games. Photo credit: http://www.jioi2007.mg/)

The face of racism in Reunion

Jennifer Brea — Sun, 20 May 2007 15:29:08 +0000

Rachiri Mayotte writes about racism in Reunion (Fr) as politics on the island move toward the right.