The family of the renowned writer, the late Regina Melanie, has offered her statue to the Seychelles Creole Academy.

This took place in a ceremony at the National Museum on Monday afternoon as part of the Creole Festival activities.

It was the two youngest children of Mrs. Melanie – Ricardo and Denzel – who unveiled the statue, and presented it to the executive director of Lakademi Creol Sesel, Flora Bendavid, during the activity called ‘It’s never too late’.

This statue made by the artist Egbert Marday was among the last works of Mrs. Melanie’s son, Joel Melanie, in honor of his mother, who was named among the first people who started the literacy class in 1981, when he introduced, and later became a writer, poet Seychelles is very popular and participates in several activities at the national level to develop and promote the Creole language.

When he was addressing the family members, friends and colleagues of his mother to return the sculpture to the academy, Mr. Melanie, who was very emotional, drew the remarkable path of his mother, known as ‘Inan’ by her relatives, who said that engraved in the history of Seychellois Creole literature.

He says his mother was a woman who always says ‘It’s never too late’ and believes in the education of her children, as well as the opportunity to develop and learn.

He says that this woman has also felt the need to rub shoulders with Creole language experts and has never felt afraid of being around them.

Mr. Melanie says that among his literary contributions are the publications ‘Bardzour i fer’ in 2002, ‘Remor’ in 2012, and also manuscripts of pictorial expression.

The work of Mrs. Regina Melanie, ‘Memwar mon anceset’, was published in 2017 by the Creole Institute and this book is about the long life and the beliefs of the interpretation of different circumstances, through a couple Dolor and Sarlin.

I ti osi lir en morso sa liv pour bann envite.

“We know that if you were still with us, you would have a lot to say. We thank you for everything you have given. We want to take advantage of this opportunity to thank everyone who contributed to the realization of this project,” Mr. Melanie said.

In her place, when she accepted the job at the Seychelles Creole Academy, Mrs. Bendavid established the institution, the former Creole Institute, in this ceremony. This is since the launch of the Regina Melanie Prize literary competition in 2017 by this institute, for primary school children, to make them appreciate the mother tongue, then the competition for teachers which was there to encourage teachers to develop useful resources in mother tongue learning.

“The main purpose of this competition was to firstly honor the work and linguistic and cultural contribution that Mrs. Melanie has made in the development and preservation of the Creole language and culture of Seychellois. Secondly, invite and encourage the Seychellois youth who have left school without knowing their ability to read and write, as they are inspired by Mrs. Melanie to return to school if they can, in the classroom in their respective districts. This will ensure their personal development in its totality and as an individual to restore that confidence in their bodies to go forward,” Mrs. Bendavid said.

He added that the price of Regina Melanie was also a strategy to implement the mandate of the creole academy effectively.

“Ms. Melanie’s honor is a sign of recognition of belonging, and the valorization of her efforts, her time, and the sharing that has brought us to this linguistic and cultural world,” he said.

After being reappointed to follow the literacy class, Mrs. Melanie also taught literacy classes in her Anse Royale district. He was also a member of the Seychellois Writers Association, and the Creole Language Committee, where he worked closely with the Creole Institute. Another of his works includes a small book ‘Lasans ti pour Mirey’, ‘Madamm Mizlen e Kompanni’. Mrs. Melanie has also made a great contribution to a Creole monolingual dictionary that is expected to be released soon.

Regina Melanie was born on August 29, 1932, and had 8 children, including 5 boys and three girls. He worked as a plowman most of his life and later ‘ cleaner’ . He started literacy classes in 1981 and learned Creole, English and French. One of the guests at Monday’s ceremony who considered Mrs. Melanie as her guide, Penda Choppy, recalled Mrs. Melanie’s famous phrase ‘I’m going to get a neck under the lily’, when she was helping them with a new word. In her testimony, Mrs. Choppy says that she will never forget the humility of this very gifted woman and her impact on both her professional and personal life.

At the ceremony there were also members of the 3rd-year Anse Royale club who gave their testimony and recited the poem ‘Suffering’, written by Mrs. Melanie.

This wife died on March 1, 2016 at the age of 83.

Source: Seychelles Nation