Advancing Young Lives Through Education Seychelles

Dear Supporter, 

Every Christmas, the GVI Seychelles team and volunteers use donations, from people like you, to create a Christmas party along with presents for the children of the Presidents Village home.

As chaotic as it was to purchase individual gifts for nearly 60 children aged 0-16, we maneuvered our way through Victoria making purchase after purchase and tried to think back to what we would have liked seeing on Christmas morning at different ages.  We only knew we’d succeeded on the last day of our term as we visited the kids and watched them tear open the wrapping paper with huge smiles and quickly abandoned us to play with their toys. The smiles on their faces was infectious as we spent much of the afternoon joining in on their fun.

Making our day even more special for kids and volunteers alike was the dance presentation by a select group of eager kids, led by two Divemaster Interns who had spent weeks practicing a choreographed routine to two songs.  Despite visibly rising nerves at the prospect of dancing in front of all of their peers, every one of them stood strong and performed the routine to a clapping and excited crowd.  These kids are provided food, a home, and education by the Home but it is one of our goals to provide more one-on-one and extracurricular support to the kids, many of whom spend much of their lives being brought up by a rotating staff of carers instead of parents.  Each week we take a group of the kids snorkeling and swimming at a nearby beach, where they learn to swim and enjoy the ocean. 

Thank you for making this possible.

All the best

GVI Seychelles

Links:

• http://www.gvi.org

Dear Supporter,

It has been another busy quarter for the GVI Seychelles Chritable Trust. At Cap Ternay, volunteers completed an Underwater scavenger hunt. Hidden underwater were (ocean-friendly) clues for the teams to find; some buddy teams planned routes based on their knowledge and familiarity of our home reefs while others plunged in with fingers crossed and eyes wide open.

All teams came up victorious, though of course some more than others! Each clue provided the team with a task valued between 10 and 100 points, giving them another day and a half to pull together to complete the challenge and make it to the finish line by 5:00 pm on Thursday. Tasks ranged from a handstand on L'Islette to a marathon snorkel from Cap Ternay beach to Anse Souillac, while others sent the group down to the very south of the island to Police Bay or required a dancing rendition of the Thriller on another beach (on film). Not all tasks were completed, but the following evening we all gathered at Anse Royale for a meal and point tally along with a laugh at the various videos and photos that had been accumulated during the day. A prize for the individual who had raised the most and for the team with the most points was a little bonus, but the real perk of the day had been an excuse to celebrate raising over £300 for the President's Village.

The challenges continue to be a source of fun, a great opportunity for team building and help us improve community awareness regarding the work of the President’s Village Children’s Home. The donations from family and friends of volunteers and staff, have been amazing and we would like to thank you all for your continued support. Please keep an eye out for our next Charitable Trust event in a few months as we aim to continue supporting the great work of our chosen organisations and fundraise even more than before! 

All the best

GVI Seychelles

Links:

• http://www.gvi.org