Beachcomber Magazine 05

SOCIETY BEAUTIFUL MAURITIUS 20 A lé Moris! ” This is the rallying cry of all Mauritians at the 10 th edition of the Games, which Mauritius hosted from 19 to 28 July 2019 for the third time in the island’s history. Red, blue, yellow and green, the colours of the flag, adorned roundabouts, houses, people’s clothing, and even car wing mirrors. The honking of the vuvuzelas and car horns sounded the island’s ambitions. Why did it have to wait forty years before their victory against Reunion, who initiated the first games in 1979, or against the small but strong archipelago of the Seychelles? No doubt because the Mauritians were never really united. Mauritius is an island of many peoples: throughout the centuries, popula- tions from a multitude of migratory currents took root here, some by force, others by desire. And after three hundred years of this melting pot of civilisations, communities lived next to each other without ever really blending. BUILDING BRIDGES Like Creole, the common language of Mauritius, the exotic flavours of the local cuisine were the first bridges linking the communities. Mauritians discovered in the briani, the “ mine frit ” (fried noodles) or the “ bol renversé ” (a heap of rice, sauce and meat, moulded in a bowl and served upside down) not to mention the dhal puri, that differences are a source of mutual enrichment. But culinary delights are not enough to create a nation. It took the magic of sport to bridge the gap. Like the wind that blows under doors, sport gets everywhere, not caring a fig for race, religion, culture, or social or financial barriers. Sport rises above all social divisions. A FEELING OF BELONGING If there is one passion that links all the inhabitants, it’s football, left over from the British colonisation, which first united the Mauritian people on 31 August 1985, during the final of the second Island Games at the George V stadium, where Mauritius beat Reunion in the penalty shootout. With this sporting victory came the precious feeling of belonging to one single space, one single nation. A feeling of unity greatly weakened during the racial riots in 1968 after Independence was won, like in February 1999 after the death in prison of the Seggae singer Kaya, and regularly shattered by the sectarian battles during the electoral campaigns. Yet with each new edition of the Games, with each major sports event, in the stadiums or in the privacy of people’s homes, unity THE INDIAN OCEAN ISLAND GAMES Every four years (or thereabouts) since 1979, the Indian Ocean Island Games group seven island nations in the Indian Ocean: Madagascar, Reunion, Seychelles, Maldives, Comoros, Mayotte and Mauritius. 2019 Edition: 40 th anniversary of the Games. Mauritius, host and winner of the 10 th edition of the Games. 2000 participants, 14 disciplines (including athletics, badminton, cycling, football, beach volleyball, and sailing). Maurice totalled 224 medals (including 92 gold), beating Madagascar (49 gold) and Reunion (46 gold). The 11 th edition of the Games will be held in the Maldives in 2023. is strengthened, the contours of a nation become crystal clear. ONE PEOPLE, ONE NATION Last July, one united Mauritian people gathered in the sports arenas in the Indian Ocean. Its representatives shared the same colour of skin: the four colours of the country’s flag. One single slogan and one single national pride – the Motherland that solemnised eachclimb to the steps of thepodium. This first Mauritian victory at the Games couldmark a new beginning. Will the island at last be fulfilled after these forty years of the Island Games, and 41 years of independence? Let’s hope so. Forty is a symbolic number representing cycles and stability according to the teachings of the three Abraha- mic religions. The time has come. TOWARDS ANOTHER ISLAND? Another Mauritius is possible: a land of merit, of brotherhood and of community living. Far from being prisons or instruments of hate targeted towards others, the different cultures can be spring- boards towards self-knowledge and understanding of the other. And this is what happened in the 10th edition of the Games, whose victory was celebrated on the Champ de Mars on 29 July 2019 – in the very spot where the flag of Independence was first raised on 12 March 1968.  LAST JULY, ONE UNITED MAURITIAN PEOPLE GATHERED IN THE SPORTS ARENAS IN THE INDIAN OCEAN. EN JUILLET DERNIER, IL N’Y AVAIT QU’UN SEUL PEUPLE MAURICIEN DANS LES ARÈNES DU SPORT DE L’OCÉAN INDIEN. “