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April

2016 Achievement Report



Report Title
Seychelles National Youth Council visit GVI Cap Ternay Base

Objective
Build local understanding of, and participation in, GVIs work in marine monitoring and conservation
by educating and encouraging Seychellois youth.

Summary
GVI Cap Ternay invited 60 youth from the Seychelles National Youth Council to visit base and learn a
little about our marine monitoring project.




Report

On the 21st April, GVI Cap Ternay welcomed 60 youth to our base. The youth, and their 15
carers, were members of the Seychelles National Youth Council (SNYC). SNYC had approached GVI to ask if we could arrange a special event where youth from 12-18 years old
came and visited our base and learnt a little bit about what we do here.
In the morning two busses arrived at Cap Ternay, and everyone piled out. It was a squeeze,
but we managed to fit everyone into the kitchen. Including GVI staff and volunteers we
mustve been pushing over 100 people!

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The morning began with a welcome from Base Manager Mariliana Leotta. Then the group
was divided into two. Half the group stayed in the kitchen, where they were given a presentation by Jilly, our Community Coordinator. She spoke about what GVI actually do, both here
in the Seychelles and abroad. She talked about the key species we look at whilst monitoring
the reef, and why they are important for conservation. She also spoke about the work we do
here with the local community, and explained the opportunities for them to get involved
through one of our National Scholar Positions.
Following this presentation, one of our Dive Officers, Ross, gave a talk on the background
and basic science of diving. He explained how the sport has developed over time, and looked
at some of the jobs that are available to those interested in making a career out of it.
After these presentations, the participants were taken to see our kit room. They were shown
the different gear we use every day, and how it functions. They were also given the chance to
try out breathing underwater for the first time, using one of our regulators in a dunk tank.
Many students were nervous to try, but with a bit of encouragement they gave it a go. It was
great to see their excited reactions!
Whilst all this was going on, the second half of the group were on a tour of our base and surrounds. They walked around on the beach and through the mangroves, looking for some of
the more interesting creatures living there, as staff and volunteers spoke to them about what
they were seeing.

Once completed, the two groups then swapped activities so each half got to experience everything. Afterwards it was wonderful to have many of the youth come and ask questions about
the project, and sign up to become a potential scholar one day.
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As always, we at GVI Seychelles try to be as involved as possible in activities such as this, as


it allows us to continue building important relationships with the community, and also increase the local understanding of our role and function here.
Teaching residents about the importance of our work is key in delivering our aims in changing behavior towards the marine environment. Education is such a crucial part of this
change, and being able to invite local youth to base to see our work for themselves really
helps us identify those that would like to be further involved.
With this in mind its essential that we continue to seek opportunities where we can invite
them to participate as much as possible. Although challenging for us to manage so many
people on base at one time, the day was a success and we hope the SNYC guys all got a lot
out of the event.

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