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“I accepted that I was going to die” After the Storm: Impressions of a young teacher in Mayotte

In the lion’s den 


I wanted to teach where it would benefit the students most.” In this way, Hugo Girard, a 24-year-old History and Geography teacher, explained what made him decide to move to Mayotte. As a young and hopeful teacher, he would have never expected to experience a tragedy like Cyclone Chido, which hit Mayotte on December 14th. 


For this article, he agreed to answer my questions, in which he exposes the reality of life on the island, the cyclone, and the consequences for a territory and a population that now, shall completely rebuild itself. 


“C’est Mayotte” * 

* It’s Mayotte


Mayotte is a small island in the Indian Ocean, between Mozambique and Madagascar. As a French département, a French State, Mayotte did not always belong to France. Indeed, it belonged to the Comoros until 1976, when a referendum led to its independence and progressive attachment to France. It officially became a French department in 2011, after a referendum in 2009. However, this referendum is not officially recognized by the international community, putting France in a contested position on its role in Mayotte. 


With 320k inhabitants, Mayotte is France’s poorest department (77% of the population is living in poverty, according to the French Statistic Institute INSEE). As Hugo explained, this poverty is very visible on the island, mostly through the dozens of shanty towns made of “bangas” (makeshift homes). 


On top of that, Mayotte is facing a severe migration crisis. People from neighboring Comoros and the African continent are coming to the French territory to “seek a better life” (mostly seeking health and protection), even if the conditions are extremely precarious in the Bangas. According to the latest numbers, ⅓ of the population consists of foreigners coming mainly from neighboring countries. France has been and keeps being engaged in tackling immigration without hesitating in using violent and radical means of action. “People are always threatened to be sent to their home country. Policemen are often in the streets checking the identity of the inhabitants.” However, the effects of these interventions are mitigated, reinforcing the tensions and the defiance between the Mahorais population and the government. 


The far-right party Rassemblement National has been scoring important results in every election. The party keeps on promising to address the immigration problem and better consider the Mahorais population, using the resentment to spread its ideas. “The relationship between France and Mayotte is paradoxical”, explains Hugo. “Even if France is present by the authority, the health system, and the funds allowing the island to sustain itself, the State is not present to improve the population’s living conditions by having important projects. This absence was again seen during Chido.” There is an expression specific to Mayotte to describe the role of this state on the island. The Mahorais speak of a magnégné state. “This expression means that Mayotte is treated as a separate territory by France, not integrated like the other overseas territories.”, explains Hugo. Mayotte is forgotten and far away. 


On top of this crisis, Mayotte is also facing a severe problem with violence, coming from extreme poverty. “A major part of my students are in irregular situations”, said Hugo. “After their baccalaureate, some would have the means to continue their studies. However, due to the poverty and precarity on the island, they don’t have the means to leave and study. Those who don’t have French papers can’t graduate. Instead, they must find means to survive.” The risk for these young students is to fall into violence and join one of the many gangs on the island, regrets Hugo. He carried on telling me that these groups, representing different parts of the island, have been perpetuating violence for decades, and have no qualms about confronting their enemies in extremely violent battles. They often use knives and machetes to fight each other, as well as the police forces. “2 hours after Chido, the fighting had resumed. But then the devastation of the cyclone caused this systematic violence to diminish” explained Hugo. “It's a problem Mayotte can't get rid of”. He finished his explanation by saying, “Anyway, it's Mayotte” with a slight laugh. This local expression is a way to accept the situation as it is, powerless.  


In this context, Hugo also explained his role and his commitment as a teacher in Mayotte. “In Mayotte, teachers are respected by the students. “We have a real mission to bring up our pupils, to give them the best, and to protect them from the violence that plagues the island by educating them.” For him, professors must teach their students and be someone they can trust to help them. He gives a concrete example of the daily conditions that students must cope with, showing the importance of school for the young population. “The island isn't big, but the school bus service starts very early. The roads are saturated and it takes a long time to cover a short distance. Some students get up very early to get to class on time! They are motivated by the school and very brave.” I agree that the role of education is to bring hope and light to the island’s youth. This is the true value of education and the first mission of a teacher. 


“I had a glimpse of what hell looks like” 


Mayotte has not seen a cyclone of this intensity since 90 years ago. It was, on every scale, a historic and terrific storm. Winds blew up to 250 km/h and tore up everything in their paths. Hugo told me how he prepared for the storm and protected himself with close friends during these “hours of terror” on December 14th. 


There was a real lack of preparation on the island. People don’t know what to do in the event of a storm,” said Hugo. The risk became serious two days before, and that’s when he gave orders to his students to protect themselves and find a place where they would be safe, as they never faced something like this. The authorities issued orders of protection (TV, press, social media…) during the storm, and following these orders, the population was protected in schools and public buildings. Hugo regrets that protection was nonexistent in the shanty towns. 


On his side, Hugo started to prepare what he would need to live in difficult conditions. With some friends, they took refuge in a small room in his apartment where they stayed during the hours when Chido hit Mayotte. “I accepted the idea that I was going to die. We could feel the walls moving, the bay window crashed, and the roof began to buckle. All my life I will remember the winds howling outside.” After more than two hours in this room, they went out to see the extent of the damage. “It was like an apocalypse landscape. All forms of life disappeared where a slum once stood.” Everything was destroyed and people had nowhere to live. 


Hugo and his friends had food and water in their accommodation for only several days and nothing was available in stores. They organized food pooling and sharing with their close neighbors. “Our worst fear was that a gang would come to steal our food and water. We organized the protection of our goods by keeping them guarded 24 hours a day.” 


Indeed, fights for food and water happened in the very hours after the storm. “Even policemen told us that we would have to fight for our own sake.” This vulnerability has somewhat eased the solidarity and benevolence of the majority of locals. 


Unfailing commitment 


After a time of helplessness and distress, solidarity among the Mahorais population has naturally emerged, condemned to fend for themselves without the help of the French government. In the days after the storm, the population denounced the lack of assistance from France, completely absent from the island. However, mutual support is present in the slums where rebuilding has already started, in bringing care to those in need and sharing the few resources they had. “Mahorais are very resilient and keen to help even if they have very little to give,” said Hugo. With some people, he collected essential supplies and went into an isolated district to bring them to the population. “It’s only by solidarity that the island will save itself. Even little things have an impact.” 


Hugo is currently on the island of La Réunion but told me that he is ready to go back to Mayotte “to help rebuild the island and help the Mahorais”. He doesn’t know yet when and for how long, but he is sure of wanting to help the locals. 


His other main preoccupation is the students. In the days after Chido, he only saw 4 out of his 210 pupils. “I fear the day when we’ll go back to school and see how many are not here.” Despite this fear, “it is key to return to the island to protect the children.” Although the high school where he taught is now severely destroyed, this is not a reason that will stop him: “If I have to teach in a tent or elsewhere, I'll do it.” 


However, Mayotte is now extremely fragile and could be confronted with new challenges such as epidemics (cholera affected the island last year). The living conditions are very poor, the access to clean water is extremely limited, and the health system is completely outdated bringing a risk for diseases to spread. 


Also, Mayotte is continuously threatened by tropical storms, as seen with storm Dikeledi, which touched Mayotte on Sunday, January 12th. Cyclones emerge in the Indian Ocean during the November to April season, and due to climate change, tropical storms will become even more dangerous and violent.


Lastly, Mayotte gets little attention from the French media, claims Hugo. “People see Mayotte as a very far and poor territory, affected by immigration. As a result, there is no willingness to commit to the reconstruction of the island. It is important to make people aware of it.


This is how our interview ended. After discussing it with Hugo, I was very moved by his testimony, and I admire the courage and commitment he was showing. Even if I learned a lot about the situation in Mayotte, I came up with the conclusion that we, living on the continent, could never fully understand what happens on the island. This devastated territory survives with a solidarity that shapes the society, which is something that we did not know back in Metropole. However, this should make us even more sensible and drive our engagement to the island by talking and making it known. It is only by doing this that the relationship between the island and the French living on the European continent might change. 


I would like to thank Hugo Girard for his time and investment in the writing of this article.

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