Mauritius: Marie Anne Lagane

“I am part of a journey where I am still becoming someone.”

I describe myself as a champion of women in politics. I am the director of Will FLY which was founded in 2008 and which is currently based at Black River. It provides children from suburbs with a safe and calm milieu to do their homework after school. Through Will FLY, I have been doing politics “autrement”, that is differently, by directly working with people and searching for the root problem. I have been endeavoring to eradicate poverty.

Before coming into this field, I have been working in the real estate sector and I have also been active in the Marketing and Communication sector. But as much as I am surrounded by friends and leads an easy life, I feel uncomfortable to be too much in my comfort zone. The words of my late father, Edward, who was responsible for the water management in Tamarin, came back to me once. He always told me to go to the essential and the true and that “luxury is certainly not essential”. It did not take me long to leave the comfort and rent a small house to live within the ‘vulnerable’.

I have been actively engaged in politics. In 2007, I integrated the Federation Creole in Mauritius in order to fight for equal rights. I have also worked at a radio station. I have worked with Gender Links and attended a summit at Zimbabwe where I met other women from all over Africa. I have offered training in self-leadership to women in different regions of Mauritius.

My own country motivates me. I was born in a peaceful village where I experienced the “joie de vivre”. I was free. I want to re-create this safe space of freedom and leave behind a heritage so that other children can break away from chains of poverty and experience this “joie de vivre”.

I see myself as the architect of humanity. As the director of Will FLY, I have been working and organising activities to ensure that children living in the regions of Black River are offered a safe milieu where they can receive the love and attention that they may lack outside.

It is my faith in God which makes me thrive and overcome barriers. I am part of a journey where I am still growing. I dream of becoming the Prime Minister of Mauritius. If not me, I dream that a woman of stature becomes the Prime Minister of Mauritius.