UoM Students’

Agricultural Society 2014-2015

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Editorial Message

The Agricultural Society (AS), an entity that

was formerly known as the “Biological Society”,

created in 1978, and renamed to its present

name somewhere around 2006, released its first

ever newsletter, “The Agriculturist”, in 2013

under the “Agricultural Society 2012-2013”. It

was a highly commendable initiative from a

dynamic team that revived the dormant club

that the AS had become. The initiative was

unfortunately discontinued the following year,

but it is now to my utmost pleasure that I am

bringing the Agricultural Society newsletter

back to you. With that said, this is it for my

editorial...

Just kidding.

Our goals this year, as the representatives of the AS were, centered on activities and

events related to social work and agriculture, spiced up with A LOT of fun. This year we

decided, for the first part of our mandate, to focus on the social work and the fun part. It

has already been a great ride for the past 9 months. It was a ride which would have been

impossible without the continuous efforts of the Faculty of Agriculture students and

staff. Without everyone, it would have been impossible for my team and I to deliver this

newsletter and show you the accomplishments that we are so proud of.

What we hope to achieve next relate mostly to the core of our existence; that is,

agriculture, and for that part, we need you, whoever you are. It will be impossible for us

to be satisfied with whatever we will be doing without your support and your

participation. Whatever we do, we do it for the Agricultural Society, for the Faculty of

Agriculture and for the University of Mauritius. So look forward to our future activities

and make sure you do not miss any of them. For our part, we will be looking forward to

your continuous support and participation.

But for now, sweet ladies and handsome gentlemen, I invite you to discover the

“Agricultural Society 2014-2015 Newsletter.”

Clifford JOLICOEUR

Chief Editor

Agricultural Society 2014-2015

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President’s Message

Brotherhood, self-fulfillment and fun have never

been so real these last 8 months! It was

demonstrated that, united, the amazing family of the

FOA can reach out to new heights! One of the times

when the members of the Agricultural Society

spared not efforts, was during the preparations of

our very first activity: the Christmas Lunch. Students

and staff were united as one to make of this event, a

memorable one for the little angels of the “Icery”

shelter. I have no doubts that it will happen again

during the great upcoming activities the Agricultural

Society has in store! Another amazing thing that

happened, and which was one of our major objectives, was “going national” via

published articles in the local newspapers! AS members can legitimately be proud

members!

Being part of the Agricultural Society also means that you are given the opportunity to

be part of an organising team, build a network, develop soft skills and also to lead

projects! The AS board endeavours to support its members. A special note to the

freshers: Ladies and gentlemen, make most of your time at the university and emerge

out of this amazing faculty as accomplished young adults!

My warmest and most sincere word of appreciation goes out to all of you who

participated in our activities: the students, the Communication Officers, the 2014 and

2015 Faculty Representatives (respectively Bhanoo and Nigel), the staff of the FOA for

their relentless support, the 2014 Dean Prof. Fakim for her encouragements and my

supportive and brave 2014-2015 Board Members! The release of this Newsletter was

made possible thanks to the self-driven and motivated team led by our Chief Editor,

Clifford Jolicoeur. Congratulations for the amazing job accomplished!!

A ship is safe in a harbour, but it’s not what it’s meant for! So jump on board, share your

ideas [as your opinion will always be valued!] and together let’s sail for new adventures!

I wish you all Fair Winds and Following Seas!

Cheerio!

Murielle LAI CHIN KON

President

Agricultural Society 2014-2015

Tel: +230-59-31-21-46

Email: sweets14@hotmail.com

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OUR

ACTIVITIES

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Diabetes Parents Support Group Fundraising

Busy streets, scorching sun, exhaustion, inability to walk away from it all and relax

thanks to a strong sense of duty compelling you to not give up… does that ring a bell?

No? Well then, let me add one more hint: hectically (borderline desperately) trying to

draw random passersby towards you… and their coins towards a moneybox. I think it

should be clear enough by now. But the first line was probably familiar enough to the

Agricultural Society members.

It was our ‘baptism activity’, held in mid-December of 2014, a fundraising by the

Diabetes Parents Support Group (DPSG), with which we partnered for one of the three

collection dates. The experience was jading, but worthwhile, as we had the golden

opportunity to not only collect money, but also collect our guts, approach strangers, and

ask for something… all for a good cause. That, somehow, teaches you some things about

other people, but more importantly, about yourself, and helps you build a certain

amount of confidence when it comes to approaching strangers (that will definitely come

in handy when picking up girls or guys). That is called: “hitting several birds with the

same stone.” But let us not get into that any further. Let us simply say that it was a great

day. A great first activity for the Agricultural Society and a day filled with encounters

with all kinds of people, and a certain oddball who happens to be a national and political

celebrity.

And that first activity paved the way for the following ones…

- Clifford Jolicoeur

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Christmas Lunch @ Icery Shelter

One of our primary objectives, and a lingering desire for many of our members,

was to paint a genuine smile on the face of the destitute, elderly or orphans.

Why? Because these people, who are also integral members of our society,

cannot make the most their lives as we do. We knew that, and wanted to do

something, anything, that can make even one day of their lives worth recalling

upon… and we did it! We succeeded. No time other than the one we chose would

have been better. No other occasion would have escalated our undertaking into

the success it was. No occasion, other than during that magical event… Christmas!

Location: Icery Shelter, Forest Side, Curepipe

Date: 23rd December 2014

Time: 11hr - 16hr

Warmly welcomed we were. Immediately delighted we were as well when we got

to meet our hosts, the director Mrs. Sheela Baguant and her staff members, and

the people for whom we came in the first place, our purpose for that day, the

children. Children of all ages, from a sweet 2 months old little angel to lively 17

year-olds. Children with unlucky, painful, even nightmarish pasts, but still strong

enough to move on and dream on. Dream of being educated, of feeling safe, of

enjoying every day life, of being with a loving family and who knows how many

other dreams are roaming their heads. These dreams are far from being

unattainable, for they do have a loving family at the shelter with people who are

there to hurl them towards their individual goals.

The activities varied, beginning with lovely performances by the children;

dances, a sketch, and a poem that described Christmas as being ”filled with love”;

words that just happened to describe that particular Tuesday perfectly. Lunch

(Chicken biryani) ensued, in an humorous atmosphere, during which we

awkwardly donned the role of waiters and waitresses… followed by the main

event… Santa Claus’ entrance! A tropical, merry Santa who apparently went on a

strict weight loss diet recently, strolled in, along with a team of staff members

from Jumbo, Phoenix (not on a sleigh pulled by flying deers). Still, the surprised,

excited, joyful reactions his presence brought about, not only in the children, but

in everyone, including us, “children in their twenty’s”, was priceless. And as the

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gifts were being handed out to the little ones, you could almost touch the

happiness! That moment, was the icing on the cake.

We wrapped the day up with an open dance-floor session. A dance-floor, set

ablaze by the Agricultural Society’s musicians, singers and the dancers, who were

none other than… everyone; the Icery Shelter staff, the AS members, and the

lively, rowdy children who did not hold back one bit at this point. Any remnant of

reserve or shyness was gone.

However, as they say, all good things come to an end, and we had to leave.

Stepping away was heart-wrenching, especially for our little hosts. On our side,

some of our members had to do it while hearing these words: “you are really

nice”, “the lunch was good”, “thank you for all you have done”, “please do not

leave”. It was hard, and the rain that started pouring down as we were just about

to step out of the building seemed to want us to stay as well. It was hard, but we

did not just leave like that. We left with a promise. A promise that we would

come back to them and add some new entries to their album of ‘memories worth

recalling’… definitely!

“In every child, there is God.”

Shiva Pillai

&

Clifford Jolicoeur

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A Very Merry Christmas!

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Balloony Valentine’s

Someone said Love? Friends and balloons? What could be more fun than spending

the eve of Valentine’s Day with your soul mates! But wait, by soul mates we meant

those people who share our day-to-day jokes, lunch, notes and not to forget those

who lend us a listening ear when we’re having one of “our moments” (girls will

understand). So, on Friday 13th of February, we danced to the rhythm of Love with

the Agricultural Society. The society organised a one-hour event which had for aim

of celebrating Valentine’s Day at the Faculty of Agriculture. Lovers, friends and

singles all gathered on our famous green space to spread out some love.

What was actually AS’s intent behind this great idea? Well, for those who might be

curious, we wanted to bring together all students of the faculty to share their

feelings and escape from the mundaneness of our daily timetable, for a few minutes.

What we had to do was take a balloon, but hey, we carefully chose the colour: either

a red, pink or white one; write a short message on it, and whoop! Let it fly to its

highest reach. The message could be anything, from the simple wish of being able to

see your crush, to writing your friends’ names, get back your lost love, or simply

express one’s heartfelt gratitude to the Universe. Some even let their imagination

speak, and wrote some sort of “secret message” to the one who’d get the balloon.

Yeah, we do have fans of Nicholas Sparks’ famous ‘Message in a Bottle’.

It started at noon, small groups could be found scattered around the faculty, each of

the students with their marker, laughing, sharing and writing their wishes. Aha!

Some balloons burst up, but it just added to the ever-lasting laughter of the students.

Did I just forget to mention the use of our phones? After all, what’s in an event if

there are no selfies, right?

1 p.m. sharp, there we were, in the middle of the green space, balloons in hands,

trying to set up properly. Our amateur photographers went upstairs, to get the

perfect view of our not-so-well-formed heart at first, but after few instructions here

and there, we were finally done: a heart near-perfectly shaped, with the red colour

that enhanced even more the beauty of that togetherness. The first click was

reserved to the balloons proudly held up in the air by students and members of the

society.

And then the long awaited moment was there; at three all the balloons were

released and that special moment was captured. It lasted a few seconds, but the

feelings which emanated from that simple action could be felt during a few more

minutes… This was yet another souvenir added to our “Memories Album” thanks to

the Agricultural Society. Cheers to this amazing duo of love and friendship! Cheers to

AS!

- Karina Natasha Olivier

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♪♫♪I Want To Know What Love Is! ♪♫♪

♫♪♫ I Want You To Show Me! ♪♫♪

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Music To The Lightning’s Beat

♪Several weeks of hard work at the university, during the class test and pre-

exam period, worsened by a hellish summer, is close enough to walking bare foot

in a desert for days… waterless. Not that any of us have ever had a go at a desert,

but we can dare to imagine how it would be. That said, we needed some time off,

and we took it using one of our best side attributes - our musical talents - to set

up a few ‘Jam sessions’. ♫

♫For the first two sessions, we had an unexpected, noisy guest. It was the same

that, if you recall from the Icery article, held us back at the shelter for a while… A

deluge came pouring down, sweeping away the desert feel, washing away the

fatigue, and less desirably, forced us out of our initial intended location. ♪

♫ Unwaveringly enough, we still went at full throttle, fuelled by our passion for

music, delivering the very first ‘Jam Sessions’ organised by the Agricultural

Society on the University campus. For the first session, we even rocked the house

in a forced partnership with the deluge’s flashy, party-crashing ‘bestie’, Mr.

Lightning, who, devoid of any sense of rhythm, stubbornly played a single bass

note, at random intervals throughout the entire session. It was still terrific

though! ♫

♪The lightning’s beat aside, there were other, better instruments; ‘ravanne’,

‘triangle’, guitars and vocal chords. All were there to liven up the afternoon and

entertain those who needed some good typical Mauritian sega to suck out the

fatigue, get pumped up or get soothed... Because that is what music is for right?

Right? RIGHT? ♫

- Clifford Jolicoeur

♪ ♫

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♪ Good Vibes Galore! ♫

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Agricultural Society’s Selfie Competition

December 2014

Theme: Christmas

1st : Nitin 2nd : Sidhi & Chesika (ex-aequo)

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February & March 2015

Theme: Festivities

1st : Acsha 2nd : Krystle 3rd : Rashinah

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Activities in which AS 2014-2015 Partnered

Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign Talk and showcasing organized by the Sustainable Agricultural Organisation and

held at the Faculty of Agriculture.

How To Answer Exam Questions And Revision Session

Organised by the Sustainable Agricultural Organisation, over two days at the

Faculty of Agriculture (FoA), for the FoA students.

Go For Green Event organized by the Tourism, Leisure and Recreational Management, level 2

students from the Faculty of Law and Management of the University of Mauritius.

Composting and the University of Mauritius Farm’s nursery plants were at the

forefront at the AS exhibition stand.

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THE AS TEAM!!!

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UoM Students’ Agricultural Society 2014 - 2015 Board Members

President: Murielle LAI CHIN KON

Vice-President: Kovanagen GOINDAH

Public Relations Officer: Yuviraj Yogananda Auroomooga PUTTEN & Selvina

SUBBARAYAN

Secretary: Vijaya Luxmee POONOOSAMY

Vice-Secretary: Abhishek CHINIAH

Treasurer: Vipine AUBEELUCK

Chief Event Officer: Avilesh JAUDOO

Assistant Event Officer: Pooja RAMKALAWON

Sports Officer: Jean Stevenson Bruno RAVINA

Music Officer: Marie Muriel Stephanie JUGOO

Assistant Music Officer: Irayven Sannassy PILLAY

Chief Editor: Clifford JOLICOEUR

Assistant Editor: Shiva PILLAI

Newsletter Editing Team

- Clifford JOLICOEUR

- Shiva PILLAI

- Karina Natasha OLIVIER

Other Contributors:

- Agricultural Society 2014 – 2015 Communication officers

- NAS

- Sustainable Agricultural Organisation

- Faculty of Agriculture Representative: Nigel

- All Faculty of Agriculture students and staff

- Faculty of Law and Management’s Tourism, Leisure and Recreational

Management, level 2 students (2014 – 2015 cohort)

- Frederic Lamarque

UoM Students’ Agricultural Society 2014 - 2015