Up Close … with young green champion, Jeremy Raguain |24 September 2019

Jeremy Raguain

‘Growing up on a farm has helped shape my life’

By Elsie Pointe

Whether it was the rituals of harvesting or going out to the market to sell the fruits and vegetables he helped to cultivate, Jeremy Raguain grew up feeling connected to the land and the environment. Living on a farm had thus, in some ways, shaped the life of the young man who now champions environment conservation and ocean protection.

At only 25, Jeremy’s journey has not been like most. Spearheading a national and international initiative to clean up Aldabra, taking up a tutoring post to pay his way through university, representing Seychelles in the United Nations (UN) Youth Climate Summit this Saturday and gearing up for another conference in Norway, Jeremy considers himself as an active citizen of the world.

Always looking to galvanise change, Jeremy is also actively engaged in the Global Shapers community which is a network of young people driving dialogue, action and change.

He is presently a project manager at the Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF) and found a time out of his schedule to sit down with Seychelles NATION for a peek into his life aside from his conservation projects.

‘Growing up on a farm was a totally normal experience’

Most people would be surprised to learn that Jeremy was born in and grew up in Seychelles, mostly on the west coast of Mahé.

“My dad was a farmer and my mum an artist. I grew up on a farm located at Grand Anse Mahé for the first 13 years of my life. I moved down south to Anse aux Poules Bleues, Baie Lazare, later on.”

“Growing up on a farm was a totally normal experience for me because of how great it was; we had fresh fruits and vegetables to eat. We were eating healthy and we were outside a lot – we had about 15 to 20 dogs and a lot of cats, ducks, cows, rabbits and other animals,” he recounted.

With a younger sibling who was as eager to explore and learn as he was, Jeremy quickly gained an understanding of how various elements in nature interact with each other and observed mankind’s impact on nature.

“Water was sourced from a river nearby and this would encourage us to go outside more and learn more.”

When asked whether this experience has somehow not carved the path to who he is and what he does today, he simply replied: “There are multiple reasons for why I’m doing what I’m doing but growing up on a farm is a part of it.”

“I have a bug to be outside and for working very hard. This is where the idea of the work ethics of ‘work hard but smart’ sprouted.”

‘My mum was the one who spot out my dyslexia’

Jeremy attended Grand Anse primary school up until Primary 5 (P5) after which he joined the International School of Seychelles (ISS) along with his younger brother.

The move was due partly to bullying and in other parts to the lack of academic support Jeremy needed for his learning difficulties.

“My mum was the one who spot my dyslexia, because she had some experiences with education. I had problems tying my shoes even by eleven, I still have trouble reading analog time pieces and I encountered difficulties with reading; I was forever mixing my p’s and q’s, my b’s and d’s and had to figure out where left and right is.”

Jeremy yet stressed that he only suffers from surface dyslexia since he can still communicate and take in information.

“My mum read with me until I was nine, which is when I read my own books. I also had eye issues, so I wasn’t reading and doing things as fast as I should. I was day-dreaming in class and some teachers did not recognise that but my mum picked it up from the beginning,” he explained.

Jeremy schooled at ISS from the P6 level all the way up to his IGCSEs and A Levels but he acknowledged that he was not a great student.

He claimed to have finished school with ‘ok’ grades and was applying for some universities in England but did not actually get in because “the finance to go study in England is crazy”.

He was forced to take a gap year which would prove life-altering since it provided him with the opportunity to foray in the world of international relations and work on one of Seychelles’ world heritage sites, Aldabra.

“I spent five months at the department of foreign affairs because I was interested in international relations, economics, and history; so I learnt a lot about Seychelles through that. And then I got the chance to go work for seven months on Aldabra as a field research assistant.”

A year later he found himself undertaking a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Geographical Science and International Relations, combining both experiences at the University of Cape Town (UCT).

“Being in a whole different country with a whole different way of living and focusing more on my studies, I excelled more especially in the things I like; people in nature, politics and history. South Africa is a great place to learn about African politics, about people and movements.”

Jeremy successfully completed his Bachelor’s in 2016 but opted to complete his Honours at UCT.

“I was given a scholarship from the government of Seychelles of three years but my lecturers, particularly Annette Seegers, told me to carry on and complete one additional year of the Honours programme. Professor Seegers is one of those people you do not say no to; she had been one of the drafters of the South African constitution, she was one of the members of the DRC of South Africa, a bright scholar.”

“I agreed to do that even though I did not have the cash at the time but took up tutoring so I was helping out second and third year students with courses I had just done myself,” Jeremy expressed, while adding that it was his toughest year.

Global Shapers and activism

Global Shapers is a World Economic Forum initiative and is a network of inspiring young people under the age of 30 working together to address local, regional and global challenges.

With more than 7,000 members, the Global Shapers Community spans 369 city-based hubs in 171 countries.

“I joined Global Shapers quite soon after I got back from South Africa in 2018 and it was a friend who had recommended it to me. It was amazing to be part of a group of people my age and being connected together.”

Jeremy has been with the Global Shapers Victoria Hub for over a year now and on July 1, 2019 he was elected vice-curator of the Global Shapers Victoria Hub while Nandita Nair is the curator.

“I’m encouraging other people who are between the ages of 20 and 30, who have great ideas or want to support good ideas to join us. This will ensure they make positive changes in their communities and realise that it is a good stepping stone to meet with people outside of Seychelles.”

“The community that we form part of includes 10,000 young people all around the world who are doing incredible things. You become part of a community that is looking out for each other but also looking out for the world and you are empowered to help others more.”

Its activities have included youth mentorship programmes, female empowerment workshops, football training camps, hikes and discussion on how youth can find better alternatives to social ills.

The accompanying photographs show Jeremy in his element.