Set of photographs #12

Commentary from Participant

I am Mauritian French.

1. 2. This is my children’s primary school. Here there are only 2 subjects that they need to take exams for, in Mauritius there are five, including environmental studies and a second language (e.g. Urdu or Hindi). In Mauritius, depending on your religion, you can do an oriental language, for example, a Muslim can pick either Urdu or Arabic. I have been in Northern Ireland for 13 years. Both educational systems are good in their way. Here many children whose first language isn't English struggle with the English Transfer Test exams. At home, Mauritian Creole is our mother tongue – French vocabulary but the grammar is more like English. My own Masters’ dissertation was on language.

3, 4. This is Queen’s University, where I did my Master’s. As a mum of three children, it would have been very difficult back home. It is more traditional. It is quite hard for a married woman to study due to family responsibilities (not impossible though).

5, 6 Map of Botanic Gardens. It was great to go into the Gardens [local Authority run Park] when I was studying and wanted some fresh air.

6, 7. The gardens are very beautiful.

8. This is the library where I studied. I was able to study late, maybe 3am, but this would not have been possible in my own country.

9, 10 These are UDA [Loyalist] murals. Mauritius is very multiethnic, very diverse, so the idea of just two communities seems very strange, Catholic and Protestant. My dad studied in England 30 or 40 years ago, and he remembered the days of the Trouble in Northern Ireland and he told me about it. When I first moved to Northern Ireland, my family always call Northern Ireland as Ireland but now with the world becoming a global village specially with the internet now they understand the notion of NI being part of the UK. I was living on the Donegall Road and I experienced racism, since that I am only a short distance away and it is very good.

11, 12 I wanted to emphasise the driving culture here with these pictures. My husband thought people here are very disciplined, they respect the codes, they are not noisy.

13,14 In Mauritius all the food is halal, not Muslim necessarily. Even fast food is halal. When we first came, there was only one halal shop; now around the larger Belfast area there are maybe 10.

15, 16 This is a children’s park. In Mauritius we have some parks, but here the public parks are everywhere. I like the whole concept of parks, letting the kids get fresh air. Back home, we have families so we can leave the kids with them for a while. But here, the parks are a good place to go with kids and they are free.

17, 18 This is the first street I lived in. The experience was not nice there but that was just the first year of me living here but now we love it here as people are friendly and warm in Northern Ireland. One of the first things I noticed when I first came to Northern Ireland is that the houses all looked the same and I wondered why. When I visited other places then I realised that the house structures were different.

19, 20 I did many courses in the women centre and it broadened my knowledge and in a way it influenced me to pursue my studies.

21/22. This was the beginning of my educational journey. For example, I did a course on Living History [History of Northern Ireland]. Then I did an access course and studied the history of Ireland. Then my degree and Master’s.

23, 24 Northern Ireland is really beautiful. This is Lady Dixon Park. Northern Ireland really is ‘forty shades of green’ [a song written and performed by Johnny Cash, 1959, inspired by a trip to Ireland. The phrase refers to the many shades of green he saw in the landscape].

25, 26 These are roundabouts for children. I have happy memories of bringing the children here on their way home from school.

27, 28 These are the famous Harland and Woolf shipyard cranes. Mauritius was discovered by the Dutch, then the French came and then the British. [The Dutch took possession in 1598, establishing a succession of short-lived settlements over a period of about 120 years, before abandoning their efforts in 1710. France took control in 1715, renaming it Isle de France. In 1810, the island was seized by Great Britain, and four years later France ceded Mauritius and its dependencies to Britain. Mauritius - Wikipedia] The cranes remind me of the hard labour the people had to do, many of them migrants – Indian, Africans, working on Plantations.

29, 30. This is the Titanic building [built in memory of the ship, Titanic, which was built in Belfast and sank in 1912]. The building is really beautiful and I had the opportunity to visit the museum inside and experience the feeling when the ship was being built. It's remarkable! Whenever my family come to visit, along the Giant's Causeway, this is one of the places on my list that I make them visit. The Titanic ship is recognised worldwide and it feels nice to show them where the ship was actually built.

31, 32 This is me walking in the garden, It symbolizes knowing what independence is, versus always being surrounded by family.

33, 34, 35, 36,. 37, 38 Again these pictures shows the beauty of Northern Ireland, the natural side of it. The outdoor cinema organised by Belfast Mela was a first time for me and my family. Also, the Belfast Mela which is organised every year on the last Sunday of August is really beautiful as there's a display of cultures. It's really good as it promotes cultures and during my 13 years in Belfast, I can see how Belfast is growing in diversity.