Port Louis — The project "Mauritius, sustainable island" will only come to fruition if younger generations commit right now to work towards it in their daily lives. Some are taking up the challenge... elders could give a real helping hand. Students of Sir Leckraz Teelock SSS have built a wind turbine capable of generating electricity to light 100 electric bulbs.

It is Monday afternoon. As usual, "la Gare du Nord", in Port-Louis is crowded with students. After having spent hours in class, it's time for fun, jokes and debates about girls, guys and, of course, teachers.

Meanwhile, papers, plastic bags are thrown here and there on the station. Dustbins remain empty. One question arises: why do youngsters just don't care about the environment? Why don't they feel close to ecological issues?

A University of Mauritius lecturer answers with another question. "Why should they feel concerned if their own environment doesn't show how things should be done?" Seems like the chicken & egg issue.

But there's hope. More & more projects tend to make students green conscious. And sometimes, they even take initiatives on their own. "We felt like we don't care enough about those issues. That's one of the reasons we are working on an Internet portal aimed to bring together students from all colleges. We would like to help to create a new generation of young people who would care more about civic topics, like environment protection and other issues related to a better society", explains Tariq Ramtoola, a Form IV student of Ebene State Secondary School (boys).

The boys from Sir Leckraz Teelock SSS worked on another project. They built a wind turbine capable of producing 1 kWh of electricity. Enough to switch on 100 electric bulbs.

Avinash Pydegadu, team leader, Stéphane Catherine, Yogesh Shibchurn, Deoraj Cowlessur et Vissen Murden, aim to contribute to the Mauritius Sustainable Island project in a way that would foster concrete actions. With the help of Vishal Beeharry, coordinator, and Pravind Ujodha, who is in charge of the Design & Technology department of their college, they are eager to see their project become reality on a large scale.

It took us one year to conceive this miniaturized prototype, which we presented at Innoved 2007. It took us 12 more months to build this 5-metre high and 3-metre large one. Of course, some adjustments need to be made to make it more effective and resistant", Avinash Pydegadu told l'express recently.

Pilot projects in ten schools

The prototype needed an investment of Rs 30 000, but to market it we need at least Rs 100 000 to Rs 150 000, but it is still viable as an imported one costs from Rs 2 to Rs 3 millions.

The authorities have also launched several projects. The most interesting one is the green school project. "The school has to take concrete actions to promote the Mauritius Sustainable Island project. It goes from creating a green corner to recycle and separate rubbish", says a coordinator at the ministry of Environment.

Launched on 5th June this year, ten schools (five at primary level and five at secondary level) strive to create a good attitude towards environment protection. "Every year, new schools will be included. In the long run, all schools should participate in this initiative", explains the coordinator. "We need to catch them young. It's much easier to make them aware at that age, to make them think differently", says a state college rector.

The school compost project, also launched by the ministry of Environment, is yet another example of what authorities can do to help create this awareness about ecological issues. Until now, 100 schools have been targeted.

But is this really enough to convince youngsters about the importance of protecting our environment? Only time will tell.

Students of Ebene State Secondary School are planning an Internet portal that would bring together their peers.

By: Patrick Hilbert for allafrica.com