After ten days without water or electricity, stranded in Mayotte following the passage of Cyclone Chido, the first teachers were able to benefit from repatriation to Reunion Island. Saint-Pierraise Célia Vigneau is one of them.
Célia Vigneau, teacher of technology in vocational high school, was at his home on Saturday December 14 when the cyclone hit Mayotte. “ The walls started to shake, we quickly ran to take refuge under the stairs and there the bay windows exploded, the entire wooden facade of the house fell apart, it was hell “, says the still traumatized Saint-Pierraise. After hours of nightmare, the teacher thought of going to find refuge with neighbors whose house walls were made of concrete but everything was devastated, the roof was blown away by the gusts.
•
©Célia Vigneau
For ten days, the young teacher stayed with friends with six other people. Without water or electricity, the situation was becoming more and more stressful. ” It was really a struggle but we did very well compared to the local population”, puts it into perspective in the face of the situation of rural and slum dwellers. ” The cyclone razed everything “, she said, moved to tears.
Of the 8,700 teachers in the archipelago, hundreds including Célia had informed the rectorate of their desire to be repatriated: “What was hard was that we didn't know if we were going to be able to get out of Mayotte. We had no news of a repatriation by the rectorate ” explains the young woman. Célia was finally able to be evacuated to Reunion Island with other colleagues, just before Christmas. A relief even if the trauma remains deep.
Also read: After the cyclone in Mayotte, nearly 900 packages collected in solidarity in Saint-Pierre and Miquelon
The high school in which Célia taught now serves as an accommodation center. The solid buildings withstood the passage of the cyclone, but the damage remains significant. The rector of Mayotte has already announced that the start of the school year, initially scheduled for January 13, would not take place as planned. Célia has been closely following the situation since Reunion where she found refuge and despite the traumatic events, Saint-Pierraise does not wish to give up her post in Mayotte: “In theory it is not a definitive departure, I am hopeful of being able to come back, to see my students again.”
On Tuesday, the prefecture of Mayotte delivered a new assessment of the number of victims, still provisional: 39 dead and 4,260 injured. But many residents are still missing. Among them, students from the high school where Célia Vigneau works are missing. ” Many of my colleagues have tried to start registering students. In some colleges, they normally have 1,000, 1,500 students and they have managed to find only 500 for the moment “, says the teacher with a lump in her throat. “We are afraid” she concludes.
Safe on Reunion Island, Célia Vigneau tries to heal her trauma and greets ” incredible altruism ” of his colleagues who chose to stay in Mayotte to help.
