20th January 2006.

Hi The Courrier Creole,

I am new in Sydney and trying to connect with Mauritians here. I am a 'malabar' and was shocked at some articles/forums/etc... in your web site. I think some articles do have some points but we should not go to the extremes by criticising other ethnics and cast Creoles as the dominated ones.

I am definitely NOT pro-Labour and I believe in merit and hard work to achieve things. Also, anyone should aspire to aim high in Mauritius and many indo-Mauritians did acknowledge the contributions of people like Berenger, Duval, Margeot, Walter, etc... However, there are equally valuable contributions from other ethnic groups which should be recognised by Creoles. Otherwise, Mauritius would still been classed as a 3rd world country.

I also believe Rodrigues should not be seen as a Creole ghetto. I had the chance to stay in Rodrigues for a few days and believe me - the standard of living there is better than Mauritius in some respects.

I hope I am not inviting racial hatred discussion here but just wanted to make the point that I'd have expected better recognition of issues by Mauritians residing here.

Regards

Dhruv

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Just ran across your web site - very interesting to me as a frequent visitor of Rodrigues.  Have several professional-quality photos of my own and if you want them for the web site let me know and i'll e-mail some to you.
Best regards,
Frank Smith Honorary Consul of Mauritius
Phoenix, Arizona

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Hi George,
congratulation for the your radio of creole dream  i'm confident now that we will be able to listen the true creole programs and i know your radio will be very helpful and enjoyable and also will be a guide for all creole people in Australia and internationaly long life and good luck. Georges Christian Calou.

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Subject: Congratulations
Hi  A marvelous link between Australia and Mauritius. Keep it going!!!! BRgds to all your Mauritian readers Y.Bellepeau Managing Director Belship Co Ltd ( Certified ISO 9001:2000) Port Louis Mauritius

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Cela fait un certain moment déjà  que j'ai commencé a lire le courrier créole. Le tuyau m'est parvenu de certains contacts encore militants à Sydney. Bravo pour le travail de regroupement et la dissémination de l'information. Nous voulons cataliser les efforts et faire un peu la même chose à Toronto. J'ai beaucoup apprecié  l'article de Diana Guillemin sur ses études créoles. Je vous mets en pièce jointe un article je j'ai écrit qui résume celui de l'océan indien.
Amicalement
Paul Comarmond
Toronto

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Alo george,
Mo annonce toi ene bonne nouvel. mo fin capave visit to lil natal rodrigue. Mo fin fair 45 zour dan Moris ek Rodrig.

To bizin fier to ene Rodrigue  to lil bien Korec. Li si zoli qui auken post card pas pour capave decrire li. Li meme  perle de locean indien.
Lor lil aux des cocos mon fin capave vive avec la natir. Zozo par milliers. Zot meme manze dans to mo la maim.  Mo fin capave voir ene paille-en-queue envoler ene metre de moi.
Mo fin faire lexperience ton dance traditionel et fin danse li. Ban  ti manze rodrigue ti ene tresor cache. Ourites sec, p'tit piments limons  mari.
Mo esperer qui ton gouvernement pas fair meme betise qeu lil Maurice et qui zot pas met lotel dans tou coin lil.  Moris in fini to pas capave trouve la plaze. Morisien  bizoin joue couc cachiette avec guard pou capave jouir zot la plaze. Mo bien chagrin pour mo banne compatriote Moricien qui pena l'argent,
Ecrire Serge Clair dire li garde pays comment li ete. Banne p'tit lauberge avec table d'hote pour benefit Rogriguais. Banne grand lotel pou envoie tous l'argent dehors et pou exploit le peuple.
Ton Kamarad
Sylvio Jolicoeur
Sydney Australia
Alias Vovo de 4 coco

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Hi De Lamare,

Thanks for  your reply. I am actually in France. I moved from Mauritius some 32 years ago but keep my roots over  there  where I intend to end my  days.
It is true that I have always been open minded. In fact, I am  half  hindu (my dad) and half  Christian (my mam but she also originated from  Pondichery). I was lucky and unlucky when I was a kid.  Lucky because I was able to have both  cultures.  I was myself baptized and went to a roman catholic church. Unlucky for  all the parental sarcasms of life (my dad's mother called me ‘the creole', at school I did not play football with the hindu side but was also rejected by the catholics…Fortunately I left  Mauritius for France when I was 16.
OK leave all this. I got your site  address through a ‘guest book' of the Mauritian site (servihoo.com) and was  much impressed by the  wideness of  your views from Australia to the US via the Indian Ocean, West Indies etc.
Be sure that I will keep talking of  the site to all friends from Mauritius living  here  in  France and in the UK… By the way, I attended 2 weddings this summer in the UK and at both theree was a show with  a group called the ‘tropical angels' dancing the sega. The girls were  born in the UK but  loved our music and dance. They  managed to have all the guests (hiindus, creoles, muslims,  English etc) dancing OUR SEGA SLAVE CREOLE DANCE. I was quite impressed and above all proud.
All the best
Warm regards and a happy new year  to you and  your family.
James

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Thanks so much for your openmindedness. I supose that what we are trying to do is only exploring together the richness and diversity of the Creole culture which is still unknown. if not undervalued. We are in anyway saying that embracing or recognising other cultures/languages are wrong, but only finding a place for this culture and language alongside others in its own right.
Your support can be in many ways: by writing an article, participating in forum/discussion or by advertising our site to others. 
Basicly do what you can to defend this culture/language.
Amities 
de Lamare

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Very interesting lecture.
I am hindu origin from Mauritius but  feel more  creole than Indian. Our national language is creole and not hindi. So…
How can  I contribute?
Bye

James Shibduth
Email:james.shibduth@multicoms.net

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Cher George,

I had a chance to view your entire Courrier just now and I wanted to thank you for the great job you have done. The articles are very interesting and the fact that you have connected Creoles from everywhere is just great. Please keep your this much needed contribution to our Creole culture and its preservation.
Nou culture Creole va fluri dans to lamains. Mo capable lire a peu de to lange Creole dans to magazin. Ca bon. Mo souhait que un jour mo va compren to lange Creole et aussi ecrit sa avec to. C'est possible, si mo gain le temps por essai ca.
Mo escri ca lettre ici a 3:am joudi parsque c'est impossible por domir. Mais c'est pas souvent que mo pas capable dormir, mo pense c'est parceque mo pas capable "ajust to" le vent ici-quelque fois, c'est froid, et quelque fois c'est chaud le prochain jour.
C'est lavie dans La Nouvelle Orleans! En Michigan nou connais en hiver li est toujour bein froid. Encore George, mo donne toi "congratulations" en to magazin!-Mo est fier de Ca!  - plus de grand bo a toi-

Dr Sybil Kein

New Orleans 

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Hi Georgy,

Mo finn byen kontan kan mo finn get website 'Le courrier creole'. Li mama korek e sa fer boukou plezir get bann foto, lir bann lartik e sirtou trouve koma zot met an valer saki zot ena.

Mo fyer.

Salam

Gina

From Mauritius

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To: l_arom@bigpond.com

Subject: Creoles rule!
Hey George, Jenny Cadpor here, I have finally had a look at your website, great job.  I have attached some photos for your site, if you are interested, they contain Creoles of course.  A few are of our friends & family who have passed away.

Jenny

P.S What a great photo of Mr Waterhouse, I didn't even know he sang. 

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Hello georgy

any chance you can a box in your web site to facilitate forwarding your site to an email address. For example I want to refer your site to my overseas relative I need to copy the whole web address. Will be easier if you have a ' Tell a friend box'

Keep on the good work

Sylvio Jolicoeur

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Hi Georgie,

keep on the good work as your site is becoming the place to go to find about activities of our club (Prestons Racing). We hope for your continued covering of our events as we want to bring all Mauritians ( including those from Rodrigues) together in Sydney. The formation of a new  big club incorporating former relatively small clubs will no doubt be to the benefit of our community. Your site will serve to tell the world and all Mauritians living in Sydney about our endeavours.

Thank you once again.

Corinne Le Merle.

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Thanks George for letting some of us know about the site.  I did not know that there was a site for the Creole society.  I visited the site, congratulations on the good job. Keep it going.

Regards

Marina Picton
Branch Support Officer
NSW Treasury

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I check your website regularly, and your articles are very well written, with much devotion, compassion and spirit. 

Julie Eshelman-Lee

Director

CREOLE WEST PRODUCTIONS

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I found a site online explaining Creoles in Australia. I'm sure you're aware of it. I will include the site's message in the next newsletter. 

Thank you so much for bringing us together. 

Your cousin if not by blood, certainly in spirit,

Kathleen Balthazar Heitzmann, CEO
Cane River Trading Co., Inc.,
a nonprofit educational organization for the
preservation of the Cane River Creole Culture.

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Bonjour,
Je suis la webmaster du site Kapes Kreyol, j'ai reçu votre message par GENS DE LA CARAIBE.
J'ai visité votre intéressant site et j'ai adjoins le lien sur notre page "Liannaj" Notre site est très riche d'informations sur tout le monde créolophone,
vous pouvez noter que le logo de l'accueil a aussi le nom de votre île
"Rodrig",
Heureuse de vous avoir connue, amitiés créoles

Francesca

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Sir:

My name is Gilbert E. Martin. I was born in the very heart of the French Creole community in 1923. I am the initiator of the Creole Movement in the United States. I started my quest for Creole recognition in 1973. In 1979, I founded the International French Creole Cultural Society. Also, I have written several books pertaining to French Creole history and culture. My book Creole Chronology: 2300 Years of Cultural Continuity is a reference book which highlights the important quotations and happenings of our development from ancient Ghana 300 BC up through the nineteenth century.
During my research, in the mid 1980s, I came across a copy of the Louisiana Purchase Treaty. Afterwards, I studied the treaty and laws pertaining to treaties. And in the past three years I have been testing my treaty rights against certain California laws.
Terrel Delphin, one of my proteges, informed me of your interest in helping us to get worldwide attention to our plight. If so, please let me know, because globalization of the Creole movement has been on my mind ever since I founded the IFCCS in 1973. Now, I am ready to work with the prominent lawyers in OZ who would like to hear about my finding concerning the treaty. We, here in the US already have treaty rights. And I am striving to get the Americans to recognize those rights, and to pay reparations for the damages caused by their failure to comply. Once that happens we can be of great help toward the globalization of Creoles.
Furthermore, I have written a booklet entitled, Trailblazing Toward Creole Nationhood and Creole Treaty Rights, Since 1973. If you are interested, I will send you a copy of this book and a copy of Creole Chronology: 2300 Years of Cultural Continuity. Please let me hear from you soon.

Gilbert E. Martin

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Merci de cette information intéressante : vu le titre du site s'agit-il de Rodriguais à l'origine ?  Je connaissais l'évocation de divers "créoles" en Australie, mais je pensais qu'il s'agissait de créoles anglais. Il y aurait donc aussi des créoles français ? Originaires exclusivement de Rodrigue ou d'autres îles de l'Océan Indien.
Merci de toutes les informations que vous pourrez me donner, mais je vais aussi aller voir le site que vous me signalez.
Cordialement

Marie-Christine Hazaël-Massieux
Professeur à l'Université de Provence
Laboratoire Parole et Langage

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George,

You have made many friends in the USA and will keep many of them. Things are still going well.- Terrel

Eh ou la

le dernier souvenir que j'ai de toi ,fut un sejour accompagne d'une journaliste- Elisabeth Lerminier.Je pens qu'elle se souvient parfaitement de ce sejour enchanteur a Rod.

Pour ton info, je dois publier en Septembre 2005 un livre sur le monde creole,groupant les 4 iles de l'Ocean Indien et 6 des Antilles et Guyane. Gros travail, pas tjrs facile. Jevais te faire te faire rigoler,j'ai des images solides sur 9, sauf de la Reunion ou je n'ai presque rien, Il va falloir que j'y aille, pour etre juste envers les Bourbonnais et de moi-meme.Ce sera un livre en 4 langues au depart.

Je fais tout pour presenter une vraie doc sur cette nouvelle race qu'est le creole, sans que ce soit percu comme des destinations touristiques etc etc.Mais j'y parviens par le serieux de mes interlocuteurs tels Maunick , le clezio,Gauvin, les Antillais Barnabe, Cesaire .etc etc.

On en reparlera.

See U soon

Pierre Argo

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George,

I accessed your website.  Your article on Creoles of America was splendid. You are a terrific writer.  I applaud you.  I have told most of my Creole friends about your website and they will be viewing it. No one has ever covered us so thoroughly and so correctly.    

 Kindest regards    Marion Ferreira

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Bonjour Georgy,

ca fait plaisir de recevoir de ts nouvelles a travers des activites culturelles.

Si tu me donnes plus de details , je pourrai en parler a la radio d'ici.

Bonne journee et a bientot,

Françoise Baptiste

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Hi everyone,

I would like to thank Georgie Delamarre Lamvohee for providing us with a web page on his site free of charge no strings attached. believe this is a major break-through for us and we should again be very thankful for this sponsorship.We will discuss this further at our next committee. 

Please pass this web site to all friends and members of the club (DeDe can I rely on you for this). It is worth it. There are also a lot of exciting articles that I am pretty sure will be trigger some interesting discussions

Jp 

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