Saying Goodbye

I gave a bilingual talk in English and Creole at our farewell party at the Embassy last Friday.  Here's what I said:  

Mwa ek mo madam Shelly fini fer deuzans ici moris.  Tou les zours mari bon.  Mo envi dir zot ki nou byen kontan isi moris, ek nou pa envi kit sa zoli pays la.  Avant alle, mo envi dir enn zafer.

Shelly and I have really enjoyed our two years in Mauritius---every day.  We don’t want to leave this beautiful country.  Before I go, I want to say something. 

Zot morisiens vive dan paradis. Vraiment isi sey en paradis.  Manze ? ena. Boire ? ena. La sante ? ena. Edikasyon ? ena.  Sel zafer . . . de fwa . . . sey pou ban dimoun pas envi pran responsabilite.  Souvent, mo tende « pas mwa sa, li sa »  surtout dans domaine piblik

You Mauricians live in paradise, really this is a paradise island.  Mostly you have enough to eat and drink, health care, education.  Sometimes the only problem I see is that politicians and the public sometimes don’t take responsibility---they say “it’s not my fault---it’s his fault”

Isi dan lambasad lamerik, nou pran responsabilite.  Nou guet enn problem, enswit nou al fer kit soz pou resoud li.  Par ezamp nou fin guet ban zanfans orphelin—nou fin fer proze social dans SOS Village Bambous en aout dernier.  Nou fin trouve inondasyon kote nou batiment---nou fin alle ramasse saltey ek lambassadere.  Nou fin guet ban zenfans ek ban fam gagne batté, nou envi aid zot. 

What I like about our team at the U.S. Embassy is that we don’t do that.  We see a problem and go out and work to solve it.  We saw orphaned children and we did a service project at SOS Bambous last August; we saw flooding caused by clogged drains last April and we spent an afternoon cleaning around downtown, we see children and women being hurt and we write books and put on programs to make that stop. 

Enn kitsoz byen importan pou  ameriken say promouvoir drwa de lom pou fer lepep morisyen avansay.  Surtout, nou envie ki ban zeness morisyen gagne sik-sey dans zot lavie.  Nou byen interessey pu ed amelyor lavi ban fam ek ban zenfan dans Moris.  Surtout, nou envi  ed ban fam ek ban zanfan cont abi ek violans.  

A very important role of the U.S. in Mauritius is to promote human rights . . . to do that, we want to see young people succeed, we want to help women and children be protected and safe, especially those who have suffered from neglect  or domestic abuse. 

Seki bon ek nou nouvo lekip manager ek oficiey isi a lambassade se lenerzi ek passion ki zot amen dans so travay. Deza, nou Ambassadeur ek so ekip envi trouve kouma fer ban proze importan. Kouma protez ban zenfans ek ban fam cont abi ek violans. Kouma protez lenvironman ek lamer autour nou. Nou pa kontan dir “pas mwa sa, li sa”… nouvo ekip dir “nou mem ensam---nou kapav fer sa”. Bizin protez sa paradis la.  

What I love about our new team of leaders and officers at the U.S. Embassy is the energy and passion that they bring to this work.  Already, our Ambassador and her team are finding ways to make a difference and to demonstrate American values of care, volunteerism, and service.  They want to continue this tradition of action, and of service.  After all, “service” is half of our name in the Foreign Service.  Working together, this will help keep Mauritius the paradise island that it is. 

Thank you.  We will miss you.

David and Shelly Campbell