Seychelles' President calls for  buying books from Logos Hope for National Library 

Logos Hope, which arrived in Port Victoria on August 10, has a selection of over 5,000 books of different genres for both adults and children. (Seychelles Nation)

Seychelles' President Wavel Ramkalawan has called on visitors to the largest floating book fair, Logos Hope, to buy books to enrich their knowledge as well as contribute some purchases to the National Library.

Ramkalawan made the request on Friday onboard the ship during a ceremony to officially opens the doors of Logos Hope to the public.

He explained that the former Mayor of Victoria, David Andre, had said that "they will be coming to select books that will be placed in the library. Why don't we also as citizens, make a contribution by buying two books each and contributing them to the National Library? The First Lady, who encourages reading, has already made arrangements to be able to buy books for children between the age of 4 to 15 so as to have this little section," said Ramkalawan.

He outlined that details are still being finalised but books that will go towards the library can be bought and kept on the ship, which will later be picked up.

From left: Ramkalawan, First Lady and Vice President cutting the ribbon in the ceremony to officially opens the doors of Logos Hope to the public on Friday. (Seychelles Nation) Photo License: CC-BY

Logos Hope, which arrived in Port Victoria on August 10, has a selection of over 5,000 books of different genres for both adults and children. The vessel is expected to be in port until August 16.

On the first three days, Logos Hope will be open from 1 pm to 7.30 pm. From August 12 to 16, the doors will open at 9.30 am and close at 7.30 pm.

The vessel's managing director, Edward David, outlined that Logos Hope has the vision to make a difference in the world, with a mission of advancing the well-being of people everywhere the over 300-member crew goes.

"This is achieved in several ways and by sharing knowledge. Acquiring knowledge plays a vital part in a person's development and lays the foundation for opportunities and success in life. Whenever we have been here, we have been amazed to see the hunger for good books and we hope to see many coming to acquire a wide selection of books," said David.

The acting Mayor of Victoria, Lydia Charlie, shared that when the Mayor's Office learned that Logos Hope was coming it welcomed the idea.

"I think that it will benefit a lot of people in Seychelles because there are a lot of books on different subjects. We thank Logos Hope for bringing the fair to Victoria and at the same time I would like to encourage everyone to come - parents bring your children so that they can choose their books. Reading is good and through it, we get to enrich our knowledge," said Charlie.

She added that "the shelves of the National Library, which is about to reopen its doors, are still empty, all organisations, individuals, and groups can make the most of the book fare being in port to make a contribution."

During the official opening ceremony, SNA also got the chance to speak to two Seychellois, Heira and Freddy Bijoux, who are former crew members of Logos Hope. 

Heira shared that with her husband and her son, her family had the chance to join as crew members in 2017.

"Of course, that was an unforgettable experience - for Seychelles to be recognised as part of the 68 different nationalities onboard and for us to also float our flag onboard and represent our country. During our time we were in the Caribbean and we got the chance to visit tropical countries similar to Seychelles, such as Haiti, Jamaica, Bahamas, and Aruba among others," she said.

"Being back on the boat feels like coming back home. We feel very emotional. We are happy to welcome the boat to our country," she added.