Author: Wyatt Fournier | Major: Economics and Political Science | Semester: Summer 2024
Overlook of Port Louis on the peak of Le Pouce
Le Morne is the name of a small mountain rising off a south-west Mauritian peninsula. Reaching over 550m in altitude, you get a clear view for miles of the Black River Gorges, the south of the island, small adjacent islands, and even the famous “Underwater Waterfall.” In the 18th century, runaway slaves would flee to the summit because its isolated, inaccessible cliffs became respite from colonizers. Now, the summit adorns a metal cross with the names and lockets of previous hikers etched into it. Mauritius island is only 40 miles long. Driving across it, you’d be met by many enshrined basaltic monoliths just like Le Morne, and in many ways I think they represent the personal connection of Mauritian citizens with their own home.
A large amount of rice consumption is linked with a higher chance of developing type-2 diabetes. A new variety of engineered rice has a low glycemic index (low-GI) value, meaning Low-GI rice lowers the chances of developing diabetes. The trick is figuring out how to encourage a group of people where rice is a part of their culture to adjust their eating habits even when it’s healthier. So, for two months of this past summer that’s exactly what we researched.
The research required traveling to nearly every section of the island. More hours than I can count were spent on public buses passing through farms and small towns. The great part about having to survey anyone and everyone everywhere, is that it teaches you a lot about a new place very quickly. Most surveys – attempted or completed – often resulted in conversation. Sometimes you might hear someone’s entire daily routine. Other times they would barely acknowledge you past a head nod. The way they posed themselves – the quick look up-and-down as you ask for their time – often makes you consider your demeaner: how to dress, how hard to press, how to greet them. Different parts of the island that felt more secluded often shared that sentiment with their inhabitants. But, from the start, there was always a rare few that wanted nothing more than to share the history of Mauritian culture.
Those rare few might have been kind, cold, big or small, or from widely differing backgrounds, but they all shared the same feelings. When they preached about the previous generations working farms and fields, it was easy to understand the reluctance to adjust one’s diet when it was personally tied to their heritage, history.
Life in Mauritius was different from the United States in many ways: shops opened later and closed sooner, beachside sunsets were daily routine, traffic was insane and hectic, people arrived on their own time, and the food was one of a kind. Of all the differences, the one I wish we had here the most was their sense of kinship and curiosity from their history. Imagine how different and kinder life might be in the U.S., Arkansas, or even the NWA area if we shared that same sense of comradery and especially curiosity for the differences around us. I learned that in a country where you seemingly feel like you share nothing with the people around you, you very easily find a way to relate small and large parts of your life with theirs.
I was first enticed by this program for the mix of experiences and complexity that came with them; being able to truly live in a new country and do meaningful research layered by consumer behavior and public health made it extremely exciting. Now that it’s over, I wish we shared the same natural companionship and relatedness they had. I hope to one day see a given kindness and curiosity to each other’s differences simply because they are our neighbors, and not because they are like us. In the end, I find that we are all much more alike than we are different. While most of us likely don’t encounter exchange students every day, that doesn’t mean we can’t find ways to share that same curiosity with normal everyday people. 1800ft high, Le Morne still relates runaways, colonizers, locals, and even Americans to a shared experience hundreds of years apart, a testament to history, curiosity, and community.