Nestled in its tropical garden, usually, it is visitors who find discretion and tranquility in the beautiful preserved nature of the Big Blue of Nosy Be, this small island of Madagascar.

As part of the prevention against the spread of COVID-19, schools, colleges and high schools in Madagascar have been closed since March 23, 2020. The small school in the village has nearly 600 students, with part-time classes for the little ones: in the morning for a first half, in the afternoon for the others. Faced with this situation, the Big Blue is organizing itself by creating its own school within the premises of the establishment for the children of the staff during this confined period.

Thus Céline, the Nantes manager of the hotel(and having in the past a significant professional career in training and pedagogy), became "School teacher" and provides classes from 8 am to 12 pm every day, except Sunday for a small class whose children are between 3 and 17 years old.

To the program :

• Mathematics, the 4 operations, mental arithmetic help, practical exercises, understanding negative numbers, zero, + and – Infinity, problem solving...
• The units of measurement
• Oral and written expression in French and Malagasy (on this last point, of course, it is with the intervention of 2 employees!), Vocabulary enrichment, text construction, grammar, reading...
• Time reading,discovery and use of the Dictionary
• Geography and the history of Madagascar
• Geography: continents, hemispheres, equator, tropics, countries and capitals...
• The solar system
• General culture: the Christian era, finding one's way in time, leap years, Roman and Arabic numerals, approaches to the knowledge of Greek and Latin civilizations... through, for example, the etymology of the days of the week, the months..., Copernicus, Fables of the Fountain, the 5 senses, the Olympic Games, the primary and secondary colors...
• Making a herbarium
• Access to the Hotel Library and Library
• Drawing and handicrafts(with Odile for the knitting technique!)
• Methodology
• Barrier gestures against COVID-19
• Etc...

... With, of course, the support of a parent to help sometimes with the translation into Malagasy language for certain points!

Céline explains: "This was dictated so that these children do not remain idle, without school follow-up for an indefinite time with all the disasters that this entails!… ».

In the afternoon Jacques was promoted "Swimming Supervisor", remembering having been a summer camp monitor in St Brévin l'Océan, and offers swimming lessons to children for an hour.

The second half of the afternoon is devoted to the screening of an animated film: Kirikou and the witch, the Lion King, Madagascar a hidden world ...

We very regularly have thoughts for the many people confined around the world in the face of precautionary measures and who feel a sense of deprivation and isolation. The whole of the Big Blue and the village of Andilana express their support and solidarity to all those who face this exceptional situation.

In this period of "economic wave", employees with their children occupy the bungalows of the hotel having chosen a confinement for these dark times that are coming in the world …

Ainsi, le Grand Bleu est passé en mode éducatif au bord de sa piscine à débordement avec pour seul horizon : la mer.

L’hôtel le Grand Bleu s’est « auto-confiné volontairement » depuis le 25 Mars 2020 et a reconstitué un petit village en pleine nature pour ses salariés logés avec conjoints et enfants (après accord de chacun bien entendu) ; cet état permettantainsi à ces salariés de continuer à travailler, d’entretenir le site et ainsi poursuivre son embellissement, tout en adoptant une attitude discrète dans le respect des consignes des autorités locales en optant pour une autodiscipline pour éviter les contacts interpersonnels.

The beautiful, realistic, confident and persevering team cultivates its cautious optimism by working for better days soon: this is one of the bases of the collective construction of a positive attitude every day. It is precisely in adversity that we reveal ourselves.

Jacques explains: "we have set up our rules of life within our small village, it is our Malevil as romanticized by Robert Merle, it is a real robinsonnade that we live in 2020, without it being post-apocalyptic ... We anticipated to fight the epidemic in our village while maintaining a sense of security... »

And to add: "After these moments lived together, our vision will be different at the end of this period in our irreducible and non-fictitious village; This is our shared reality, the one we will soon offer to all our customers when the barriers open."

"We should live with more attention to life. It is not that long. » wrote Robert Merle in 1972.

Life in the Big Blue is almost autarky on this territory apart, shared by kingfishers, fishing eagles called ankoay, Malagasy coucal free birds, the craids currently red-tailed during the mating period in March April, the kings of birds who mean Ny Railovy for saving Madagascar ...

While 3346 French and Europeans were repatriated from Madagascar 3 days ago and tomorrow certainly some last recalled, life here is sweet and quiet in the current circumstances: aquatic strolls are also conducive to daydreaming with these birds mostly endemic to Madagascar.

We have no feeling of total confinement, because everyone has their own mission by bringing their own stone to the building according to their know-how or according to their wish, their desire to learn. The only person authorized for any external exits is the driver whose vehicle does not cross the closed barrier and now screened 24 hours a day and totally secure.

This is certainly not the time for rampant "fake news", unfounded accusations, false rumors... All these evils that poison creation, envy, projects... It is the action that takes precedence.

On the economic front, all spending has been drastically revised with only 3 objectives: Keeping wages to the maximum of possibilities, feeding oneself and maintaining good health for all.

We must all preserve ourselves in the face of this growing scourge currently growing on our small earth with its different worlds, fashions, cultures.

We wish everyone, one day... to be able to discover this little paradise at the Big Blue of Nosy Be in its beautiful preserved vegetation on the edge of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean.

Contact: Jacques & Céline
Le Grand Bleu ★★ and its Restaurant Le Turquoise
ANDILANA – BP 407 – NOSY BE – MADAGASCAR
Phone from abroad: (00261) 32 02 194 84 – From Madagascar: 032 02 194 84
Email : contact@legrandbleunosybe.com – Web site : www.legrandbleunosybe.com