Photo: Jacques D’Unienville CEO of Omnicane Ltd and Alyssia Reddy, the initiator of this club
Omnicane is supporting The Sugarcane Boy* book club to promote reading among young people. The company is now the official partner of this book club, an initiative that started last year.
The idea is to create a forum open to young people, under the responsibility of a book club leader (normally on a voluntary basis) and to reignite the passion for reading. Let’s face it, reading is not the first activity that comes to mind for many young Mauritians. Aimed at promoting reading among children across Mauritius, the book club project has been delayed by health conditions. However, the team behind The Sugarcane Boy has not given up and has been able to set up five reading clubs so far in the south of the island, and hopes to set up three more in the east as soon as the lockdown is lifted.
In line with the company’s commitment to its neighbouring communities, Omnicane will target children in the underprivileged areas of the south of Mauritius. Simultaneously, Omnicane is all about sugarcane, as this plant is at the heart of the company’s circular and renewable business, ranging from the production of refined sugar to other co-products such as bagasse-based renewable electricity, bioethanol and biofertilisers.
*The Sugarcane Boy is the work of Alyssia Reddy, the eldest daughter of Samuel T. Reddy, a former member of the British armed forces. Since the age of 7, she has had a passion for reading. She is the first generation Mauritian-British in her family, but has always enjoyed the stories of her homeland from an early age.
By Loveena Harooa
