Sarah Melikian challenges all misconceptions one may or may not have about Americans. This young woman from New York chose one day to pack her bags to go and meet the world. Because “there is so much to learn out there.” And she chooses to learn with a smile…

Remember the group of four that listen to people because they care? Meet another member… the only girl in the group… She walked in excited. She had biscuits in her bag. “Have you tried those manioc biscuits?” she asked me. “Let’s have coffee!”

I was puzzled. What was she talking about? I looked at the packaging and couldn’t recognise the make. Then it dawned on me! Galettes manioc! I was so grateful to Sarah for making me eat them again; I hadn’t had them in ages. As I ate all of Sarah’s biscuits, she started telling me about the factory in the South and how those biscuits were made. I was thankful for the history lesson, albeit slightly ashamed that an American had to teach me things about my own country…

That’s the way it is with these people. A thirst for knowledge, the humbleness to ask questions, the ability to listen. Another breath of fresh air on a hot day…

What I wanted to know was why a young woman of 23 would leave everything and go to the other side of the world to work on a project as exciting as it may be. “I did not leave everything,” smiles Sarah. Oh no, she carried it all with her. She admits that the primary reason is a quest for knowledge. And when she came here last year, she simply got inspired “by the people I met mostly.”

Sarah is so reluctant to talk about herself that I thought I’d be silly. “OK, how often do you go to Mc Donald’s?” “Never!” was the outraged response. (It is a rare emotion displayed by her) Why? “Because I read Fast Food Nation!” says the Taurean lady. (That’s a book on the fast food industry that talks about the impact of unhealthy eating and how everybody in that industry is exploited. Would make good reading for all of us by the way.) So what does she eat here? “Dhollpuris, rotis, fake chicken, fake meat, gato patate when it’s not greasy…” Ok, she likes street food; it’s just the exploitation bit that she doesn’t like.

That’s Sarah. She rarely gets angry except when her flatmates “forget” to wash the dishes (they suddenly pretend they can’t hear while they were all eagerly listening a few moments ago) but she gets upset when things are not right. She visited a forest in the South the other day, for instance, and she cannot understand why the “flora and fauna of Mauritius have to be sacrificed to please a few tourists. What about what’s good for Mauritius and her people?” she asks indignantly.

Sarah and friends will be leaving us in January. On top of the “extraordinary experience that their project has been” and which brings stars to her eyes when she talks about it, Sarah will also take Mauritius in her heart. Because they have bonded…