It is interesting to note that not many of us are aware of our forgotten heroes that live without recognition today. Those forgotten heroes live in oblivion and far away from the limelight. Sadly enough to say that some of these forgotten heroes have passed away and buried in forsaken graves in remote cemeteries, others, in their loneliness are still alive, roaming the streets of the country unnoticed by the public
Reza Saumtally is one of the living forgotten heroes and the most unforgettable character I have ever met. Not only he has achieved fame nationally but many communities within our society love him because of his good and philanthropic actions and deeds towards many poor people in this country especially those living in the ghetto areas of Mauritius. His actions and donations to the needy often made headlines on the front pages on both local and foreign press. His financial resources come as a result of his business assets and activities. He is a fervent helper to those people living hand to mouth in the ghetto areas of the island of Mauritius. I have followed his path of his political career and social activities; he is ranked among the best social workers we have since time immemorial in this country. Saumtally both as a social worker and a good educator will go a long way in his cherished ambition. He is an asset to this country. No wonder why all communities like him.
Here are some of his good achievements and actions, just to mention a few, which he had done to the people in great need. He donated a very expensive fishing boat to the community of fishermen of Trou-D’eau-Douce. During the Covid-19 lockdown, he went door to door in many parts of the country such as Médine Camp de Masque, Sebastopol, Melrose, Clemencia, Belle-Rive, Olivia, Caroline to deliver bags of shopping commodities such as food, flour, rice and gas cylinders.
To our amazement, du jamais-vu, Saumtally took a City Clinic ambulance to a Hindu family at Bramstan, Flacq, last year just to help a sick baby in arms belonging to that family. The baby had a very grave and serious illness of a death risk circumstance. The sick baby accompanied by her tearful mother were transported urgently by the said ambulance to the City Clinic of Port-Louis whereby Reza Saumtally took charge of all the treatment expenses of the clinic and comforted that family. That family has nothing to pay as Saumtally foot the bill and all expenses to the City Clinic of Port-Louis.
Notwithstanding that he lost at the 2019 general elections as a new Labour candidate, but he perseveres in his social works. Saumtally never loses hope to win because as he said once that his objective is to make the poor, the needy, the deprived, those that live from hand to mouth, happy and comfortable.
Today there are not many people including politicians that care for humankind but thank goodness we are fortunate to have people like Reza Saumtally, Joanna Berenger, Armogum Parsuramen, Stephanie Anquetil, Jane Ragoo, Eshan Juman, Shakeel Mohamed, Sanjiv Mulloo and few others. These are men and women that days and nights devote their lives and time to those deprived of society who eat from hand to mouth on a daily basis. They are our forgotten heroes without decorations of the Republic of Mauritius.
Saumtally is someone who commands respect among not only Mauritians but foreigners. Even the the Labour Party leader, Navin Ramgoolam, acknowledged to me sometimes ago in a brief interview, at the end of an inauguration function at Phoenix that we need more people of the likes of Saumtally to combat poverty across the country. This is where I and other of my colleague journalists came to know that Saumtally is a born helper for the poor and deprived people of this country.
To conclude, we should be indebted to the good works Reza Saumtally has done in his short time since he becomes a political figure by using his experience as a fervent social worker and words which he keeps reminding us in those terms: “live and let others live”.
By Ahmad Macky
