HELLO SOLUTION

Since 2016, Six Senses Laamu has been running a 6-month marine education program with Laamu Atoll’s schools. Now in its third year, the program, named Hello Hallu (‘hello solution’ in the local language, Dhivehi), seeks to provide local context to the threats facing the ocean’s key habitats. Each year, the MUI team visits all 13 schools in the atoll to provide a condensed program. In 2018, Blue Marine Foundation (BLUE) donated locally-relevant marine ID books to each of these schools to help students in identifying and appreciating the marine life they see during our practical sessions. In 2019 BLUE also donated Plenetari Makerzines to 200 students from 6 schools

The health of Laamu’s marine environment, its tuna fishery and local livelihoods depends upon the health of not just coral reefs, but also seagrass meadows and mangrove forests. In helping the youth of Laamu to appreciate the interconnectivity of these habitats, we conduct practical field trips to each habitat. There, students learn about the inhabitants of each system, the functions they serve and the threats they face. 

If the youth of Laamu are to be inspired to act to protect the oceans, they need to see things up close. Most young people in Laamu have lived their whole lives within a few hundred meters of the ocean, yet many have never been snorkelling. MUI works to teach each student in Laamu to snorkel. In 2018 alone, we taught nearly 400 students. In 2019, through a generous grant from BlueYou and support from Mares, The Manta Trust was able to purchase snorkeling equipment for each of the 13 schools in Laamu Atoll. We donated the equipment to the schools at the Laamafaru festival and we are now using it to expand snorkeling opportunities in the community and support our hello hallu education program! Visitors to Six Senses Laamu can Pack with a Purpose and donate snorkel equipment and other educational supplies to Laamu’s students.