Call to reach out on Bastille Day
Today is Bastille Day, the National Day of France. However, this year, due to Covid-19 and lockdown, from Paris to Pretoria the usual celebration of the day will be vastly different.
France’s ambassador, Aurélien Lechevallier, acknowledges that South Africa faces a tough situation in the coming weeks as we head towards the peak of the coronavirus outbreak, so he and his team have come up with a very different way to mark the important event.
Given the current circumstances, instead of throwing a party, the embassy is hosting an online event at 5pm tomorrow, which includes speeches, a discussion on the impact of the pandemic on the arts sector and a musical performance, all to be broadcast live on social media and on French music-TV station, Trace (DStv channel 325) to engage with French people and friends of France far beyond the city.
The second aspect of the programme, Lechevallier said, was to reach out and raise funds for the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and support the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital in the week of Mandela Day, which has also been impacted by coronavius and local lockdown.
To do this, he is asking individuals and French companies that usually support the Bastille Day celebrations to make donations in support of the Children’s Fund, and help deliver personal protective equipment for the children at the hospital, their families and health staff.
Read the full story on: IOL.