Farewell to my friend and freedom fighter Noel ‘Golden’ Laporte
By Lewis Betsy
It was with a heavy heart I said my goodbyes to a close friend and freedom fighter, Noel Laporte, who has died aged 78.
I watched the funeral Mass in the UK as it was streamed on YouTube from the Seychelles.
I was pleased that there was a large crowd of mourners at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Victoria to attend the service.
Noel was a popular and well-respected figure and it was a fitting send-off.
He was married to Jessie and they had three children and also grandchildren.
I had known Noel since I was a young boy staying with my sister Nadege and my brother-in-law Robert.
It was when the self-built scheme was introduced in Mont Buxton (Grenis).
He was a polite and jolly person who always enjoyed a laugh.
And that is why we went on to share the same nickname: Golden.
It started when I went to Mauritius with the Seychelles National Football team in the early 1970s.
On my return, I told him about a nightclub there called Golden where the football players had been to celebrate.
He thought it so amusing that he decided to call me Golden. I reckoned it only fair to call him Golden in return.
So it was that we became the Golden boys – and the nickname stuck to us both for years.
We had another thing in common – though it was a bitter experience.
On the 15th November 1979, we were in the group of some 80 citizens who were detained on President Rene’s orders and spent three months in jail.
We were innocent of any wrongdoing, but that was how it was then.
We both ended up in the UK and then he returned to Seychelles, where he started his own business in the building trade.
However, we stayed in touch; the last time I saw him was a few years ago in Seychelles when I was able to visit him.
He was a lovely man and I shall never forget him or the golden times we had together.
