On Reunion Island, get to know Christine Hairon, tour guide Découverte en Terres Signées

Découvertes en Terres Signées is an association under the law of 1901. À Saint-Philippe and Sainte-Rose, Christine Hairon offers outings, walks, discoveries and nature activities to help visitors discover the Parc national de La Réunion and all its riches. In French, English, Reunion Creole or French sign language.

I'm a tourist guide and I also offer my outings in sign language.

With Esprit Parc National, I offer a walk in the Mare Longue forest. There's also the Warren Hastings walk, a discovery of the grounding of an English ship. It's a naturo-urban walk. We mix the natural with the urban. It also allows us to talk about Lontan Creole huts and then explore a coastline that few people know about.

Depending on the audience, I'll approach it in a different way. If they're hearing people, if they're deaf or hard of hearing, if there are children or not, obviously the story will be there, but it won't necessarily be told in the same way, because telling isn't really what I want to do. I want to tell stories. These are storytelling walks, illustrated and signed.

My outings are in the Esprit national park, because I'm keen to talk not only about history itself, but also about everything that surrounds us. The history is there, but it's also in the environment. I'm really committed to preserving this environment and helping people discover it. The more people there are in a place, the more impact we're going to have, whether we like it or not. My walks are from 5 people up to a maximum of 8-10.

I like sign language in particular because I think it's important to be inclusive. It's only normal that deaf or hard-of-hearing people should be able to enjoy tours, guides and discoveries in the same way as hearing people.