Are Goans a special breed? Having been born and brought up in Nairobi, Kenya I was made to feel we were special. We had our own segregated Clubs, Goans ran the Administration services in Government, Railways and Harbours, P.W.D. and so forth. Goans were the best tailors by a mile - all the top class tailors in Nairobi were Goans. Along with the Sikhs ( who also considered themselves to be special) Goans were also wonderful carpenters - most hailed from Benaulim. We had a Goan school and were predominant in the Catholic Parochial and St. Teresa's schools (Boys and Girls). We excelled in sports and Seraphino Antao is a testament to our being a special breed, He was a gold medallist in the Commonwealth games. At one time the Kenya hockey team boasted 8 or 9 Goans and only 4 Sikhs.
I guess the Gujarat's also considered themselves special, their only interest in life was to make money - this is probably why they had a rough time in Uganda, warranted or not. The Sikhs on the other hand were good at working on machines, the Muslim Pakistanis ran assorted businesses including many butcher shops. So quite simply everyone thought they were a special breed in Kenya, this was so even amongst the local natives - the Kikuyu tribe considered themselves to be the inheritors of the land. Cheers, Gibe Menezes. ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
