########################################################################## # Goanetters-2004 meet in Goa. Dec 21, Tuesday. 12 noon to 2 pm. # # Clube Vasco, Near Municipal Garden, Panjim. Pass the word around! # ##########################################################################
Hi Rene, Goan Doctors and the cyberGoans who read this post: Perhaps, I should write this letter to you in private. But I think the issues / thoughts I would like to share relate to the general Goan community. And by the same token I would like to learn with some educated feedback from the entire Goan society. So Goan readers can forward this post to any suitable person(s). Here are a few lines and some thoughts. I read your post with interest. I am not one who will walk away from subject that I know - even if it is just a little. But your post below is all over the place with more questions and no answers - "Beyond you (I) can also do/ help". In practical and real terms there is little one can do, except within one's environment. Hence I have often suggested that Diaspora Goans should take-care of their own Diasporas, which are not as successful as we would like to think. And native Goans should take care of 'Amchem bangarachem Goem'. The best that Goan groups can do for each other is share experiences both successful and unproductive. The reason for this limitation is that one is likely unfamiliar with other people's situation and due to distance have very little control on proceedings. Hence Goan doctors abroad can do very little for healthcare in Goa other than share their specialized experiences when expressly requested to do so. In such cases, the requests have to precede the help or else the advice, given with all good intentions, will be termed a 'sermaum'. In any given community, physicians can and should provide a leadership role. This is because many of them have 'been there and done that' effectively and in some cases very successfully. Furthermore Goan physicians by nature of their work can be 'door-openers' for other Goans in their community by offering their advice, experiences and contacts within the larger community in which the Diaspora lives. This is what Goan doctors did in the past along with providing valuable healthcare to the community. However, for physicians to provide that direction, the community has to give them the opportunity to provide the leadership (as in the past) and also follow the sound guidance. Or else as usual we are 'all chiefs with no Indians' and are leading and assisting no one - as we likely do now! Goan physicians trying to form their own association /mailing list are exposing themselves to be accused of being 'elitist' as Goans take pleasure in making unkind and resentful remarks. If you feel Goan doctors can provide much to their community, perhaps at the next WGD celebrations, you can gently suggest to the organizers of these community-events that they should make efforts to show-case 'intellectual achievers' of their community. If others think this makes sense, one can suggest the same to the Goan social organizations they belongs to. By the same token when these request come, the physicians should step to the plate freely donating their time, efforts and advice. Similarly, the community especially the retired members can step to the plate to volunteer their time and effort to contribute to the achievements of the community. Goans have to learn to VOLUNTEER. In some situations, like in the case of promoting Goan-English literature works in the Diasporas, I provided you and some leading Goans on cyberspace a convenient / inexpensive way of promoting Goans with artistic talents. Those suggestions went no-where ... de-nada. The result of that effort was Zippo! Similarly Goan sociologists who eloquently participated in the thread of Goan society (Caste) declined my proposal to undertake a current sociological study of their own Goan Diaspora - even though I offered some financial support for the efforts. In case any reader is interested in these endeavors please feel free to contact me. Hope these few lines will be a catalyst to awaken our community and perhaps be 'a whitepaper' for conversation. Thanks to all who have spared their time to read this post. To those with constructive responses and suggestions, (public and private) I express my gratitude to you in advance. I take advantage of this post to wish all Goans a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous 2005. Regards, Gilbert Lawrence. Rene Barretto: I very much appreciate your email in response to a post made on the Goan Doctors Forum , you were right ...in saying in one of your post, that WE Goans have too much of *Sermaos* on the GoaNet. I believe we are all guilty of this, what we need to do ...is ask ourselves ...WHAT CAN I DO? ......rather than telling people what they should do. Perhaps you should do something with those whom you have on board. If you think that GOA needs yours and my support, why should it be JUST ME that should give that support? Why should it not be US? Don't you think that it should be a Community effort? I will play my part, I expect others to play their part too ......not just make posts on this forum, criticize and bash other Goans! Do you agree with me? Again, many of us Goans have accused our communities of doing nothing better than Socializing ......Singing ,Dancing and Drinking ....the same people who discourage such activities organize such functions themselves .....again its *Sermaos* as you said we are good at! Its time we STOP bashing our very OWN Goans and supporting other Communities. In conclusion no more *sermaos* ask ourselves ...WHAT CAN I DO? Share with us what YOU can do, not you wish others to do. Let us all be polite in your posts and keep at it. (the original post was made on the - Goan Doctors - worldwide e-group ) GL responds: Beyond professional associations and social activities what else did you have in mind to "We sure need to do something about this!"? Perhaps you should do something with those whom you have on board. Looking at the positive results, others may likely follow. Without some accomplishments, you are likely to loose the one's you have; never to get them back. Just my thoughts. Regards. Rene Barreto: What a shame !............ We need do something POSITIVE about it ! We cannot give up. > (name withheld at the request of the author) Hi Rene, No, I have not got any responses from any Goa doctors in the U.S....... I think many Goans don't make the time to involve themselves in professional associations or social activities....which is sad!......Even Dr. Amit Dias who had tried to create a database of Goan docs around the world did not get a positive response!...We sure need to do something about this!!!
