Am appending below my Review of Braz's latest book .
Mervyn Maciel ============================================================ *SOUL SEARCHING IN THE SEYCHELLES .* *A Review of Braz Menezes's latest book* Not one to sit back and relax after having produced four highly readable books, I just wonder where my friend, Braz, gets the energy to keep going! Soul Searching in the Seychelles, in which the author recounts his experiences in this Paradise on Earth - transported me back to my own days when I too stopped over at this idyllic island on my trips from Goa/Bombay to Mombasa in East Africa. Those were our halcyon days! The author has a knack of taking the reader with him sharing every detail of the journey as he and his wife explore the possibility of taking the children somewhere more peaceful and safer from Kenya. In the mid-seventies that country was mired in deep and seemingly unstoppable corruption. The opportunity to take over the architectural practice of ex Kenya Graham McCullough, who had designed and built the luxurious Mahe Beach Hotel was tempting. The initial trip was made April 1976, two months before Seychelles became an Independent Nation in June of that year. However, within a year, a coup d’etat toppled the first President, who was replaced by the Prime Minister. The new leader changed direction and pursued a Socialist ideology (supported by the Eastern Bloc, much to the frustration and disappointment of the Western Bloc countries. Sanctions were imposed. International flights stopped. Tourism and trade must have suffered. It appears the people were happy. The government had programs to help the under-privileged. However, with the benefit of hindsight and from his own experience, Braz has tried to evaluate the country’s performance in 2022, against more generally accepted criteria on social justice, universal literacy, corruption perception indicators (CPI) and so forth. After all, as he points out, Seychelles was a very lopsided society at Independence. Less than five percent of the population were white and wealthy (plantation owners) with great political clout. The remainder about ninety five percent of the population were of Creole background, most descendants of liberated slaves, and others who came from other islands seeking employment. They had no money, no legal rights, were lacking literacy, and opportunity. The government focused on what is called a ‘progressive’ agenda. Free social services, especially literacy, health, workers’ rights. This approach appears to have paid big dividends. But Soul Searching in the Seychelles is more than just a simple family adventure. The Seychellois, especially those that chose to emigrate, shared a common platform for about sixty years with Goan emigres heading to East Africa in search of jobs. The Seychellois, smaller in numbers, found easy accommodation under the Goan tent. They are a fun-loving community, share a common Roman Catholic faith, some intermarried with Goans. By the time of Independence in the East African countries in the earlysixties, both Goans and Seychellois were forced to move again to seek peace and safety elsewhere. As Braz reminds us, there was the Mau Mau revolt in Kenya, The 1964 Revolution in Zanzibar(which my family and I witnessed), and finally the mass deportations of Asians in Uganda. Their journeys, like mine, made us seek greener pastures and many of us found sanctuary in the U.K., Canad, Australia,anywhere where our families could find peace, become citizens and serve their new countries with hard work and loyalty. There are no regrets. I served my time in Kenya’s civil service and have no regrets. As I write these words, I hear on the news that we now have two Goan Ministers working with Prime Minister Sunak. Makes me proud. And so it is with the two families explored in depth in ‘Soul Searching’. The book includes many family photographs, many of the people I knew and met too and this lends a warm feeling to the narrative. Once again, Braz has provided us with a wonderful account in a book that is informative, factual, and can be read by a wide audience. I just can't wait for his next book. Mervyn Maciel
