Goans in Kenya: An Endangered Species The topic of Goan emigration has held immense fascination for me. Not long ago, in distant Toronto, I encountered a sizable conglomeration of Goan settlers and was told the majority hailed from Kenya--that is from what had become a home away from home for the expatriates for the duration of a century!
And so to this launching-pad I was drawn. To my good fortune, Placido P de Souza, former High Commissioner of India in Kenya, arranged for me to be a guest of Dr Fitzeval de Souza, who is a foremost advocate and business magnate of Nairobi. For my purpose, I could not have been better based. My gracious host was a storehouse of information not merely of Kenyan Goans but on a wide range of subjects pertaining to East Africa and elsewhere. Friendly and very popular, Fitz introduced me to men and women who mattered. Doubly locked gates of several homes--Goan and African--were therefore thrown open. Dr de Souza himself had actively participated in the struggle for Goa's freedom, later for African liberation as well; for ten years he had been an MLA, even Deputy Speaker of the House. By a stroke of luck my fellow guests at 48 Muthaigu Road--his lovely rambling retreat in a once top 'white' reserve--was none other than Ema Gama Pinto, widow of Pio Gama Pinto, Kenya's famous Goan fighter for Africa's independence. Imprisoned by the British government for several years, by an irony of fate in the post-liberation phase, he was deliberately assassinated for his outspokenness. There were other widows of eminent Goans. The European Sheila Murumbi was one. Her late husband Joe Zuzarte, another Goan fighter for African freedom, had later adopted his Masai mother's name Murumbi. He is remembered not only as Vice President of Kenya but also for arousing awareness for Africa's ancient cultural heritage. Yet another widow of a Goan freedom fighter was the gentle Monica Nazareth, whose late husband J M Nazareth, a legal luminary, was a vociferous supporter of the struggle. I met Cyrila Rodrigues, the epitome of elegance. Her late husband Jawaharlal Rodrigues, elder brother of our former Army Chief Gen Sunith Rodrigues, used to be a leading journalist of great repute. Goans had trickled into East Africa in the time of the Portuguese; but at the turn of the last century there was a great influx. As sailors, cooks, tailors, railway employees and clerks, Goans came during the construction of the Uganda Railway and stayed on as civil servants under the British administration. The glamour of white collar status deterred many from more mundane and lucrative careers as petty grocers and retailers and led to the establishment of Goan Institutes--more exclusive then British clubs. Caste reared its ugly head; other guilds and societies mushroomed in a climate of "to each his own". All facilitated fellowship, recreation and sport. To provide for themselves religious solace, Goans literally built their own churches wherever they were. They also set up their own schools. After four years in the "bush" the young Goan civil servant would return home, marry a wife in Goa and bring her with him to stoically maintain his peculiar affinity to the Portuguese and his loyalty to the British. He could thus ensure he would eat food he was accustomed to at home and pay homage to the saint of his village whose feast day he could join in celebrating in the "dark continent" with the traditional ladainha, boiled grams and sorpotel. So it was a life of contentment and good cheer. The Goan particularly in the government treasury, was highly respectable and respected, both by his British masters and the African underdog. To the later, he was no exploiter as his fellow Asian tradesmen, who he kept at a distance. He did his job, a lord in his own fief and when he went home his neighbours envied his affluence and his capacity to recruit young men of the village to service abroad. But decades passed since Dr Rosendo Ribeiro flambouyantly rode his zebra steed to the Goan Gymkhana in Nairobi. In the fifties, Goan complacency suffered a rude shock. Came the cry of Kenya's freedom from white bondage and except for the handful already mentioned, the Goan stayed aloof. With independence the exodus began. Sceptical of the future status, Goans left for the security of the Commonwealth. Few, who opted for Kenyan citizenship, had to prove themselves. No longer could they be the mainstay of the new administration. In an amazingly short span, the African had come into his own--a man of no less intelligence than his peers; of physique and endurance far superior. Meeting the challenge with enduring Goan resilience, the achievements of Goan Kenyans has done them proud. Latent business acumen surfaced much to their advantage as became evident in their lifestyle and their ability to send their children for higher study in the West. In the better sectors of the city they owned spacious bungalows. Men like Horatio Gama Rose of Nairobi and Franklyn Pereira in Mombasa made their mark in high finance. Joe Pereira carved a niche in travel and tourism. The women no longer restricted to teaching and clerical posts became executives in the hotel industry, the airlines and banks. Many ran boutiques and beauty parlours. Victor D'Costa at the University, physician-surgeon Dr John Ribeiro and Rotarian Pius Menezes represented the country internationally. Yet in the rising chaotic climate of political unrest--a response to the transition to multi-party rule and the clamour to an end to corruption--is a glaring sense of insecurity. Violence erupts overnight. Strikes and shortages became the order of the day. And with escalating unemployment, burglary and mugging became common. The AIDS syringe posed a greater threat than the gun. Even the Catholic Church emerged from hibernation to lash at cruel injustice. Goan youth found footholds in the UK, Canada and Australia as a result of which the Goan in Kenya became an endangered species. Are they singing their swan song? What of their Goanness? Have they rendered adequate contribution to the quality of life in the land of their adoption? http://www.goacom.com/goanow/99/apr/lookingback.html -- DEV BOREM KORUM. Gabe Menezes. London.
