...badly put together; some of the Articles posted are woefully short on specificity. For instance Rabi Martins wrote about the formation of the G.O.A. in 1966, he then went on to write that he remembers well the early days when meetings were held in people's homes, dimly lit rooms and Pubs. This might well have taken place but I do not recall Rabi being present when the Association was founded in 1966.
The East African Catholic Society formed by Camilo D'Souza (ex Uganda) and Amorito Nazareth (ex Tanzania) could arguable be the forerunners of the Goan Overseas Association. A meeting was called and 17 persons attended. A function room was hired at Caxton Hall, Westminster. It was at that meeting that an intention to form the Association took place. The Gentlemen who were prime in setting this up were Amorito Nazareth, Camilo D'Souza and Romeo D'Silva. Tony D'Costa and myself were present, amongst others. There was a Brass plate at the G.O.A. Clubhouse, which was put up to show that the East African Catholic Society installed the alarm system. On that plate Amorito Nazareth's and Camilo D'Souza's names were inscribed, the funds used were from the balance left in the Society's books. Rabi went on to write that he remembered well too, when the Association took possession of the prestigious Club and playing fields in Bromley, Kent. Actually it was Beckenham in Kent! Rabi continued to say the premises served the Community well until it was burnt down by some senseless thugs. The impression given was that we would have still been in possession of the Clubhouse and grounds...this is patently false. The present President took on the post conditionally i.e. that the Club house and grounds would be sold. The second article possibly written by Cip Fernandes who only became a member this year was full of time frame errors. It was in fact 1996 when the Bungalow was sold to pay the overdraft at the Bank of some 30k and to pay Jason D'Costa who was owed 20k and Lily Menezes who was owed 25k. Norton Antao was paid a year or two earlier. Having cleared the debts and paid all the bills there was a balance left when the handover to the next Committee was made. This Committee did not attend to the Clubhouse, I got numerous phone calls asking me to open up the Clubhouse on weekends. I had to inform the callers that I was no longer on board. Thereafter the situation got from bad to worse until the Clubhouse was burnt down. -- DEV BOREM KORUM Gabe Menezes.
