Dear goanet reader,
Frederick wrote: I'd rather celebrate the achievements of the handful of Goans
who worshipped at the altar of social
justice, and took the huge risk kof supported the underdog... and the Black
African cause... when the wind was blowing in
the other direction.
Rose's response: All of us worldwide are looking forward to join you in
celebrating the achievements of our local
community in Goa who do not worship at the altar of bribery and corruption and
take the huge risk of voting in politicians
supporting the Goan cause....a wind of change blowing in our direction right
now, appears for the better.
Our community who were in East Africa did not just contribute to the British
cause, we contributed valuably towards the
Goan, the Black African and to the international cause.
The Goan cause: Those who visit the Mae de Deus Church in Saligao, I would like
to invite you to take a moment and
have a look at the list on the wall of the church which acknowledges all those
who donated towards it. I know a number of
these as they visited my home in Mombasa, Kenya and a number of them lived and
still do live in the United Kingdom
today. It would be interesting to find out how many of those who contributed
towards the church were either from East
Africa or had connections in East Africa? That is did the money they earned in
East Africa contribute towards this church?
One has to view this in the light of their income in proportion to what they
contributed. Most had not only family
commitments but also looked after their aged parents and other relatives in
Goa. This is just one of the many examples of
how our community living in East Africa supported its motherland on the Konkan
coast.
The African cause: Most of us who lived in East Africa employed the local
people as "domestics" treated them very well,
gave them food, sometimes even shelter, and a wage which they used to support
their own families who lived in their
villages. When we left East Africa a lot of them were devastated as, one by
one, they lost their income. I know of some of
our community in the United Kingdom still keep in touch with their "domestics"
who became their life long friends. They still
send money to them in East Africa and have paid for all their children to
attend school as schooling was not free there.
The international cause: After leaving East Africa, most of us went to live in
either Europe, America, Canada, Australia or
other parts of the world where we used our learning, our skills and our
knowledge from our East African days to continue
earning a living and once again looking after our families living in Goa. In
addition, contributing towards other projects
such as maintenance of churches, old aged homes, etc. I know of one family
living in the United Kingdom who donated
their home in Goa for an old aged home in their village. How generous when one
sees how much they could have sold it
for with land prices rocketing.
Segregation of white, asian and black: Much has been said about segregation in
East Africa. We all need to be reminded
that segregation at that time was part of life not just in East Africa but in
South Africa, the United States, India and to a
large extent in Goa itself which was steeped in the "caste" system.
The church and its altar has been a fountain of all our education.
Circumstances made it necessary for us to form our
own social group and this was not difficult because of our cultural bonds and
traditions. Our community lived near each
other, met at work as most of them were employees in the Colonial Civil Service
and also met after work in the various
clubs formed in East Africa. We had an excellent social, sporting and outdoor
life. I was blessed with many cousins in
Mombasa and we were always partying, going to picnics by the beach, the "drive
in" cinema, birthday celebrations,
attending weddings, christenings, tombola events at the club, etc. Most of the
students in my class were of Goan origin
and the bonds I made with them still exist today and most of us have kept in
touch even though we now live in different
parts of the world. So you could say the effects of "segregation" were
beneficial in preserving our culture and way of life.
We certainly did not notice it adversely affect our everyday life as long as we
kept within the "pecking" order.
There was also an opportunity for those who worked in the Colonial Civil
Service to contribute towards their pension and a
number of them, including their widows, are seeing the fruits of this scheme.
Our community in East Africa was a huge success on most fronts, social,
traditional, economic and sporting and should be
given a "gold" star. Most of all this continued success still enables us to
make a valuable financial contribution to our
motherland. This is evident in the number of banks per square mile in the state.
Mervyn Maciel wrote: I was not in that happy position to risk losing my job if
I'd spoken out of turn so to speak.Neither was
I prepared to bite the hand that fed me.
Rose's response: Rest assured Mervyn nothing much has changed today since your
working days. In the United
Kingdom, although no one may ever admit this to you, it is still very much keep
your head down, get on with your job and
keep your manager happy taking in "bhajis", thirty pieces or more, with some
chutney. Unless of course you are prepared
to "lose" your job and be made "redundant".
There is no company or organisation in the world (let alone the British) who
would employ someone who is not loyal to
them. We all need to remember this as the boss may not be correct but is always
the boss.
Rose Fernandes
Thornton Heath, Surrey, United Kingdom
14 January 2012
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