Dear Mervyn
Thank you for sharing the "private" message you received from an anonymous
correspondent from Tanzania following
your reply to me on the above. It would have been preferable if your friend had
posted this message himself so I could
reply directly to him but in the absence of this, perhaps you could forward on
my comments to some of the points he has
made. (I was not aware that Tanzania had reverted back to Tanganyika).
MM1: However, the last line needs amplification. I don't think that it was SOME
Goans who CHOSE to treat the African
as 'inferior'; it was almost every Goan living in an urban environment,
including yours truly, who had that prejudiced
attitude.
RF1: I beg to differ with your friend on this statement. Would you mind asking
for clarification in what way I was
supposed to have treated the African as "inferior". If my parents had employed
an African as a domestic it was because
they were living in Africa. Perhaps they would have employed a Goan as a
domestic if they were living in Goa.
Employing someone as a domestic does not mean that you are treating them as
inferior. Therefore until your friend can
justify this statement, there is nothing for me to be remorseful, guilty or
shameful about.
For your information, I do not even treat animals as "inferior" having given up
the eating of meat years and years ago. It is
not acceptable to me that animals are treated shamefully for my dinner plate
but this is my view and never inflicted on
anyone else, including Melvyn, who regularly eats meat. Everyone needs to make
up their own mind what they are
comfortable or uncomfortable with.
However, if you or your friend witnessed any incidents where an African was
treated as "inferior" would you mind telling us
what they were and what did either of you do to address the situation as fellow
human beings?
MM2: What is shameful is when SOME or MANY Goans today, unlike you and me, keep
reminiscing about "the good old
days"
RF2: What does your friend mean "reminiscing about the good old days". Is he
aware this project is currently being
undertaken and that my goanet post was after watching your video recording
uploaded for this current project?
MM3: ....sense of gratitude towards the African...
RF3: Would you please oblige and point out the minute number from the 9:40
minute uploaded edited version of the
video tape where you expressed gratitude towards the African. We have not seen
the full length version yet and this is on
my "must do" list to compare what you said on the video to the note you sent
me.
Until recently, I was not aware of just how much my classmates are still
involved with Africa, bearing in mind we all left
school in 1971. Last July one of my classmates living in the UK paid a visit to
our school in Mombasa, Kenya and took
time out of her holiday to visit two schools donating money and school
equipment to advance their learning. Then the
daughter of another of my classmates living in Texas spent her time helping in
an orphanage in Kenya. This list can go
on and on.
My charitable work is closer to home but we are having a class reunion in
October this year and who knows maybe we will
discuss what we can do for our school (Star of the Sea School) which I
understand is badly in need of a lick of paint.
Is your friend aware of how many charities and Goan village organisations
collect money in the UK for Africa? Year in and
year out and to which we all donate through our church on Family Fast Day. This
list can go on and on to include royalty,
Bob Geldorf with Live Aid, and others.
Could you please ask your friend in Africa how much more gratitude or what
further type of gratitude he is expecting from
us?
MM4: the majority of the population found themselves far worse off than in the
colonial days, as a result of dishonesty,
fraud, corruption, and tribal rivalries of their own leaders.
RF4: In my opinion, the majority of the population found themselves far worse
off than in the colonial days because when
we left East Africa they all lost their employment as domestics. We treated
them well with food, clothes and housing in
addition to a salary which they used to support their families. The late Mr JAF
Menezes from Colvale, Melvyn's
grandfather, bought land for his domestic in Malandi for his retirement where
he still resides and grows his own produce.
MM5: the discovery of oil in the Turkana Distrist of Kenya
RF5: We all hope and pray that the Turkana people will enjoy the fruits of this
wonderful discovery through the
appropriate agencies with good governance, reducing foreign aid from the West
and creating local employment. This is
the best news, a land described by you as "God forsaken area" to become "God's
gift".
General: There is no issue with me of anyone recording their experiences in
East Africa "positive" or "negative".
However, our forefathers left our homeland, the paradise of Goa, for greener
pastures to East Africa. If we are recording
for the history books our experiences in East Africa as working in the searing
heat of the sun, caste discrimination, race
discrimination, fear during the Mau Mau, lack of opportunities to progress at
work (unless your boss died), these look to
me like reasons to leave a place not stay in it ..... most in excess of 20
years?
Rose Fernandes
Thornton Heath, Surrey, United Kingdom
28 March 2012
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