I must thank Mr. Mervyn Maciel for an interesting but nevertheless intelligent observation ''that Goans in Tanganyika got on far better than those of us in Kenya.''
Goans in Kenya/Uganda highlands i.e. in Nairobi and Kampala wore suits and ties whereas Goans in Dar es Salaam , Zanzibar and Mombasa ie in the then coastal British East Africa wore bushshirts. In Nairobi there were three Goan clubs i.e. Goan Institute, Railway Goan Institute and Goan Gymkhana whereas in coastal towns there was only one Goan Institute in each town. Hence Goans in coastal towns were more or less united socially. The Goan Institute in Dar es Salaam was founded in 1919 operated in a rented premises and shifted to their building in 1926. This ground floor building was built in 1926 on a prime property near the Lutheran Church which was bought rather cheaply, I think, from the Custodian of the Enemy Property. This office dealt with the properties that were abandoned by the German citizens in 1919 when they lost First World War and the British took over the German colony of Tanganyika. In the British Dept. of Custodian of Enemy Property worked one Goan called C.J.Vaz who informed the then GI committee members in 1926 that a prime plot (formerly German owned ) was for sale . This is how GI came to own such a valuable property. I do not know whether in those days there were laws dealing with ''insider trading''. Anyhow all is well that ends well. Another fatuous reason why I think Goans in Dar were better off than Goans in Nairobi was that some Goans were born in an European hospital in Dar unlike Nairobi European hospitals which were barred to Goans and other Asians. Goans who were living in Dar before 1919 under the German Administration somehow convinced the Germans that they were Portuguese ( black Europeans) and the Germans reserved a separate ward for Goans in their hospital which is situated on the Ocean Road. The only examples i know who were born in the Goan ward of a European hospital were yours truly and Vivian D'Souza. Of course, there are many others. The British carried on with this tradition after they took over this hospital from Germans for their own citizens.
