The Goan legacy... living on in Uganda (Esther Namugoji, in New Vision)
PHOTO: Goan Legacy -- Joe
Fernandes of Caltex, Wampewo
Avenue displays a map of Goa
THEY owned bakeries, bars and
contributed significantly to
Uganda's civil service,
education and economy. When
President Idi Amin ordered
Asians out of Uganda in 1972,
many Goans were allowed to
stay, but only a handful
remained. They left homes,
properties and businesses
behind. Even when offered a
chance to return, they were not
willing, but their legacy lives
on, Esther Namugoji writes.
My heels make a resounding echo in the narrow hall as I cross
the wood parquet floor. I have walked this hall before,
crossing quickly with literature books under my arm and the
next lesson in mind.
This building houses a secondary school on week days, and
social events on weekend nights. Some years ago, I used to
moonlight here two days a week as a teacher, little knowing
the rich history that these walls have kept secret for more
than a century.
Standing here, I am transported more than 100 years
back to when Indians of Goan origin owned and
patronised this place. Wedding parties, children's
Christmas plays, end of year dances and solemn mass
prayers were held within these walls for almost 70 years.
The grassy lot outside was used for games and sports like
hockey, football and tennis. This building was first set up
in 1907 by Indians originally from the south eastern state of
Goa as the Entebbe Goan Institute.
It served as a meeting place for social and religious
functions before former President Idi Amin forced Asians out
of Uganda in 1972. It had changed names in the late 1960s to
the Entebbe Institute.
Today, it is simply known as the Institute and it serves as a
school building for Entebbe Central Academy. In those days,
most Ugandans could distinguish Abagowa from other Asians,
mainly because they attended mass in the Catholic churches
like Bugonga Church in Entebbe and St. Fatima in Jinja.
According to Joe Fernandes, the Goan proprietor of Caltex
Wampewo, the colonial government classified Europeans first,
followed by Goans, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs in that order.
"Europeans held the top jobs like permanent secretaries.
Goans were at the next level, holding jobs immediately under
the permanent secretaries," Fernandes says.
"The main difference though stems from the fact that Goa was
colonised by Portugal as far back as 600 years ago. For 451
years up to 1962, Goa absorbed Portuguese influence, from the
Catholic religion to the language and social culture. In all
these centuries, much of the native culture fused with the
colonialists."
THE ENTRY
Not all Asians came to Uganda with the extension of
the East African Railway line into Uganda. The
first Goans arrived in the country by sea to
Mombasa, used bullock-drawn carts or walked the 400
miles to Kisumu from where they canoed into Entebbe
at Kigungu landing site.
They were cooks, butlers, tailors, carpenters and a few were
educated and ran businesses. This was in the mid-1880s.
According to Fernandes, the Portuguese occupation of Goa was
oppressive and this drove the natives to flee their state.
Many would leave for other parts of India, Asia, Arabia and
even Africa. Many Goans lived in Zanzibar, Mombasa, Tanzania,
Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia before 1900.
Other accounts link the Goan migration into East Africa to
the relationship with the British dating back to Lord Arthur
Wellesley's army during the Napoleonic era which had two
companies composed of Goans.
The Uganda Railway also brought in a fair number of Goans.
They easily worked as cooks because they were not vegetarians
and could also cook European cuisine.
Many were butlers, bakers, messengers and clerks. When the
railway started running, the catering on the coaches was
almost exclusively done by Goans and they later flourished as
restaurateurs.
A number of Goans from the Royal Navy after World
War I also moved to East Africa with their families
in the 1920s and 1930s. The earlier generation sent
their children to study in India.
This second generation would return after school and became
the backbone of Uganda's first civil service. They worked in
the colonial government mostly as accountants, clerks and
customs officers.
When Idi Amin ordered Asians out, he exempted those in the
public service, most of whom were Goans. However, between
November 1972 and April 1973, most of the remaining Goans
left the country and only a handful stayed.
In the 1980s when Milton Obote was President the
second time, the Departed Asians' Property Act was
enacted and some Asians started to return around
this time. Interestingly, not one Goan came back to
live in Uganda.
This should not be surprising, considering that they were
mostly in the civil service rather than in business. Hence,
they only had a few businesses or property to return to.
Another factor was that when they left Uganda for other
countries, they were able to get good jobs since they had
been working under the British government service and had
somewhat universal skills.
NEW GENERATION
The majority of Goans living in Uganda today are a new
generation, coming straight from India. Most of them are in
business, unlike the colonial generation.
They are still good in the food business evidenced by
restaurateurs like Jerry Pacheco. He first travelled to
Tanzania in 1997 to set up restaurants. He moved to Nairobi
and then to Kampala in 1999.
He set up The Coconut Shack restaurant on Dewinton
Road, and recently set up another Coconut Shack
serving Goan cuisine in Muyenga. According to
Pacheco, as in those early days, Goans take the
time to socialise.
They meet at church and at festivals and family ceremonies.
As in the past, music, dance and food play a central role in
reliving the dreams of Goa. Fish and chicken curries with
rice and coconut still play a starring role in the food
preparations.
Pork dishes are well loved, as are a number of home made
sweets in the old tradition. "Goans are talented musicians.
Almost every other adult can play the violin which is the
king of instruments. If you can play it, then the rest are
easy. A wedding does not end until there is a dance," says
Alex Ramos who came from India in 1995. His friend, Diago
D'Mello also came from India. He runs D'Mello's Indian
Restaurant in Nakasero and a spare parts shop.
D'Mello says Goans are God-fearing, sincere and trustworthy
and that is why they made good civil servants. Goans are
always on the move, and it appears that in the recent years
some have been leaving Uganda for other lands.
Even Joseph Almeida, the long serving headmaster of Buganda
Road Primary School and recently Lohana Academy, decided to
retire in India.
A GOAN WHO LEFT
Peter Nazareth was born in Nsambya Hospital to Goan
parents and grew up in Entebbe. One night he had a
disturbing dream about Asians being expelled. He
included this dream in his first novel, In a Brown
Mantle.
The novel was published in 1972 and two weeks after it was
launched in Kampala, President Idi Amin made his
pronouncement that Asians must leave Uganda. Nazareth was a
senior finance officer in the Ministry of Finance and he did
not have to leave.
The novel had earned him a scholarship at Yale University, so
he took his wife and two daughters with him to America in
January 1973. But he had left a country he loved.
He had been active in the Entebbe Goan Institute and served
as president of the institute three times. His father, P. C.
S. C. Nazareth, had also headed the institute five times
before he passed on in 1965.
While at Makerere University College, he edited PenPoint
magazine, a publication started by the English department. He
also taught at several secondary schools in Uganda.
Today he is a professor of English in the University of Iowa.
He has also been an adviser on the university's International
Writing Programme since 1977, together with his wife.
Nazareth uses every opportunity to associate with the country
of his birth. In an email, Nazareth proudly mentions that he
is working with the recent Ugandan Commonwealth prize winner,
Glaydah Namukasa, on the programme pointing out that "she was
born in Nsambya Hospital like me, and grew up in my home town
Entebbe."
Nazareth is probably the most famous Goan writer today. He
says that he considers himself an African writer although he
has created Goan characters in his fiction and edited an
anthology of Goan literature.
He draws his writing influences from all the cultures that
have influenced him, including Uganda.
"The Entebbe Institute, named the Lubele Institute, plays a
key role in my second novel, The General Is Up, while the
novel is based on the expulsion of Asians (called East
Indians) in the novel. George Kapa in my novel is based on
George Waddimba, Peter Tukei and Ted Abura rolled into one
character," he says in the email.
Did you know
* The traditional Ugandan
dress, the busuuti or gomesi,
owes its unique design to the
ingenuity of a Goan tailor who
was based in Mengo.
* His last name Gomes is still
borne by the elaborate dress he
created when a Gayaza Junior
School headmistress approached
him to modify the school
uniform into something more
decent.
* The style was picked up and
modified by more women in
Buganda thanks to Gomes'
tailoring skills.
* Goans left a certain ethic in
the civil service that has not
been replicated by succeeding
Ugandans.
* Whereas Goans were known for
their integrity, the civil
service, after their expulsion,
almost collapsed. But also
persistent vices like ghost
workers, bribery and late
coming have plagued government
offices up to now.
* The popularity of sports like
cricket and hockey became
widespread through the
sportsmanship of Goans
alongside other Indians. The
first hockey club in Uganda
back in the 1920s was formed by
Goans and the hockey team to
the 1972 Olympics was bolstered
greatly by Goans.
* Even today, the $200,000
worth cricket Astroturf at
Lugogo owes its glory to the
hard fundraising work of Arthur
D'Mello, one of the few who
stayed in Entebbe through the
Amin years.
* He passed on last year,
leaving the mantle to another
Goan, Basil Lobo, who recently
handed over as treasurer of the
Uganda Cricket Association.
* Although rarely discussed,
there are also descendants born
of Ugandan mothers dotted
around the country, marked by
distinct light skin and/or
unique surnames.
Published in New Vision on: Saturday, November 8, 2008
http://www.newvision.co.ug/
