Goa is a
small region of approximately 3400 square kilometers on the west coast of India.
However, there are Goans spread out all over the globe in several countries
from Australia to Zanzibar. A search
on Google for Goan Associations gave me thousands of sites far beyond the scope
of this paper. There are Goan associations in Calgary, Toronto, Dubai, England Australia, New Zealand and Portugal of course. The United
States has several chapters spread
across the breadth of this country from New Jersey in the east to Florida, and those of us in the Bay Area have our very own Goan association.
Almost all of these groups have a similar mission Statement or objective on
their sites, which roughly states that they have come together to preserve
their heritage, culture, traditions and social values for the benefit of future generations in
their new places of residence. In a treatise on the Goan Diaspora, Prof. Cielo
Festino quotes Dr. Stella Mascarenhas Keyes; a British anthropologist of Goan
origin who points out that the
Goan diaspora has its roots in four factors:
v Goa´s position as the headquarters of the Estado da India [Portuguese
imperial possessions], which led to its having extensive extra-territorial
links
v the lack of economic development in Goa during the colonial regime
v the rise of British colonialism
v enhanced access to Catholic western education which raised occupational
expectation and a desire for a better quality of life
Prof. Cielo Festino goes on to say,
“As Goa was the seat
of the Portuguese possessions in Asia, many Goans, trained as civil servants,
would also work in the administration of the empire in Mozambique, Angola, and
Macao. Besides, due to the fact that many Goans not only have western
marketable skills but also speak English and Portuguese --the study of Western
languages being understood a method of upward mobility— some of them easily
found job openings in the possessions of the British Empire while others moved to
Portugal to specialize in different professional fields”. (Source: http://www.colaco.net/1/CieloGoanDisaspora1.htm)
I believe to a certain extent all these
socio-economic factors played a role in my own family’s migration history. If I
just look at my mother’s large, widespread family it’s like a microcosm of the
larger Goan Diaspora. My mother, her siblings and their families - the
DeSouza’s of Damadem, Tivim are a few of the thousands of Goan’s overseas. My
grandmother Liberata Inez DeSouza was widowed in her early 40’s. She had eight
children ranging from the ages of 2 to 15. She had no education and no money.
However, she had her land, house and culinary skills. My grandmother told me
that she supported her children by selling lime pickle (using limes from her
garden), selling cashew nuts and rice harvested in her fields. She had some
help from her sister who owned a business in the city of Panjim. My
grandmother re-married after a few years and had two more children. My step
grandfather was a truly kind and generous person who provided well for all the
children. Although my grandmother was not educated, she placed a high value on
education. She wanted her children to have a better quality of life rather than
being dependant on sustenance from the land. Nine of her ten children left Goa
either to seek a higher education or they were married off to Goans who worked
overseas. Three of my mother’s sister’s moved to Uganda in East Africa where
their husband’s worked in the civil services and then on to England and Canada
where they form part of a large Goan community. Three siblings including my
mother are here in the Bay Area where we have a fairly large goan community.
One brother went to medical school in Ireland and
stayed on there, another brother trained as a chemist and went to England. My
mother and her siblings visit Goa
frequently, many of them talk of settling back there permanently, but so far
only one brother left England and
returned to live in Goa
after retiring from his job. I think it was easier for him as he was single and
did not have children. For the rest of them I believe future generations tie
them to their new homelands be it England, Ireland, Canada or
the United States and
I think this is true of most immigrant communities.
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