Many may know
Nalini Souza as a filmmaker, a social worker who has been running the NGOCommunicare Trust for years
now or for her myriad collaborations in various field in Goa, India and
internationally. She is also known for her contribution in documenting and
discovering Portuguese ties to Goa, and recently, her latest project saw her
learning about the rich ties Goa has with Mozambique, a former Portuguese
colony.
This also tied in
with another Goa based initiative Communicare Trust has started – a YouTube
channel called ‘Travel and Learn’. “Travel and Learn was an idea created by
Communicare Trust. Communicare Trust was created to teach languages. When we
learn languages, a whole world opens up for us to explore. We become educated
in the diverse cultures and ways of life. We learn about how our lives are
intertwined and how we can impact one another. Travel provides us with a
momentary break from everyday life. It provides us adventure and excitement. We
forget about our problems, our job and focus on expanding our knowledge, focus
on connecting to the world,” says Nalini.
In just 10 months,
the channel, which aims at connecting resident Goans to the Goan diaspora, has
crossed more than 4,000 hours of viewing, 1,35,000 viewers and almost 2000
followers.
And Nalini believes
going to Mozambique was her break.
“Through our travels
in Goa and outside Goa, we try to bring themes that bring us together. The
‘Learn’ part means languages. We impart Portuguese and Konkani language
education through the videos we create. I had a nice experience with the third
generation of Goans in Mozambique who don’t know a word in Konkani. Through the
video, they all introduce themselves in Konkani,” adds Nailini.
Nalini had gone to
Mozambique to premiere her documentary, ‘Special Envoy’, a story about an
unlikely yet indelible friendship forged between two opposite characters –
Aquino de Braganza, a Goan intellectual and journalist, and Samora Machel, an
African male nurse, who would later become the most charismatic African leader
of his time. In 1986, death claims them both in a tragic accident – a case yet
to be solved.
“Releasing the movie
gave me the opportunity to meet a lot of new people – people with different
concepts from mine, with a lifestyle completely different from mine, but also
to find similarities that I was not expecting. The only connection that I knew
till then between Goa and Mozambique was that Goans were instrumental in the
political scenario of Mozambique in the 1970s throug to the ‘90s. What I did
not know is that the Goans were one of the main source of fish in Maputo,” says
Nalini.
To the south of
Maputo, on the other side of river Tembe is Catembe. There lives a big
community of Goans who dedicated to fishing since the arrival of their parents
in the beginning of the 20th Century. From small fishing boats, the second
generation built a whole fleet of mechanised fishing trawlers that now are the source
of 90% of the fish in Maputo.
“I had the
opportunity to give a talk about Travel & Learn in Mozambique. I showed
them some of the videos shot in Goa and while doing it, we discovered other
similarities with both countries. We found out for example that in the north of
Mozambique, cashew plantations are also in existence and that the ‘feni’ is
called ‘totonto’(if you break the word in Portuguese it means, I am dizzy). We
also realise that the cashew ‘feni’ is not commercialised in Mozambique. But
how did it reach to Mozambique? Well, that requires more travelling and
research and will be the next question to address when I return to Mozambique,”
says Nailini.
She realised as well
that the second and third generation of Goans did not disconnect from certain
traditions like St Pedro – the patron saint of the fisherman.“The way that this
feast is celebrated amongst the fishing community in Goa like for example in
Candolim, the same happens in Catembe. The celebration is not exactly the same,
but bears it’s similarities. While in Goa, the boats are tied together and are
offshore where a stage is built and a variety of shows are offered to the
population; in Catembe, the fishing trawlers are also tied together and taken
to the middle on the sea where a crown of flowers is released in the ocean in
memory of the fishermen who died in the past. A small prayer is done inside the
fishing trawlers where all the community gather. After the prayer and the
blessing of all the trawlers by the priest, they return to Catembe and
celebrate at the Goan’s club with Goan food like chicken xacuti, fish recheado,
sannas, etc,” adds Nailini.
“In
this journey to Mozambique, I have not only learnt about Mozambican history,
but I also made new friends and discovered more about my own roots. Goa and
Mozambique were linked in the past, but will be forever linked in the future as
well, through the fishermen of Catembe. That is what travelling means to me: a
way to learn, make connections, join the pieces of this big puzzle which is the
world,” says Nailni.
