We Came, We GNAT-ed, We Conquered! Part I

Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2008 14:09:50 -0700 (PDT)
From: Filomena Giese <filomenagiese@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Goanet] 2008 International Goan Convention
To: goanet@lists.goanet.org

2008 International Goan Convention: We Came, We GNAT-ed, We Conquered!
by Filomena Saraswati Giese

Part I

Having just participated in the very successful bi-ennial GOA 2008 Convention in San Jose organized by the Hindu Goans of North America, Goa Sudharop Board members, Filomena Giese (President), George Pinto, and Acaria Almeida came to Toronto with an open and even skeptical mind: would there be new and positive outcomes from yet another Goan Convention?

Here's a run down of our impressions and what we learned:

1. First of all, kudos to the very small Committee of GNAT-ters who undertook the planning of a Convention within less than a year! While we cannot name all the volunteers and helpers, special thanks are due to Kevin and Lisette Saldanha, Francis and Clara Rodrigues, Ben Antao, Mervyn Lobo, Bosco and Pamela D'Mello.

This small core of organizers (the new GNAT) attended to the complicated details of having a Goan Convention. They were on hand, unfailingly, to answer our questions and solve problems. They chose an outstanding theme, the issues facing Goans today in Goa and the diaspora, and combined it with a series of cultural events to showcase Goan artistic and musical talent. They brought together representatives of various Goan organizations and recognized some of their contributions to the Goan community. They gave a chance to Goan youth to attend workshops and give their views. Any one of these themes could have filled an entire Convention. But that they managed to give us a series of excellent and varied presentations was nothing short of remarkable!

2. Attendance: Goans came from London and the U.K., the Mid-East, Portugal, Australia, the U.S., and Goa. However, the Goan community around Toronto did not seem to avail themselves of a great opportunity to hear speakers from Goa who were knowledgeable about issues of development and preservation of heritage. Or, the opinions of diaspora Goans on the new challenges facing our community. But hopefully, the word will be spread by representatives of our Goan organizations who attended and through the DVDs made of the workshops and presentations. The cultural events were really well attended and brought in the Goan, Mangalorean, and Anglo-Indian communities of Toronto. It was a great experience to exchange views with Goans from so many far-flung parts of the globe.


3. The Chief Guest, the NRI Commissioner Eduardo Faleiro, spoke on a number of occasions about what the Goa government could do for NRI Goans. But some who attended the special question and answer session with him reported that he was somewhat evasive when questioned about specific questions such as property issues and gross violations of land sales and building codes. His answer seemed to be that we NRGs could email him and he would investigate. We came away with the impression that the present government of Goa does not have a serious plan to help Goans preserve their identity and heritage in Goa. According to Mr. Faleiro, it is, however, looking for investments from NRGs in their villages and will match up to 10 lakhs of any community project they sponsor. Perhaps overseas Goans could take note of this offer if they want to leave their mark on their native village.

4. Alexyz Cartoon Show and Book Launch: The incredibly good cartoonist, Alexyz, exhibited his collection of cartoons of Great Goans (Shenoy Goembab, Abbe Faria, Manoharrai Sardessai, Bl. Joseph Vaz and others) and political caricatures about the Goa political scene. Lea and Victor Rangel-Ribeiro released his book, Goa?Goan? Goaing? Gone??. When they unveiled the book, they found a cartoon of themselves in their New York apartment to everyone?s delight and surprise! Alexyz participated in the presentations and shared his first-hand views of the deterioration in Goa which Goans are valiantly trying to deal with. Like all the speakers from Goa, Alexyz appealed to the Goan diaspora to support them in the struggle for Goan preservation and for help in coping with AIDS, alcoholism, the sex trade, and the negative impact on Goan youth and families of tourism.

5. Workshops and Presentations:
Wendell Rodricks: Acaria attended all 3 exciting workshops in fashion design given by Wendell Rodricks. These brought in several young Goans and their friends. Wendell demonstrated how design, color, and fabric are used to make a fashion product. He had the participants develop their own designs and create a garment for the market. Wendell capped this by giving us a slide show presentation on how the landscape and architecture of Goa has inspired his fashions. He passionately asked overseas Goans to take an active part in saving Goan heritage and identity

Architect Dean D'Cruz gave an outstanding workshop on environmental issues in Goa. He showed us slides of his architectural designs as examples of how beautiful designs and colors of Goa can be utilized for new and interesting architectural design. But he also showed slides of the devastation caused by strip mining of mountain sides and lush fields. I recommend that we Goans get the book, Goa: Sweet Land of Mine, recently published by Goa Foundation to educate people about this devastation. Dean also had on hand a large report on similar mining destruction all over India. The harsh reality is that Goa, along with vast tracts of mountains and valleys all over India, is being dug up and exported to China, Japan, western Europe at a huge human cost to displaced tribals and villagers!

Dean's final presentation was on the "Rape of Goa" DVD that Rajan Parrikar had recently released. He then gave us the facts on the garbage and waste management crisis in Goa, using slides by waste management expert Clinton Vaz who was unable to attend the Convention.

Dean asked overseas Goan to meet these challenges and try to save the agricultural land and architectural heritage that is being bought up by industrialists and mine owners for conversion into ugly cement blocs of housing. This would require raising capital to buy such tracts of land, a sentiment echoed by Goa Sudharop and others who would like to save Goan heritage for future generations. He also asked overseas Goans to write to government officials and departments in India to ask for policy changes. He said that he himself had written to Sonia Gandhi who responded and did contact Mr. Rane. This resulted in saving some Goan architectural heritage. Dean's presentation was factual and gave the delegates a challenge to get involved in Goa's future.

To be continued....