COMMUNITY NEWS

BBC Radio 4 broadcast a 50 minutes Christmas Special on Goa. If you missed it, you can still catch it at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/opencountry_xmas2002.shtml. You will also find a synopsis of the programme there and a dozen photographs. Excerpt: Dr Maria Couto, a leading academic and author who has travelled widely both within India and in Europe, explains why village life in Goa, with this easy blend of cultures and religions, suits her better than life anywhere else - and why she's angered by the common perception of her home as a lazy holiday destination.


The former community museum development officer of the art gallery at Birmingham Museum, Ms Eleanor Viegas, said the important feature of the people from Indian sub-continent is their sense of continuity; they take their culture along with them and see that it remains alive. Ms Viegas was delivering a lecture on "The Crafts of Heritage" to commemorate the Museum Week 2003 at the Goa state Museum. Navhind Times 8 Jan. Click here.,,

DEATHS

4 Jan. Eldoret, Kenya. LOURDES DE SOUZA. Mother of Anthony. Daughter of Isabella and the late Xavier De Souza. Sister of Angela D' Silva (Mombasa) and the late Peliciana. Aunt of Donovan. (Info. from Maureen DeSouza, Mombasa)

06 Jan: Calangute, Goa: POLIVIA BENEDICTA PEREIRA, wife of late DR CZ Pereira, mother of Eric/Vera (UK), Edward/Pauline, Elsie/Douglas Vaz.

07 Jan: Panjim, Goa: ROSA MARIA ANA FRANCISCA LOURDES E SOUZA VIEGAS, relict of late Antonio Simao Eugenio Renato da Silva Viegas, mother of Antonio/Rita, Luisa/Jawaharlal Furtado, Maria/Paul Dias, Milena/Vicente Mendonca, Rufina/Fernando Martins, Lucas (London).

09 Jan: Margao, Goa: MARIA ANTONIETA FERNANDES (Ex.Tanga - Tanzania), relict of late Lazarus Fernandes, mother of Sara/Raymond (Canada), Stanley/Kathy (USA), Suzie/Anthony (Abu-Dhabi).

LOOKING FOR

From Narendra Nirmal: I am looking for a Goan lady by the name of Eliza who was a student at St Teresa's Primary school in Eastleigh Nairobi in the 60's. She was a student of Mrs Pinto who lived opposite the Church in Eastleigh. If anyone has any contact with Eliza please let me know. Narendra.M.Nirmal@gsk.com

FLIGHT INFORMATION

Direct flights from Goa to Dubai, Hyderabad and Delhi will start soon Navhind Times 8 Jan. http://www.navhindtimes.com/stories.php?part=news&Story_ID=010839

4 Jan. Mirror. Goa: For £219 spend seven nights in Goa staying at the two diamond rated Fajara Hotel on a bed and breakfast basis. Flight departs Manchester on 17 January. Contact Cosmos reservations on 0870 908 4299 or www.cosmosholidays.co.uk

4 Jan. The Scotsman. Treat yourself to a belated Christmas present and head to Goa with Somak Holidays, staying at the luxurious Taj Exotica hotel. A fortnight's B&B accommodation spent relaxing on palm-fringed beaches and swimming in the warm Arabian Sea costs £999 per person (based on two sharing) and includes flights, departing 24 or 31 January from Gatwick. Call Somak Holidays on 020 8423 3000 or visit www.somak.co.uk

5 Jan. The Sunday Telegraph. Odyssey Worldwide (0870 429 4242; www.odysseyholidays.com) offers two weeks' b & b at the Riverside Guest House in Baga, Goa, for £389 per person. Flights from Gatwick depart on January 18.

6 Jan. Travel Trade Gazette UK. …Jewel in the Crown claims good winter sales, but has been hit by a six-week fall in the average price of two-week Goa packages from £400 to £229 last autumn. Sales director Paul Cowley says: "It has been very easy to sell Goa, but it has been at a cost."

GOA NEWS HEADLINES
mainly from Joel D'Souza in Goa, courtesy of GOACOM

Goa emerges from New Year hangover. Times of India 4 Jan.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/comp/articleshow?artid=33351051

Love and lust in Goa. Goa has become the prime destination for the party-hearty crowd on New Year's Eve. MPs, tycoons and socialites descend on it for some serious networking. Times of India 5 Jan. 1770 words. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/comp/articleshow?artid=33393604

Local vegetables get good response abroad. 90 tonnes of vegetable and fruits cultivated in Goa have been exported to London and Bahrain through chartered flights. Navhind Times 8 Jan http://www.navhindtimes.com/stories.php?part=news&Story_ID=010830

IN THE NEWS

3 Jan. South Devon Herald Express, UK. Anita Edgar who campaigned to open four community homes and a school for abandoned street children in Goa is planning to expand the operation. Many South Devon people have become actively involved in fund-raising, flying to Goa to act as volunteers. Click here....

3 Jan. The Ottawa Citizen Last summer, I had the opportunity to sample Goan cuisine in a restaurant situated near the castle of St. George, overlooking Portugal's capital city of Lisbon. I took an old-fashioned electric trolley to get up the hill and thoroughly enjoyed a spicy curry dish worthy of its Asian origins. The experience was a reminder of one of those half-forgotten little places of the world. Who remembers where Goa is these days? It was a one-time Portuguese colony in India noted for its blending of European and Asian cultures. Goa is now part of India because, in a fit of post-Imperial housekeeping, the Indian army simply took it over in December, 1961.

3 Jan. Toronto Star. Article on Maria Britto "I sing for weddings," she says. "My mother was a trained opera singer in India. I was born in Bangalore. And I'm classically trained."
From John D'Souza, Goan Voice Canada, http://www.goacom.com/news/news2003/jan/msg00007.html

4 Jan. Toronto Star. Seeking culturally compatible love. Jasmyn Singh writes on the Asian dating services in Canada. Excerpt: "My clients want to be introduced to others who are an East-West blend, because they want to maintain and express their links to language, food, religion etc., with their Western influences," explains Mark Paes of Supra International Introductions. The Toronto-based agency is one of the many transforming matchmaking from an "auntie's" pastime to a pay-for-fee service in the South Asian community. From John D'Souza, Goan Voice Canada, http://www.goacom.com/news/news2003/Jan/msg00012.html

4 Jan. The Guardian. Book Review: The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing, Vol IV & V ed Angela Bourke et al 3,200pp, Cork University Press, £150. …Gretchen Fitzgerald's piece, subtitled "The Irish -Victims and Practitioners", and is a sign of a new maturity. She describes how an Indian experienced racism from Irish nuns in her Goan primary school. She points out how, through their missionary tradition, "Irish people have played their part in reinforcing and continuing the effects of colonialism"

5 Jan. Scotland on Sunday. P&O's luxury cruise ship, Aurora: The majority of the cabin crew and restaurant staff are from Goa, a place renowned for its friendliness and hospitality. http://www.scotlandonsunday.com/spectrum.cfm?id=11592003

6 Jan. Lloyd's List (UK). Goan time bomb. A potential water polluter - or "ecological time bomb" as some environmentalists prefer to call it - has been given 90 days to remove itself from the picturesque Sinquerim beach in Goa, on India's west coast. For a little over 30 months the cargo vessel River Princess, owned by Salgaocar Shipping, has been perched atop a sandbar, barely 150 m off the Goa coast, after being driven on to it during the stormy monsoon night of June 6, 2000.

6 Jan. Blick (Germany) Headline: Goa - Morgens unter den Palmen tanzen. Excerpt: Martin from England who has spent twelve winters in Goa observed that in the Disco Valley, Vagator, Goa, Indian partygoers from Bombay have difficulty holding their drink, they act aggressively and tend to touch up the women.

6 Jan. Travel Trade Gazette UK. Jungle experience proves to be a Goa. …The adventure camp, consisting of mud huts with corrugated iron roofs, is arranged in a clearing in the Goan jungle, which is more like a wood full of unfamiliar plants and the odd stripy spider, than the thick, steamy undergrowth I had imagined. The excursion is bookable through brochures or in resort. Jewel in the Crown offers the experience for £66, inclusive of transport and good meals. 357 words.

8 Jan. Manchester Evening News. Simon Johnson, 24, and his brother Philip, 23, of Salford were charged with causing grievous bodily harm after allegedly beating up Paul De Souza in a pub in Australia. Blundering officials handed back the passports to the Johnsons. They are back in the UK and are unlikely to be extradited to Australia to face the charges. Paul de Souza required seven plates and 55 screws to hold his skull together after the attack. Click here...

8 Jan. This is Ludlow. Tables are limited so book early for a charity evening in aid of El Shaddai Children's Home in Goa, India planned for Saturday, January 11 at Church Stretton School. Entertainment is by the Buttered Muffins Theatre Company, offering an evening of music, magic, juggling and comedy. Doors open at 7pm for 7.30pm. During the evening there will be a raffle for charity. For details call 01588 660598. Admission £5. Click here...

9 Jan. BBC. Daisy Angus, 22, from Bournemouth, Dorset, was arrested six weeks ago at Bombay airport after officials found 10 kilograms of hashish in a suitcase. She had accepted $10,000 to take a suitcase through customs, her father has told the BBC, " she took a year off. She went to Goa and was sucked in by these Israeli guys."
Full text at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2644101.stm

9 Jan. Outlook. India has agreed to allow Persons of Indian Origin living in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore to hold dual citizenship. See: http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=110819

9 Jan. Times of India. The 1.3 million-strong British wing of the global Indian family appears to be dividing into four distinct categories: Conscientious objector, determined optimist, clinical observer and disinterested young desi-anglo…Young British Indians such as Jeet says, "I'm not a non-resident Indian. I've never been one. My mum and dad were and probably still are, but I'm British-born and bred… Sometimes don't you hate being Asian?" she asks, 509 words. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/comp/articleshow?artid=33880383

FORTHCOMING

Sun. 26 Jan. at 1.30pm - Commemoration Mass to honour the Birth Anniversary of VEN. FR. AGNELO DE SOUZA will be held at St. Mary's Catholic Church, Wellesley Road, West Croydon. For details please contact Felix DeSouza on 020 8686 1876

Fri 31 Jan : YLGS (Young London Goans Society) Free membership, 18+ Monthly Meet Up 6pm - late. Venue: Los Locos Bar/Restaurant, 24/26 Russell Street, Convent Garden, London WC2. NEW MEMBERS WELCOME! Contact: Alison 07799 586793 alisonbraganza@hotmail.com Marie 07958 373076 marie.pereira@talk21.com or James 0795 739 5811 goateez@yahoo.com

Sat. 8 Feb. Goan Association (UK) Youth Disco on Saturday 8th February 2003 at Archbishop Lanfranc School, Mitcham Road, Croydon at 7pm. Music by Nite Life. Entrance £3. Bring your own drinks. Food available. Contact: Lily/Tony D'Souza 020-8644 5310, Wilma/Cedric D'Cruz 020-8954 1596, Leanne Rodrigues 020-8349 3844, Monica Lobo 020-8672 9509, Diego Pinto 020-8767 0663.
http://www.lanfranc.com/publications/location/map/full_map_tl.htm

Sun. 23 Feb. 2.00p.m. Goan Heritage (U.K), formerly Youth Of Goa (U.K). By public demand, second show of the Tiatr "Asro" (Shelter). At Archbishop Lanfranc School Hall, Mitcham Road, Croydon, Surrey. For tickets please contact Felix Gonsalves on 020 8450 2129,Jimmy Braganza on 020 8450 5623, Fr.Oliver Antao on 020 8563 9102
http://www.lanfranc.com/publications/location/map/full_map_tl.htm

Sat. 15 Mar. Saligao Association Rockin' Spring Nite to be held at the David Lloyd Centre, Raynes Park. (5 mins from Wimbledon Chase Station). Starting at 7pm with music by 'Life is Good' who perform regularly at the King's Head in Fulham and the Red Lion in Richmond. Tickets are already selling fast. Tickets £10 members £12 Non-members. Buffet included. For further information please contact Nathan DeSouza, DeSouza1@aol.com or Serge Coelho 0208 543 4681.

Sun. 16 Mar. Saligao Association. White Tie Tea Dance. Merton Hall, Kingston Road, Wimbledon. Starting at 12 noon until 6pm. With the same fabulous Bar prices we had for New Year and a very special meal you can come and dance the afternoon away for only £8 for members and £10 for guests. For further information please contact Nathan DeSouza, DeSouza1@aol.com or Serge Coelho 0208 543 4681.