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Sunday, October 30, 2022
Monday, October 24, 2022
RIP WILLIE LOBO, MY DEAREST FRIEND
Today is one of the saddest days of my life ... it is as if someone has cut off a part of me and my soul. One of my best friends, one of the most loved and respected people in the world, everybody's friend, always with the most loving smile you could find on any face on earth ... a great brother, father and husband ... Willie Lobo, has passed away in Nairobi. A few days ago he had his first session on Dialisis. He told me the next day that it was quite a simple process and he had come through it all well. He usually sent me an sms every morning, yesterday he sent me a holy picture. His broken-hearted sister Diana told me the shattering news. Too soon, but with his Maker, Pole, Rest in Peace. All our condolences to his devoted wife Dulu, children and the extended family and friends. I will never forget him.
He helped anyone and everyone and went out of his way to do it. He loved meeting up with old friends from overseas who were visiting Kenya. Everyone knew him and loved. He was one of our own best examples of a Christian man. His family was absolutely precious to him and showered them every ounce of love he had in him. By his side there was always Dulu, a childhood sweetheart, eternally the other half of his self. God give her strength. Willie will live in her heart and in the hearts of those who loved him while he was with us and made us laugh, made up happy, and helped us get well by simply cheering us up. Then, of course, he loved a drink with friends, especially at his beloved Goan Institute Nairobi. There was a special place in his heart for all the friends he grew up with in his beloved Kisumu, many shades, many colours, from different lands but all with one thing in common, they loved the guy and they were happy to do battle with him in the sports he loved so much.
Willie's last message to me on October 21: The older you get the more you realise how precious life is. You have no desire for drama, conflict or stress. You just want good friends, a cozy home, food on the table and people who make you happy. (He was truly blessed).
Sad news about Willie, one of the finest people you could meet. He would go out of his way to make you at home when you visited Kenya. A great sportsman who played in goal for Kisumu Hotstars and captained GI's cricket team. Willie was one of the three top Goan goalkeepers in the Kenya National Football League, the others being Albert Castanha and Oscar de Mello. Our deepest condolences go out to Dulu, the children and grandkids. Gone too soon but may his soul rest in peace. Norman and Delphine da Costa.
Tuesday, October 11, 2022
Idi Amin, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea
The Last King of Scotland in full regalia
Monday, October 10, 2022
The Law and Dr Rose M. D'Sa
The Law and Dr Rose M. D’Sa
By Cyprian
Fernandes
Sydney
Australia
PART III
based on her autobiography:
GOING JUU
A TALE OF
THREE CULTURES
Experiences
of a British Kenya Goan
www.lexxion.eu/rosedsa-going-
(Order your free copy at the above link subject
to payment of shipping charges,)
KENYA-BORN Rose M. D’Sa gained a doctorate in law, qualified
as a barrister, worked at the Human Rights Unit of the Commonwealth Secretariat
in London, and became a Professor of European Law, eventually becoming the longest-serving
British woman on the EU’s Economic and Social Committee in Brussels. During the
two decades, she did some of her best work on a variety of legal issues and
wrote numerous books which remain the reference material of eminence. For many
decades she remained true to her Kenyan roots and held on to her citizenship until
her marriage to an Englishman and the acquisition of British citizenship.
How she came to choose law as her future career is quite fascinating,
especially at that very young age. Perhaps it also highlights her ability to
clinically examine a subject, an action, a choice or even a circumstance. The
natural ability to do that would come in very handy in her future.
“My future career plans were certainly not focussed on the law. Instead,
I had the notion that I could somehow become a professional tennis player. My
father harboured no such delusion and urged me to study as hard as I could. It
gradually dawned upon me that he was right. My talent for the sport was
insufficient to get me to the highest levels. It was also quite evident quite
early on that although I loved playing tennis and was good at running, I
disliked the intense physical effort of training off-court. Gyms, in particular,
were totally unknown to me and were not among my favourite places.
“My second choice of career was to follow a tradition and become a
doctor, as others in my family had done. This was regarded as a prestigious profession
within the Goan community and elsewhere. However, once I was away from the
influence of my parents, and whilst studying for my “A” levels at Millfield
School, I began to question whether my interest and aptitude for science
subjects were genuine. In biology, I had an aversion to dissecting rats and
goldfish and was aware that my squeamishness was not ideal for a prospective
doctor. Practical science classes were
out of my comfort zone and I nearly caused a minor explosion in the chemistry
lab through general incompetence.”
An aptitude test revealed that she showed little or no ability for a
career in science. Amongst a list of career suggestions she instinctively chose
law. She could have chosen Human Resources (her late father’s field).
At the back of her mind “there was a small but growing feeling of
excitement.” Her favourite teacher in Loreto Convent Valley Road, Nairobi, Kay
Hopkins, had once suggested law as a
career because of “her aptitude for the English language, debating and acting.”
“I have always had the gift of the gab and my decision meant that I would make
a living from it.”
It was not all easy going down the legal path as she explains “…I faced
many obstacles and had to change direction more than once. The law profession
seemed to be upper-class dominated and I was very conscious of being an
immigrant and the sole member of my family in Britain, none of whom were
lawyers.”
No matter what the challenges, Rose M. D’Sa never looked back. After a
couple of setbacks, she was finally accepted by Birmingham University and the
rest they say is another story, another history. She was Called to the Bar in
1981 at Middle Temple Hall and in the next year was awarded her PhD in public
international law by Birmingham University.
She was a visiting lecturer at the Kenya School of Law and was proposed
by the Kenya government for a senior position with the Commonwealth Secretariat
in London. She had already done considerable work with the Secretariat on
compliance with International Human Rights Law. She also held lectureships in
Law at Cardiff and Bristol University.
She was appointed as the first Professor of European Law at the
University of Glamorgan in Wales and was also awarded a Jean Monnet Chair in EC
Law by the European Commission. After two successive renewals of her mandate,
she was awarded, as was customary, a medal of honour by the EU’s Economic and
Social Committee in Brussels but went on to serve for over two decades..
She has attended some of the most important legal conferences held
around the world but especially in the Commonwealth. She has been a familiar
name in many legal circles around the world.
On the occasion of Britain’s departure from the European Union, the
European Economic and Social Committee published the following press release:
“In her speech, Ms D’Sa expressed her sadness for the UK leaving the EU.
“The EU has lost my adopted country, the United Kingdom, a permanent member
state of the UN Security Council and a wealthy, influential, enterprising and
wonderful nation that fought to liberate Europe in two World Wars. It is a
catastrophe.”
In addition to sadness, Ms D’Sa also voiced some criticism of the EU and
European leaders: ‘Can the EU yet choose to examine its own conscience, or will
it simply move on with business as usual? Has it perhaps pressed too quickly
for the ideal of an ever-closer political and economic Union within our lifetime?
Was it worth losing the UK for this ideal?
'I am grateful for this opportunity to speak and ask God to continue to
bless us all.’
These were the last words pronounced by Ms D’Sa as a member of the EESC
after 22 years of serving as a UK representative. She was appointed for the first
time in 1998 and has since contributed to the drafting of numerous EESC
opinions, especially those of key constitutional significance such as the
reform of the European Treaties, as well as many issues connected with the
single market. She is especially valued
for her ability to explain and clarify complex legal problems and
persuade people to reach consensus on controversial subjects.”
‘Rose writes in her book: “in the main, my contribution concerned
commercial matters largely related to the Single Market of the EU and often on the
subject of State Aid, on which topic I established my reputation. It may have
seemed to others that I had an authoritative understanding of these matters.
The highly respected German science professor, Gerd Wolf, told me after his
retirement that “when you spoke in the meetings it was for me as if suddenly clarity
and reason have emerged”.’
This writer would like to think there were many others of the same
opinion as she was also consulted by many of her British and European legal
colleagues over the years.
One of a small minority of non-white pupils in a mainly white school
"One of a small minority of non-white pupils
in a mainly white school".
Part II Rose M. D’Sa’s
Going
Juu
A
tale of three cultures
www.lexxion.eu/rosedsa-going-
(Order
your free copy at the above link subject
to payment of shipping charges,)
By CYPRIAN FERNANDES
TO MOST non-whites, the Loreto Convent School in Valley Road,
Nairobi, was non-existent. It was a “whites-only” school. As a very young
reporter, I often wondered how the Catholic Church could condone such racism. I
was told: “Don’t open that can of worms if you want to keep your job.” I learnt
later that the Catholic Church’s hierarchy toed the colonial government line in
all things and did what they were told. I never got to write that story, I
moved on to dirtier and more damaging politics. However, there was no doubt
that the Catholic convent school was arguably the best girls’ school in
Nairobi. There was another LC Msongari in the Nairobi suburb of Lavington, a
boarding school and where the whites-only bar had been smashed a long time
before.
Rose’s late father Alex Henry D’Sa (Leo to his friends) (who
passed away much too soon at the young age of 53) was a visionary and like most
fathers he wanted his daughter to have the best, especially in education. In
his own mind, he had planned out Rose’s education. He only wanted the very best
for her
so she could, at least in education, reach the summits of excellence and
achieve the best results possible. I don’t think Dad had any particular plan
for me but he favoured medicine; professional tennis was not an idea he
espoused particularly
On her first day at LCVR (Loreto Convent), Rose got a sort of
promotion; she was promoted to the next higher class after she was impressed in
a comprehension test. It would seem, even as a child, Rose was tough: (In
sport) “It is fair to say even as a child, I took no prisoners.” That is only a
tiny glimpse into her resolve and determination. Moreover, she was well aware
that every single child was “white”. But that did not bother her so much, it
was the strangeness of the school that lifted her eyelids a bit.
She was well aware of the racial divide. It was all new to
her. Even more strange was that she was given elocution lessons … in words,
learning to speak like an English-born person. After spending hours listening
to cassette tapes, she confesses that sounds like someone from Surrey. However,
whatever the temporary negatives, her English accent held her in good stead.
Her Indian looks and her English accent confused a lot of people, not least
those that were interviewing her for this or that.
Her father showed great foresight in sending her to LCVR
because it laid the foundation for personal confidence and success. It helped
that Rose was usually top of her class, the only non-white in a mainly non-white
school. She was a popular choice among the students for Head Girl but did not
get it even though she was better qualified than most, but she acknowledges
that her robust personality and not her ethnicity may have been a factor.
Rose still remembers with affection many of her schoolmates:
Gurjot Singh, Maria Georgiadis (I think her father was a solicitor), Barbara
Swarzenski, Jennifer Osborne, Catherine Spawls, Mother Carmel O’Reilly and
others, all helpfully referenced in the Index of her book.
LCVR certainly equipped her to approach the future with
confidence. She enjoyed sports at school, she also knew doing her homework
properly would give her a competitive edge over the others. She was “both
ruthless and dedicated in the pursuit of academic success”. Some said she was a
born learner.
LCVR and her first tennis coach there, Anne Greenwell, also
set Rose on a path towards a career in Tennis.
The school had four tarmac courts and lots of enthusiasts. One afternoon
she watched her friends, June Carvalho and Ann Hopkins warming up. Rose noticed
they were unable to hit the ball into the vacant spaces near the tramlines and
instead they just “knocked it around.” She writes: “I invited myself on to
their court to show them how to do it properly! They were amused when they
found out I could not even hit the ball. I was fascinated and quickly became hooked.” And a
future tennis star was “born”.
Friday, October 7, 2022
Rose M. D'Sa: A Kenyan Goan British superstar!
GOING JUU (Swahili for taking off, going up, etc)
A tale of three cultures: Kenya Goa Britain
By Rose M.
D’Sa
Published by
Lexxion Publisher-Berlin
394 pages
www.lexxion.eu/rosedsa-going-
(Order your free copy at the above link subject to payment of shipping charges,)
THIS
is a fabulous read albeit a long one: 394 pages but above all, it is an honest
and factual recollection, with no-holds-barred. After all her writing hand is
guided by the brilliant lawyer she is. Her pen does not falter at an
uncomfortable truth, what others might consider “too much information". She
takes us on a long and winding safari about her life, her parents,
grandparents, relatives and friends in Kenya, Goa, Britain and her adventures
as a tennis (an “obsession”) player who could have been Kenya’s first
professional tennis player, the love of her life and then a clinical
examination of her path to lawyerdom. To say that Rose D’Sa is an outstanding
British Kenyan Goan would be an understatement, I reckon she is more than that.
Rose celebrates the three countries she owes allegiance to:
Kenya, the great savannahs full of wildlife, the people of Kenya she met
growing up, the golden beaches at the coast where she holidayed, her school
days at Loreto Convent (Valley Road), the Goan Institute Nairobi, the city of
Nairobi itself (she remained a citizen of Kenya for a very long time); the Goa
of her grandparents and her own parents and, of course, her life in the UK …
truly greatly well lived with much, much to celebrate, life itself.
There have been many honours bestowed upon her, including two
visits to a Royal reception by the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, A
Gold Medal appreciation by the European Economic and Social Committee and lots
of other VIP invitations including being recognised as a Welsh Woman of the
Year.
Rose has scripted terrific odes to her father Alex (we knew
him as Leo) and her mother Annie, grandparents, cousins, uncles and aunties and
she celebrates most if not all of her parents’ friends in Kenya and Goa. As
such it is a major contribution to the disappearing history of the Goans in
East Africa.
She remembers with great joy her late uncle Alu Mendonca,
four-time hockey Olympian, field hockey coach and a should-have-been Olympic
sprinter. On returning from each Olympics or an international match, he always brought
back to her a memento of the trip. He was her own very special inspiration, a
personal “David Beckham” in the family as she writes. Her father was a hockey
umpire and her aunt Teresa was a Kenya hockey international. In Kenya, in those
days there were lots of stars next door because most Goans lived close to each
other.
While she was blown away by Alu’s hockey stardom, she was
also broken-hearted by the manner of his departure. “… when Uncle Alu lived
with my mother (his sister) in Westlands, he similarly showed little
inclination to take any physical exercise and spent hours sitting in a chair,
reading the paper, but otherwise immobile. It could be that this behaviour adversely
affected my mother, too. It was distressing to witness this behaviour in
someone who knew a great deal about physical fitness and one who had been so
fit himself. He was, however, fully capable of walking when he chose to. We
once took them both for a holiday to the coast in Mombasa. It could only be
achieved by organising wheelchair support at the airport and within the hotel.
It was a tiring and tiresome experience for John and me, we had to wheel both
around a fair bit, but our intention was a noble one, to give them a nice
holiday in a luxurious 5-star hotel. On our return journey, the flight was
delayed for several hours. Alu need to use the toilet, so I asked for an
airport attendant to assist him. It took too long for the person to arrive, in
the meantime, Alu calmly got up from the wheelchair and walked to the toilet,
completely normally and unaided. As he came back out, the relevant attendant
arrived and witnessed what seemed like the passenger’s miraculous cure!
Undaunted at being found out, Alu sat down again and just waited to be wheeled
to the aircraft.”
Alu Mendonca passed away on 10 March 2017.
There was a time when Goan fathers only spoke to a child when
he or she needed disciplining and out came the belt, the whipping stick or the slap. Otherwise, the Minister for Home Affairs (the mother) dealt with
everything else. Rose was lucky enough to be born in an era when fathers,
especially those in white-collar jobs, made it their business to in-connect
with their children. Rose and her father, Alex Henry D’Sa (Leo to his friends)
had such a beautiful relationship. When
he passed away suddenly at the age of 53, it changed her life irrevocably. “Several
decades passed before I recovered from the impact and then, perhaps, never
quite completely.”
This book is about one woman’s passion for her
father, her mother, her husband Professor John Anthony Matthews, passion for
relatives, passion for tennis, passion for law and passion for a universe of
interests. And a passion for just life and all that is fortunate enough to
capture her interest and win her dedication.
This is by no means an in-depth review of a book that will
find its niche amongst readers from Kenya, Britain, Goa, Europe and anywhere
else where she is recognised … especially as one of the great lawmakers of the
European community. In the second part, I will look at her passion for tennis
and the law.
Rose
was a visiting Professor of Law at Cardiff University whilst I was there in
1982. She lectured in Constitutional Law and was a wonderful member of the
Cardiff Law School! We had a number of great chats in her rooms over coffee.
Doctor George Kanyeihamba the Head of the Constitutional Law Department
often joined us. The subject of discussion was invariably Uganda and its
troubles under Milton Obote, then in his second term. George had fled Uganda
after making anti Amin Comments whilst holding the Chair of Law at Makerere
University. Rose knew a number of Indians who had been deported from Uganda by
the Dictator. They were incredibly interesting talks and Doctor Kanyeihamba
would be invited back to Uganda after I had graduated, to become one of
President Yoweri Museveni’s first Attorney General, instrumental in rewriting
the Ugandan Constitution. David Cheffings and I, who played first pair at that
time for Cardiff University’s tennis team, took Rose and George on at the
Castle Club in Cardiff. Rose was a great player and the future Attorney General
of Uganda was ‘enthusiastic’! I was very upset when Rose moved to take up a
senior legal position at Birmingham University in around 1984! She is a vibrant
and lovely lady with a huge intellect and an absolute star. Kenya Juu kweli!
Cyprian she
is a lovely lady……incredibly hard working and honestly an inspiring academic.
We had many chats about Kenya and tennis in Kenya. I think she played with many
of the greats of the 70’s in Kenya, the likes of Yashvin Shretta and the Ilako
brothers amongst others! Pleasure to share my memories of her!
Rose was in my class at Loreto
Convent Valley Road. She was the best essay writer of the class and often her
essays were read out aloud. We were both in the school tennis team and often
played doubles together in the tennis tournaments. She was also a brilliant
actress. I recall her playing the part of Portia in “The Merchant of
Venice”where I too had a small part.
Congratulations Rose for
your success
Some of the names that pop up in Rose's book:
Alu
Mendonca, Teresa Mandricks, Dr Abel Carrasco,
Mary Carrasco, David Carrasco, Bessie Carrasco, Emeralda de Mello, Dr
Charlie Paes, Suzette Paes, Dr Peter de Sousa, Lactty de Sousa, Philly and
Neville De Mello, Neil De Mello, Rodney Lobo, Gordon D’Silva, Nelson Coutinho,
Agnes and Anthony Coutinho, Darryl and Arthur Coutinho, Joyce and Florence D’Silva,
Sarah Lobo, Amy D’Souza, Joseph D’Souza, Edith D’Souza, Robert and Elizabeth D’Souza
and their children Ursula, Carl (Bonnie) and Lorraine. Paul and Sarah Lobo and
their children Robin, Gavin, Myrtle and the late Rodney. Joe and Carmen
Pereira, Eustace D’Mello, Frank and Clemy D’Souza’s daughters Linda and Lillian
and her husband Q Lopes. Cruz and Eulet D’Souza, Angelo D’Sa, Pascoal and
Esmeralda de Mello, Alba Fernandes, Norman Da Costa, Eddie Fernandes, Seraphino
Antao, Erika Mendonca-DeSilva, Tyson DeSilva, Avtar Singh, Hillary Fernandes,
Egbert Fernandes, Saude George, Manuel and Maria Mendonca (Rose’s maternal grandparents),
Camillo and Georgina D’Sa (Rose’s paternal grandparents), Willibald Fernandes,
Raymond de Mello, Dr Assumption (Sanoo) de Mello, Shaun Barretto, Rosalyn
Mendonca, Bijoo de Mello, Dr Jeronimo Pius Mendonca, Jules Carneiro, Paul
Nazareth, Dr P Z Patel, Eddie Rodrigues, Albert Joannes, Wilfrid D’Souza, Greg
and Alu Carvalho, Greg Rodrigues, Joe Pereira, V. Sarvala, Marcellus Zuzarte,
Roldao Menezes, Louisa and Valerie De Mello,
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