Muriel Alvares (nee Mascarenhas)
Pre-1972
Muriel was born to Salvador and Cecilia Mascarenhas,
their first-born, on November 2, 1946, in Nsambya Hospital. I was raised and educated in Kampala, Uganda.
Immediately following my high school education at
Kololo Senior Secondary School, and simultaneously attending the Uganda College
of Commerce Business Administration program, I began working, May 1964 to
support my parents and five siblings. With my smarts, commitment and
dedication, I soon became a vital part of the Uganda Development Corporation
Limited (UDC) where I moved up from the Corporate Secretary’s Office to
Chairman Semei Nyanzi’s office as Executive Secretary until my departure to
Toronto, October 1972, per President Idi Amin’s decree.
Needless to say, during my career at UDC, I
encountered various heads of state, government ministers and senior officials,
e.g., the World Bank and the Commonwealth Development Corporation, as I was
called upon to sit in at all UDC (the development arm of the Uganda government)
meetings and provide minutes of the meetings. This gave me exposure to both
Presidents Milton Obote and Idi Amin, who invited me, on separate occasions, to
Nakasero State House and offered me positions in the President’s Office, which I
graciously turned down in favour of UDC.
Both presidents were businesslike and treated me with great respect
during our brief one-on-one meetings at the State House.
I also got to work with UN Field Officers
working on UDC projects. When they found
out my expulsion predicament, a couple of them suggested I apply to the United
Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) in Vienna; they got me the
application forms from UNDP in Kampala, and mailed the completed forms to UNIDO
HQ’s in Vienna.
Within a couple of weeks, I received a request
to undergo a battery of tests at the UNDP Office in Kampala, which I completed and,
within a month, I received an offer of employment, international terms,
tax-free and duty-free options! My
mother, regrettably, was opposed to my leaving the family and going on my own
to Vienna, Austria. I, therefore, requested
a deferment of six months to be able to settle our family in Toronto before
starting at UNIDO, which, on compassionate grounds, was accepted.
While still in high school, I qualified as a
member of the Uganda Women’s Hockey Team, and represented Uganda in various
international matches locally and in Nairobi, Kenya, and the Afro-Asian Women
Hockey Championship in New Delhi, India, in 1968. It was here that we had an audience with the
late Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India, in her very garden where she
was assassinated by her bodyguard 20 years later, in 1988, very sadly.
We won the Silver Trophy and received a rousing
welcome home on our return from India, having won all our matches in the round
robin but lost the finals to Japan 0 – 1…the team we beat in the very first
match – to our utter disappointment!
Undoubtedly, I enjoyed a comfortable life with
free corporate accommodation, a steady job where I was appreciated, excelled on
the hockey field because of my hockey prowess, and, consequently, was recognized in the media and
business. My 3 younger siblings left
home, 1965, 1968 and 1971 to study at Western Michigan University, USA. I remained as a breadwinner to my parents, who were also working to support our family.
Our farewell from Kampala was amazing. Chairman Nyanzi went out of his way to thank
me for my commitment to UDC over the 8 short but memorable years I served
Uganda through the UDC. I was accorded
3-bedroomed fully furnished corporate accommodation for my parents, three
siblings and I, which came with overnight security and a daily gardener, the beautiful
neighbourhood of Impala Avenue, Kololo, just a short distance from the
president’s residence.
Two weeks before our departure, we decided to
sell my car; UDC loaned me one of its corporate cars to use after office hours
and at weekends. A week before our
departure date, we decided to check into the Kampala International Hotel (as it
was known then), under the umbrella of UDC’s Uganda Hotels. When I drove up to the front entrance, I was
met by staff who handed me two keys to two VIP suites, took care of our
belongings and parked the car for the night.
We were delighted to see what was awaiting us
in our suites: flowers, fruits and a fully-equipped bar and all meals, courtesy
of UDC! We certainly felt very
privileged, but sad, to have to bid goodbye to my birth country after 26
years.
Uganda, in my eyes, is the ‘Pearl of Africa’ as
stated by Winston Churchill: its people,
its climate and its wealth of natural resources from vegetation, minerals,
lakes, rivers and mountains are most enviable.
It is not rocket science, therefore, that the
hard-working Indians whom the British initially recruited, in the early 1900s, to
work on the railways continued their stay, built businesses and prospered
through hard work and sacrifice, becoming the envy of the local Ugandan
people. The Indian businessmen, on the
other hand, for the most part, continued their dominant tendencies, which they
carried over from their homeland and mistreated their poor labour, which,
undoubtedly, was a source of resentment, to some extent.
As it subsequently became evident, the country
fell back 50 years after the expulsion of the Ugandan Asians, and revived again
after President Museveni took charge, January 1986, and re-invited Asians to
reclaim their businesses and start afresh.
Today, Uganda claims to have more than 20 billionaires!
I, however, although only 26 years of age at my
departure from Uganda in 1972, left my name and contribution forever etched in
the history of my birth country, UGANDA:
Uganda
Women’s Hockey Full Back, referred to as the ‘Rock of Gibraltar’
Prepared
and incorporated the following UDC subsidiary companies (hopefully still existent)
with
the Uganda Registrar of Companies, signed Muriel Mascarenhas on behalf of
Uganda
Development Corporation Limited:
Associated
Match Company Limited
Associated
Paper Industries Limited
Uganda
Millers Limited
United
Garment Industry Limited
to name a few companies that come to mind.
1972-1975
President Idi Amin sent his personal envoy to
offer us a presidential escort to the airport, as I had also declined
his offer to remain in Uganda with my husband (I wasn’t married yet!). We
preferred to travel to the airport in police-escorted buses provided by the
Canadian government. We settled down in Toronto soon after touching down at Montreal
Army Base, in November 1972, as our brother Merv Mascarenhas had come a few
weeks earlier to sponsor our Dad and Mom and minor sisters. I was able to connect immediately with
Falconbridge Nickel Mines Limited (Falconbridge) in Toronto, as Falconbridge were a partners with UDC in Kilembe Mines Limited, Western Uganda, and I had met its
Vice President at board meetings several times.
I was offered a position in the Corporate Secretary’s Office to begin
work immediately.
We began to adapt to local winter conditions,
although it was hard initially, as it was our first winter ever. The family
slowly settled down well, and months went by fast. It was July 1973 when UNIDO became anxious
about my vacant position; they sent a letter a month earlier which Mom chose
not to share with me; UNIDO followed up with a telegram to respond by return
telegram, which she kept for me on my return home from work. I decided to report to Vienna on September 2nd,
1973.
Again, this was my first break from my family, and in a distant country, I was very homesick to say the least. I surprised my family by flying home for
Christmas for two weeks, three months later and gradually adapted to my new norm
on my return to Vienna. I was fortunate
that my boss was of Indian origin and, both he and his wife, made sure to
invite me over to their home every time I returned from Toronto. Life was busy
and rewarding, and I made friends with the international community.
In 1974, I bought my first duty-free and
tax-free car, a Volvo, which I ventured to pick up straight “off the press’ as
they say, from Gothenburg, Sweden, and drive solo the 2,500 km. drive to Vienna,
with two friends who had accompanied me by train on my two-day train journey
from Vienna. With my Volvo, I was able
to make weekend trips to neighbouring countries like Hungary (Budapest), the Czech
Republic (Prague), and Italy (Udine); my parents and 4 siblings flew in August 1975, and we did an amazing road trip of 18 countries in 15 days! It was a memorable European
vacation.
While in Vienna, the Indian Embassy connected
me with Indian nationals at UNIDO and the International Atomic Energy Agency and,
consequently, I met a lot of business people.
I was recruited to participate in an Indian Tourist Board pageant, and also
invited to various Indian celebrations.
My friends and I attended the annual famous Wiener
Opernball at the Opera House, where the rich and ritzy from around the world fly
in for the Ball.
The regular drive to Grinzing, the wine
district on the outskirts of Vienna, was a regular whenever out-of-town
visitors arrived, and for most celebrations.
I was back home again Christmas 1974 for two
weeks; when I returned to work, I was offered a permanent contract with UNIDO,
normally offered after five years of continuous service – I was in my second year.
Being the honest person I am, I could not accept and then quit – my
mother was anxious that I settle down in life rather than spend my time
travelling around the world. I
reluctantly did not accept the permanent contract and left my lucrative UN
position to return to Toronto in December 1975.
I drove my Volvo to Antwerp, Belgium, early December 1975, and shipped
it to Montreal, where it arrived in the heart of winter, and we decided to pick
it up on December 30th, in the midst of a horrific winter snow
storm…
1976 - 2002
I re-joined Falconbridge in January 1976 –
happily welcomed me back after my absence of two years but after a month, I joined
Canada Packers Limited, where I worked until it was sold in the spring of 1991.
I got married to Christopher Alvares, whom I
met on a short visit to Bangalore, India, in March 1977, and we tied the knot
in Toronto, October 15,1977.
Our first born, Melissa, arrived a year later,
October 1978, followed by Marsha, three years later, January 1982. Needless to say, these were difficult years
trying to juggle our lives with raising two young children, moving into our
first modest three-bedroom home and maintaining our jobs.
Both Melissa and Marsha were exemplary students
who excelled in school and went on to the University of Waterloo to pursue a
Science/Business degree and a Kinesiology degree respectively; Marsha continued
and attained a Master’s degree in Physiotherapy at Queen’s University. Both are blessed with amazing jobs in their
respective fields.
Also, during 1991 and 2002, my job situation,
after Canada Packers, faced ups and downs – I wasn’t able to latch on to a
regular long-term position. I didn’t let
this discourage me as I am confident of my ability – it was a question of being
a threat to younger staff and subtle discrimination.
The breakthrough came in January 2003 when I
was sent by the employment agency to the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO)
office, Keele St./Hwy 401.
2003 – 2017
Here, while my work was recognised with the
Team Building Award, nine months later after I had just been presented with
this award, I received the ‘pink slip’, a week before Thanksgiving Day, to my
utter dismay! Here again, internal
politics played a dirty role – the Executive Assistant to the Director moved a
buddy of hers into my position to be nearer to her home.
However, the Manager at MTO Queen’s Park, who
got to know of my ability, offered me a one-year maternity leave relief
position in the Correspondence Office of the Deputy Minister’s Office. This became the stepping stone to my success
story.
I began my new position as the Correspondence
Co-ordinator in the Correspondence Unit, Deputy Minister’s Office, MTO, in
October 2003, with the responsibility of finalising minister’s
correspondence. Before long, the Minister’s
Office recognised a marked improvement in the correspondence presented for
signature. I was invited by the Minister’s
Executive Assistant for a chat in her office and was asked whether I had input
into the responses generated for signature.
In January 2005, I was called in by Minister Harinder Takhar, Minister
of Transportation, and offered a month’s secondment to work as Office
Manager/Scheduler in his office.
The one-month secondment was extended to three
months, then one year and finally two years – the maximum period permitted for
a bureaucrat to be seconded to the political workforce. I resigned from the Public Service in October
2007 and joined the Ontario Legislative Assembly/Ontario Liberal Party as a
full-time staffer at Queen’s Park. I
continued with the position with Minister Takhar for 12 years until he stepped
down for health reasons. I continued in
the minister’s office working for Minister John Milloy, Minister Dwight Duncan,
Minister Michael Coteau and Minister Tracy MacCharles in six various portfolios
until my retirement on December 31, 2017.
My Queen’s Park stint was the completion of my
historic work cycle, 1964-1972, with the Uganda Development Corporation Limited
(a quasi-government organization), Kampala, Uganda, the United Nations
Industrial Development Organization, Vienna, Austria, 1973-1975, and ending
with the Government of Ontario in 2017.
While at Queen’s Park, I had the privilege of interacting with both
Premiers Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne;
I received a most memorable retirement reception, with the Canadian and
Ontario Flags on display, at Queen’s Park, and received a signed photograph
with Premier Wynne and letters of commendation from Ministers Takhar and
MacCharles.
Personal/Family Life
Our daughters graduated from the Universities
of Waterloo and Queen’s and moved on to take on exciting positions in their
respective fields, Melissa as Chief Marketing Officer, Canadian Software
Company, and Marsha as Advanced Physiotherapist Practitioner, Division of
Orthopaedics, Toronto Western Hospital, currently. Both are happily married and have two
children each, our grandchildren, are our pride and joy!
Both Melissa and Marsha, back in 2007 and 2008,
volunteered and did an exchange programme while at Queen’s University,
respectively, in Kampala and Kiwoko, Luwero, Uganda. They have heard from me so much about the
great land of Uganda that they wanted to experience it themselves. Melissa spent three weeks with a group of
about 12 of her colleagues from Softchoice, setting up a computer lab for 21
street kids, and providing beds and bedding for these kids, a most rewarding
experience all around.
Marsha, together with a fellow student at
Queen’s, spent six weeks at the Christian Hospital in Kiwoko, Luwero, Uganda,
where they treated survivors of AIDS, women and children. Here again, living conditions were minimal
but it was rewarding for them to witness the awe and gratitude in the eyes of
the patients when they were ready to leave the hospital and return to their
humble homes.
I visited Uganda in August 2008 for 2 weeks
with my sister, Merlyn, and her family, and Melissa; it was nostalgic for me to
return first time to my birth country after 36 years and see at first hand how
much bigger and busier it had grown over time.
While my family moved on to visit the Gorillas in Western Uganda, I
stayed back to visit with former colleagues and friends. This was very special for me to meet some of
the people I associated with back in the 70s, eat and laugh with them and,
most importantly, to reconnect with them.
I travelled to Lugazi and Kakira and met with the Mehtas and
Madhvani’s, respectively. The warmth and
affection I received from everyone were incredible. Regrettably, many of my former acquaintances
were no more, some having disappeared over the tumultuous years, and others
from illnesses.
I was back again in October 2012 with my
husband, Christopher, and close friends on the occasion of Uganda’s 50th
Anniversary of Independence.
The late High Commissioner George Abola, High
Commissioner of Uganda to Canada, and I were colleagues at UDC in the late
60s, and we met by chance at a fundraiser at CBC in Toronto in 2011. I recognised George in the gathering and
introduced myself. This was another
reunion with a former colleague, and our friendship with him, his wife and the
Uganda High Commission staff flourished.
I was recruited on the Committee for the 50th
Anniversary of Independence celebrations in Toronto and, together with a team
of ex-Ugandans organised a successful celebration in Mississauga on October 06,
2012. A couple of days later, my husband
and I and friends flew to Uganda for the 50th anniversary. George, meantime, requested the Uganda
Foreign Office to have an official invitation ready for pick up for my husband
and I to attend the official ceremony at Lugogo Stadium on October 9, 2012. We were seated at the VIP dais with the
President, the Duke of Kent, and all the VIP’s, truly an unspeakable honour to
be able to attend and to witness the parade of the armed forces, veterans, and
students marching by – brought back fond memories when I was one of the high
school students marching by President Obote and the Duke of Kent, 50 years
earlier, October 9, 1962!
Sadly, George Abola retired a few years later
to return to his home town of Gulu, and passed away a year later.
My stint at Queen’s Park gave me similarly
beautiful opportunities to interact with Federal and Provincial ministers, fellow
Ontarians, Members of the Diplomatic Corps, dignitaries and official
international visitors to Queen’s Park.
With my event management abilities, I had the additional task of
planning official receptions for the ministers and ensuring that the necessary
protocols were maintained. Needless to
say, working hours were long and stressful, but I seemed to thrive under the
weight of my responsibilities and duties.
On my 71st birthday, I had to make the hard decision to
retire or continue to work, whereby I would be heavily taxed as I was expected
to assume my pensions on December 1, 2017, the first of the month following my
71st birthday. I retired on
December 31, 2017, and handed over my keys on January 12, 2018, after ensuring
that Minister MacCharles’ office was left in sound hands.
The Ontario Liberals lost their status in 5
months in the June 2018 Ontario Elections, so my departure from the
Ontario Government was timely!
2018 - 2025
My health unfortunately took a turn to the
worse soon after my retirement; I probably took less than a week off as sick
days during my entire work life, but it has been a different story since my
retirement. I was diagnosed with Chronic
Kidney Disease and a very rare form of kidney disease which doctors put down as
genetic for no other better reason.
While I fought dialysis for 7 years, I finally succumbed, in July this
year, and had to undergo surgery for a catheter in my abdomen and commenced
home dialysis (peritoneal dialysis (PD)) on August 20, 2025, twice a day. Initially, the thought was mind-boggling but,
with determination and support of my beloved family, and sound medical care
from the Nephrology Team at Scarborough General Hospital, I am ploughing
through with ease and efficacy. My
ultimate goal is to receive a live donor kidney within a year or so, so that my
life is somewhat normalized.
As a sportswoman, I love sports and outdoor activity,
which I am no longer able to participate in but have settled to watching tennis
and baseball on TV. I try to attend most
of the ice hockey and baseball practices/matches the grandkids are
participating in, which give me much joy and encourages the young ones too.
I have also had to curtail my volunteer
activities to some extent because I am immuno-compromised, and am required to
exert caution. I, however, still
continue, by Zoom, to participate in a number of ministries in my church and
the Liberal Party of Canada.
Trophies and Awards
I shall attempt to recount as many as I can!
I came to Canada with close to 24 silver
trophies I earned in Kampala from the numerous field hockey tournaments and
matches played representing Kololo Senior Secondary School, the Kololians
Women’s Hockey Team and the Uganda Women’s Hockey Team.
Scarborough Bicentennial Pin and Certificate –
1996
Chairperson – St. Henry Catholic School
Community – 1987-1996
Uganda Goans 25th Anniversary
Celebrations Executive Committee – July 1997
Uganda Goans 25th Anniversary
Celebrations “Stopover in Uganda” – July 1997
Scotiabank Group of Companies United Way
Campaign – 1999
The Archdiocese of Toronto/Epiphany of Our Lord
Parish Official World Youth Day Volunteer – May 2002
Ontario 5-, 10-, 15-, 20-Year Volunteer Awards –
2000-2020
Scarborough Youth Justice Committee Annual
Awards – 2000 – 2020
Queen’s 70th Anniversary Platinum
Jubilee Medal and Award for Community Work – 2022
King Charles III Coronation Medal for Community
Work - 2025
Beautiful Garden Award – MP Jean Yip – my
latest award and garden sign – August 2025
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