Cape Verde handicraft ...

One way of further helping the local communities in Cape Verde is buying the handicraft they produce (sculpted characters made of clay  and banana leaf) , which is focussed on the daily life activities, amongst which are - "cuchindo o milho"; selling home made cakes in the street corners, looking after the children, etc.

These "pieces of art" are as simple as the people who do them, which is what I really like.

I do sincerely hope to be able to buy some of these to bring back, during my  fairly tight scheduled stay in Santiago island, although it is not always easy to get them, once it is not a mass production type of handicraft.

With the future in mind ... or Aditional solidarity gestures ...

Today I have been approached by a few of my colleagues wanting to give me their contribution for the project in Calheta and I can't help but feel particularly proud to realise, once more, that  Portuguese people still do care about others. I may be considered a "dreamer" and even naïve enough to feel that these gestures will eventually make a difference. They may not be significant in the imediate, but will certainly have an impact in the long run ... I just know it because of previous experiences.

Back in 1986, a student from ASA, where I was teaching at the time and who simultaneously was a friend of mine had a young daughter (whose name was Gi) with sight problems, which could not be resolved in Cape Verde and due to the prompt necessity to do something about it, I decided to bring the child with me and have her observed by an ophthalmologist. Following that episode and after the child returned to Sal fully recovered, everytime I went to Cape Verde during the Summer to carry out the yearly Aeronautical English refresher courses I used to carry books that belonged to my daughters, both of them fairly young at the time to give to Gi and her half sister Bety.

I did this for over a period of maybe 4 years and to my surprise in 2000, whilst on holiday down there, two young ladies approached me enthusiastically calling me Yolas (a nickname that very few people knew of, with the exception of my students) ... I had absolutely no idea who they were  ... and it was only after they started telling me how much "Anita's books" had helped them read and dream, did I realize these teenagers,  who now wanted to go to university, were the young girls I had brought these books to, over the years.

Bety in "Bom Dia Café", Espargos, 2009

They have attended University courses in Portugal, having both had scholarships. What a handful of books did is a lot more than anyone would have thought of. It allowed them to develop their reading skills, but also to "travel" within the world of the stories and the dreams ... the dreams that one day came true.

These are the things I was given for the "supported" children, which I will be carrying together with the 20 kilos of material I have bought for the next February workshop. Who knows if some  of these children will not also be able to have dreams and fulfil some of them in the future! ...

Three T-shirts; a box of colouring pencils and some school material given by Isabel for her "protegée" Justina, as well as some small presents (a skipping rope, a book and a small gift the girlfriends who will be at the birthday party are to give her in their name) bought by me.  Isabel has also ensured the yearly school fees of Justina, having given me an extra amount of money to organize her birthday party.  

Some books  and note books I have bought for my "protégée" Leinira, as well as a skirt, a T-shirt and some sandals.

T-shirts, shorts and school material provided by Surama and her husband Sérgio for both their "protégées" Neuza and Simone. The couple has also given me the money to ensure the yearly school fees for the girls.

Some school material bought by Carla, who still has got no "protégée". She has also given me the necessary money to pay for the yearly  primary school fees of one girl/boy.

Children bead bracelets, rings and necklaces (12 of each) offered by Surama for the children, who will be participating in Justina's birthday party. 

I have also been given the money to ensure Tarine's school fees (by her "godmother" Fátima) and the  pre-primary school fees for Nessinha (by Sandra), not to mention two school bags, for which I still have to find space in my luggage - one for Elias (bought by Gabriela) and another one for Justina (bought by Isabel), as well as money to buy school material for whoever may need (given by Maria João).

Calhetona, Calheta de São Miguel - Cape Verde

This is where I'll be staying for two nights, whilst in Calhetona to organize Justina's birthday party, which will be held on the 11th of June. This house belongs to the Schellmann's, who have been living here for a few years and whose support to the local school and  the recent bd sport active association could be a role model for other private groups or organizations wanting to help local communities.

They have a restaurant, organize a wide variety of cultural/trekking circuits within the area and most important of all Sibylle Schellmann is the patron of Escola Velhinho Rodrigues,  therefore being able to directly intervene in whatever is necessary. They are the ones who have been lodging me and providing me with the daily meals since I have started carrying out the various workshops in this area. Knowing the local reality and the difficulties the families have to go through, they are also the ones who have been sellecting the children for the activities and those liable to need external support to further continue attending school.

The community is a rural one, which compared to the urban life like I am used to seems like a totally different world ... but it is when one feels what simplicity is about that one balances out the real values of life.

Cape Verdians are hard workers and are known to  "make wonders" when it comes to cultivating dry and gravel stoned ground and Calhetona is no exception. Women work from morning till dawn in an almost non-stop sequence of  outside activities and chores. People rarely complain about their living conditions and seem to proudly focus on whatever they  have achieved taking into account the circumstances.

Although I have been coming here as a teacher ... I don't know who has been "teaching" who!...

Postcrossing "surprises" ...

I have been a postcrosser since August, and amongst some amazing cards, information on traditions and even small "treats" I have been "awarded" with since then, I have had two incredible suprises over this weekend. I have met Tijen, a postcrosser from Turkey  and tasted some "callisons" sent to me by Alex, a postcrosser from France.

Every card is unique and every poscrosser is unique in his/her  own way. There are postcrossers whom you send just a card to once or receive just  a single card from and yet  there are other postcrossers, whom we feel like further writting to(although we may or may not) ... Tijen and Alex have been such cases. Tijen  and I have been exchanging cards and messages for a while, Alex, on the other hand has been a fairly recent postcrosser friend, I should say.

As I was preparing myself to travel up North to meet Tijen, a health food researcher with already a few books published,  I opened my mail box and there was this packet with a few calissons and  macarrons -"very health like" traditional French candy,   I had never heard of nor tasted and whose ingredients I wouldn't consider letting Tijen know of, in case she didn't exactly agree with the concept of "health-like".

Amarante where I met Tijen, had its local São Gonçalo festivities going on over the weekend with drum group playing competitions and to my surprise traditional cake baker's and street-stalls spread around the Tâmega river shores selling fallus-shaped cakes of all sizes, which according to tradition were offered by the local women to bridegrooms to be.

Nobody was able to tell me the origin of this tradition, which I feel must be pagan ..., but it is undeniable that local people do feel for and worship São Gonçalo, as the old ladies match-maker patron saint.

Had it not been for my postcrossing friends and I wouldn't have tried any of these exquisite "gourmet" specialties ...

Note: Calissons are traditional French candy consisting of a smooth pale yellow, homogeneous paste of candied fruit (especially melons and oranges) and ground almonds topped with a thin layer of white icing (royal glaze). Callisons are almond shaped and traditionally associated with the town of Aix-en-Provence. (Wikipedia)

Solidarity gestures ...

When I started this blog  just a month ago, I had no idea it would have an impact regarding the volunteering projects I have been carrying out in Cape Verde.

Just  two days ago a colleague of mine (Silvia) walked into my office with a whole new outfit for Justina to wear on her first ever birthday party ... the one I will be organizing for her next week.  Soon after, another colleague (Manuela) handed me a small  handmade wallet for her with half the amount she will need to have her next year school fees paid for, and that's not all ... because as I was emotionally telling this to another colleague (Luisa), she unexpectedely handed me the rest of the money which was still needed to pay for the whole amount of Justina's school year's fees.

I believe the fact that these colleagues know there is a child in need, who has got a face and a name and that what they have provided me with in these unique solidarity gestures is going to be given to a child whose story they have been  made aware of, does make a difference ... and I am not saying one should not  give money for less "visible" causes  ... but at least there's this sense of direct involvement ... and

contribution towards the happiness and development of this or that particular child.

A few weeks ago Surama and her husband became Simone and Neuza's "godparents" and yesterday I have been told that apart from what  the couple will soon be giving me to take for both children, Surama has decided to  also give me 12 bracelets and rings for the girls, who will be participating in Justina's forthcoming birthday party ... as a little treat.

I must say these solidarity gestures have touched me and I am immensely grateful because ... with this type of support I just might be able to "move further" ...

Foreplay by Mpumelelo Paul Grootboom

According to Lyn Gardner of the Guardian this is " one of the most remarkable pieces of theatre to come out of South Africa" ...

I am tempted to say this was probably the best theatrical play I have seen for a long time.
Almost two hours of a very realistic intimate like approach in the form of  interwining relations of various pairs of lovers in a structured sequence of interconnected scenes and characters: the whore and the soldier; the soldier and the barmaid; the barmaid and the young man; the young man and the preacher's wife; the preacher's wife and the preacher; the preacher and the schoolgirl ... until the final scene takes us back to the initial one, this time involving the whore and the polititian. Many of the sexual nature scenes unveil a society ruled by hypocritical attitudes, some of which are not much different from our day to day reality.

Mpumelelo having adapted a 1900 play by the Austrian dramatist Schnitzler, used a brilliant cast of six actors (three women and three men) in a combination of  raw dance and acting. The setting of the whole  theatre scene sequencing started with the three female actors on stage in a sort of street walking type of  "foreplay" attitude, openly provoking the public, as we were being shown our seats.

Several theatre critics have defined this play as being very "physical", shocking, poignant, thought-provoking, disturbing, splendid and even humurous at times  ...
... I would simply say it was brilliant ...

Koketso Mojela - Barmaid and schoolgirl
Refilwe Cwaile - Prostitute
Ntshepiseng Montsshiwa - Preacher's wife and actress
Mandla Gaduka - Young man and playmaker
Sello Zikalala - Soldier and preacher
Boitumelo Shisana - Polititian

Coreography - Israel Bereta
Light design - Wilhelm Disbergen
Stage management - Zane Mashaba assisted by Kaya Mokoape
Production South African State Theatre

The last judgement ...

According to several historians Dom Pedro had left instructions that both Dona Inêz de Castro, his long time lover, murdered in 1355 and he (having died in 1367) should be buried with their feet towards each other, so at Ressurection he should be able to see her rising from her tomb.

On their limestone tombs, which are very much alike in design, there are 3 angels on each side of their lifesized carved heads and although many doubts persist as to whether they are about to lift them from where they are lying or there to just help them being laid down, many would like to believe it is the latest.

Intricate love and betrayal stories like this one have always filled our imagination and having known these characters existed further adds to wanting to get to know every little detail of their disturbed lives, namely the one that lead him to have her crowned as queen after having been buried in a ceremony which one would only expect to watch in films.


As I was looking at the "last judgement" depicted at the foot of Dona Inêz tombstone I just wondered about the whole concept of judgement and which variables would be used at one's last judgement ...