At last some story telling...

Hello!

I am back to Europe (Portugal - Alentejo - Beja) and to fast internet connections...on my way to return to my beloved India...and then, if the inner voice permits, back to Africa.

I am now almost completing two years in Angola (Lusiada University in Benguela - Lobito) ...time passes quickly...

This has been a very rich experience...Learning, teaching,...learning again...living and sharing my life, especially with my dearest wife and soul mate....

Angola is passing trough a period of rapid economic growth in the way to its reconstruction...but like in most of the cases this is a real uneven process...between people and regions, especially littoral/interior. ...

This is a society which was completely torn apart by a civil war with more than 30 years, fuelled by the "Cold war" and the sins of humanity.

So, living in Angola could be quite a challenge especially for the average "developed" country native. In Angola we can realize that what we can consider to be the exception, the underdeveloped situation in any given more developed society (depending on the concept of development we accept), is normally the rule. And we start opening our eyes...the world is still more in the "exception" than in the excellence path.

I love to work in the field of education, to study, to write, to share knowledge, to learn, to open horizons...and to change mentalities and their certains....in particular I am specializing myself in the field of Development Economics and more recently Regional and Urban Economics...My professional experience is still very limited and I have a long road to travel...but I am motivated to walk every meter of it...

In the education field in particular, a lot of vices still perdure...in a society torn way by fear, corruption and lack of confidence and self esteem.

The people of Angola passed by situations which I can not even imagine and which I now began to acknowledge.

It was an enormous pleasure to see many of my students (and at the same time my teachers :)) developing their capacities and confidence in their voices and opinions.

Know yourself and respect your inner voice and you will be invincible and will live a fulfilled existence.

Many times during their path to the university the students were encouraged (by unskilled teachers that also many times are afraid to explore their own limitations, and so they stop their own development) to just memorize the knowledge.

They generally dont think for themselves, so to humanize the process and release their creative ability is one of our major challenges.

They lack basic interpretation and study capacities, they dont really dominate the Portuguese official language, despite the fact that in most cases they always have been in direct contact with it.

Unprepared teachers and a very very very limited reading culture....when you dont have books it becomes impossible to read...when the first priority is a meal...the search for knowledge is a very secondary necessity...especially if you see that school knowledge can not be essential to achieve a god job or even to get a diploma.

Money and a close relationship with someone in power can be much more important. Merit and honest work is not many times rewarded.

The students many times are victims of the process but worse, they want sometimes to take advantage of it...and not change behaviors and actions.

To this I say, work, develop your great potential and you will be honestly rewarded. It becomes impossible to apply a "developed" country level of excellence, the challenge is (as one great Angolan student of the university said) to bring the students to an university level and not bring the university to the general students level.

When you live a life (or have been/are too close to it) where poverty (monetary and spiritual) is the main aspect it becomes harder to follow the eternal truths (basic human values).

When what is at stake is basic survival, humans tend to develop their survival instinct. And even when basic survival is not so cleary at stake, the fear, the memory of poverty is there and that fact obscures and constrains (limitation) the human behavior and his/her existence.

The fear and the greed attached to the Ego...the fear of loosing a job, some given reputation and other futile achievements and boundings are the fundamental aspects which dont let people act in a genuine and frontal way....and really feel happy about themselves...

As the Mahatma once said...." I am painfully aware of my failings"... human ones...but this fact only gives me more determination to walk the path of truth and non - violence (in thoughts, words and actions - against you and others)...

The University (with more or less 5 years - the exact period of unprecendent peace in the country) has now about 1000 students ....this year the first group of finalists are hopefully formed (Economists, Business Administrators, Accountants, ...), next year will be Law students ... in a country with less than 1% of native people with a superior education, it as to be a very positive fact.

Nevertheless, I have to realize that most of the people enrolled in the university are from the minority middle and upper class. Most of the people in this country live in poverty, where the children have only a probability of 75% to reach the age of 5.

Despite loving and being almost completely enrolled with my job, I manage with time and some accumulated experience to link myself more and more with other projects, people and organizations which struggle every day to try to make this country a little better place to live (keeping in mind what Shumacher once said...just a little of practical work is more important than tons of theory)...

I have to thank and support the following organizations...SOS Villages, CRS, UNDP, The sisters of S. Vicente, Leigos para o Desenvolvimento, Amnisty Angola...and more...) ... They try, many times with little steps to build this country from the base... ...

to be continued.... :)

Warm regards...and do keep in touch...