It is approximately since last 65 years we Goans started coming to Kuwait in particular and to other parts in the Gulf. During these many years we earned hundreds of Dinars in Kuwait and converted into Rupees it turned out to be millions of rupees. From Kuwait we sent lakhs of rupees as donations to so many activities in Goa, for Cancer Society to construct the Cancer Hospital approximately 20 lakhs as per the information I received last. Inspite of this huge donations Novem Goem Daily died within a short time. Why this has happened inspite of the Trust formed comprising the prominent personalities namely Doctors, Advocates, Social Workers and Konkani promoters? Inspite of our fatty donations for Cancer Hospital, there is no Hospital as envisioned in the beginning and as detailed by its emissary Dr. Vaidya who came to Kuwait in mid seventies to ask for donations to construct this hospital. This Hospital is become now something else.
Additonally we sent lakhs of rupees to many other organisations to help them to carry on with their work. Our greater efforts was put into arranging donations for the constructions and repairs of Churches, Shrines, Chapels, Crosses, Church Schools and Colleges, Church managed organisations and many more. We brought from Goa so many priests to Kuwait and organized functions including Tiatros and Ball Room Dance to raise funds for their activities in Goa but never questioned them how they are spending this money neither we sought transparency in their work. But did our Church and especially those who enjoyed the fruits of our employment in Kuwait indicate any concern for us even when we were caught in the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein’s Iraq? The recipient of our donations have totally forgotten us. Who were they? Most of them were those who say Mass every day from the holy Altar and from there preach the word of God by telling the congregation to be truthful, to be faithful, to be grateful and to be BEIMAN – FUL to Kuwaitkars when they are in problem?. I don’t name them but by ignoring us they have disgraced their Catholicism and brought shame on their Padripon. They are not true Padris but in the name of Padripon they practice Saitanpon. And because of such disgraceful Padris Roman Catholicism is weakening in Goa. And if tomorrow Roman Catholicism is evaporated like an aether from the Goan soil it will be only because of such crook Padris who are all out like the corrupt Goan politicians to damage our religion. After our evacuation from Kuwait penniless and many of us like beggars, no recipient of our donations from the Clergy side bothered to enquire what we are doing, what we are eating and what we are drinking and how are we surviving.
From Kuwait itself our doonations was highest for the Roman Catholic Church activities and to the projects undertaken by the priests. Additonally for Goa Cancer Hospital at Dona Paula about 20 lakhs of rupees as per the last information. For Konkani movement we sent in lakhs of rupees including for Novem Goem Daily approximately 5 lakhs of rupees when they wanted only one lakh. What a tremendous negligence in mismanagement by Novem Goem Prathisthan manned by the learned Trustees!! It is surprising that these respectable personalities are not even ashamed to move in society with their heads high. They have committed a crime on the trust and money the Kokani people entrusted with them. If Konkani movement was yesterday successful in Goa leading to the recognition of Konkani by the Goa government and thereby conferring Statehood on Goa, it was mainly because of Kuwaitkars’ money which poured like water during that time. Now anybody may say anything but at that particular point we from Kuwait have done great sacrifices especially some of us who were on forefront in this job, we deprived so many amenities for oursleves and to our families only to help Goan causes like Konkani which was very much backed by the Church.
Our major contribution in the form of donations and doles went to our Church, when I say our Church it should be understood as Roman Catholic Church but did our Church fulfill its obligation towards us? Whenever they wanted any financial help the Church leaders and our priests used to approach me directly and indirectly besides they used to approach others too. We brought so many priests to Kuwait and kept them at our place for number of days taking care of their every need and helping them to collect funds for their missions in Goa. But never I heard from any one of them asking me whether I need any assistance in Goa. Not only that, none of those priests and our Church leaders asked me thus: “ARE VERONICA, TUM ANI TUMCHE SANGATI ITLE NETTAN VAVURTAT AMKAM DUDDVANCHO ADHAR DIVPAK, PUN TUMI TUMCHEA PASSOT KITEM TORI KELAM MURE?” OU AMKANCH POIXE PUNZAUPAK URLEAT?” No priest from our Church who enjoyed our donations said like what I indicated above. They could have pushed us or advised us to purchase the land and property and Plots from the Confraria which were sold to non-Catholics and non Goans who after buying the same from our Church Pe. Vigars finally they became Bhattkars and we still remained Mundkars. Likewise, they knew so many prospective sellers of the Plots in Goa who were selling properties in Goa so cheaply but here too our Church leaders and our priests failed us. In the end many of our Cathoic Bhattkars sold their prime land so cheaply to the buyers and builders from Delhi, Bengalore, Madras, Bombay and other parts of India. Even here our priests and Church leaders could have used their influence and goowill to make contacts with those Bhattkars most of them Catholics to sell their properties to us. We were in Kuwait and other parts of the Gulf and in Goa many of us lacked clever people to hunt for these Plots and properties and this same job our Church leaders and priests could have done for us. But they failed us, may be they thought “AMKAM KITEAK PODDLAM?” May be they thought “AM I MY BROTHER’S KEEPER?” Yes, our Church leaders are “my brother’s keeper” and if they don’t accept this fact then they are not true Roman Catholics.
My resentment on our Church is because being priests they should have analysed our capacity and involve us into investment so that we could build our future on stronger base and by purchasing Goan land we could have kept the custody of our land in our hands. Money was flowing into our hands during that time nicely especially in late seventies, eighties and nineties but instead we spent our money into conspicuous consumption and unwanted luxuries, instead we blocked our money in the zero return investment like big bungalows and more in Bank deposits. Instead of keeping our, costly Limousines and keeping money in the Banks as fixed deposits, however, if we had to invest in land and properties, it would fetch us better dividends because money invested in the land and properties evaluates faster with greater degree than money deposited in the Bank. But to understand this Economy our people in Kuwait in particular and in the Gulf in general were not clever enough having their intellectual power less since most of them were not educationally advanced. See now the Goan land is gone into the hands of non-Goans and they are owning the great portion of Goan land. This same job Gulfies could have done nicely if there were Bom Samaritans to help them in which case our Church could have given direction and lead to do this job. But it looks they did not want us to develop but on the strength of our money they wanted to develop them only. They are the most selfish folks.
Taking this view into consideration, I feel our Church leaders in Goa and especially our Padris mainly those who were having direct link with Kuwait Goans should have applied their minds. But they failed to move in this direction because they were as they are now, still selfish, they did not care for our needs but they cared for their needs only. They knew if they give us the ideas and backing of above nature we would be involving in protecting our finances in which case we would be stopping financing Church activities that would be a great set back for them, the priests, our Church leaders and our Roman Catholic Church as a whole which is not interested much in the development of financial status of the faithful. They are not even praying for the finances and other imperative needs of the faithful in the Churches as Non-Roman Catholic denominations are praying. And precisely because of this, these Non-Catholic denominations are mushrooming all over Goa where more and more people from Roman Catholics are flooding there because what Roman Catholic Church is not doing they are doing especially in helping their members in their material needs while our Roman Catholics are asking everything what little we have. There is going to be very stiff opposition for the Roman Catholicism to survive in Goa when other denominations are doing so wonderful job not only in protecting their members soully but also bodily while Roman Catholicism is sleeping and if it is surviving till now it is only because of the strong base put by our elder Priests and Church leaders.
At one particular time at the later stage I requested one priest who was very close to Kuwait Goans and who was one of the major recipients of our donations, this: Fr. Why don’t you come forward and establish our own Bank so that we can channelise all our remittances from the entire Gulf and other places where expatriate Goans are residing, to this Bank? We will finance this Bank in whatever way we can. But he refused to interfere in this proposal saying priests and Church cannot involve in business ventures. For this I replied to him saying “Vatican has its own Bank and In South India also there is one Bank the Catholic Syrian Bank. Besides I told him “how Fr. X being a priest is having his own Magazine? Is it not a business venture” Then this priest and others of his like kept their eyes on me thinking that I may involve our Kuwait and Gulf Goans into doing financial ventures and thereby killing their chances of getting easy donations from the Gulf and thus started speaking ill of me.
Finally, inspite of all the hurdles for so many years, we Kuwaitcars managed to establish our own company known as “GULF GOANS HOTELS COMPANY “ and under this company we already built our own Hotel known as “Hotel Goan Heritage" at Calangute Ghavravaddo. But we found it very difficult to complete this project because first Goa government under Shashikala Kakodkar opposed us and later on the fringe ingredients from the ambient area.
A.Veronica Fernandes.