Surely, his name is more known than his face. His e-mails fill up the Inbox of Goans around the world. He is the father of ‘World Goa Day’. He is the worldwide Goan net-worker. He is Rene Barreto, from London. BY CONSTANTINO H XAVIER.

ORIGINALLY FROM Vasco, Rene Barreto was born in Dar es Salaam, in 1936. After his schooling in Belgaum he went back to East Africa in 1955 where he worked for Standard Bank. He has been living in London since 1976, but he well known for his propagation  of the  annual worldwide Goan community celebration, World Goa Day. The chosen date for the commemorations, 20th of August, marks the day when Konkani was included in the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution by the Indian Parliament, back in 1992.

How did everything start, I asked Rene Barreto when I met him in London? “Goa Day came about because there was a lack of unity among Goans. It is a way of bringing Goans together. After I wrote to my friends all over the world, some six organizations supported the idea in 2000”, remembers Rene, sitting next to his wife Maria Godinho, originally from Majorda. He now also runs the website www.goaday.com.

Phenomenal Growth

Today, Goan communities from all over the world participate in the event. “We have grown from six to roughly 40 participating organizations” he states proudly. Goans of the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Kenya, Tanzania, the Middle East and Australia were initially the most active participants. But since 2001 Goans also from Portugal, Spain, Pakistan, Germany and even Goans in India have joined. In Toronto the local celebrations brought 5000 people together. In Lisbon, in August 2002, an alliance of Goan associations gathered over a thousand people.

Yet, it is also true that it has been precisely Konkani language that has been neglected by most part of the Goan Diaspora. World Goa Day seems to have become only one more reason for Goans to gather and socialize by eating, drinking and dancing, depicting  what is an annual celebration for a  true Goan. Rene, as the overall coordinator and with the help of US-based NGO Goa Sudharop, tried to tie up the diverse celebrations with a yearly theme, such as “Goan Youth” in 2003 and “Jobs for Goans” in 2004. “I believe that without the Goan youth there is no future for Goans. Goans are loosing their identity and it’s time the youth gets involved” he avers. The phone rings. The meeting with Member of Parliament Keith Vaz, of Goan origin, is confirmed for the next day. As a true networker Rene has got friends all over the world in all kind of positions. A good example of his never-ending activity is perhaps the number of e-mails he sent in July 2004 to Goanet mailing list: in total, more than 60 messages!

Goan Identity

But the communities themselves generally seem to forget Goan identity. In 2004 the Goans of Los Angeles (USA) had a “Portuguese dance performance” in their programme, the Karnataka Goan Association promised a “Karaoke night” and the most widespread initiative with North American Goans seemed to be a “barbecue picnic”. The Goans from New South Wales (Australia) state on their website that “many Goans (in Goa) speak Konkani in addition to English”. Confronted with this gap of ignorance by the Goan Diaspora, Rene Barreto defends that “we cannot put the blame on the community which of course likes socializing and dancing more than everything. But we need to make people aware that there has to be more than that”. What, I ask.

The answer is partially given by two examples: Basilio Monteiro, a Goan from Spain who composed the hymn for World Goa Day (Proud to be a Goan), states that “we owe a debt to Mother Goa which we can give back only by learning and speaking Konkani”. And last year the Quebec Goan Association had the original idea of a writing contest for the younger ones with themes such as “Why do I call myself Goan” or “How does it feel to be a Goan living abroad”. There have been many more interesting initiatives, such as discussions on the role of Goa’s Diaspora in developing Goa, fundraising initiatives for health and education “back home”, literary meetings and Goan Food cooking contests.

Truth is, Rene Barreto has contributed immensely to an awakening of Goa’s Diaspora all over the world, serving as the essential element of contact between the various associations, communities, countries and continents. This has lead to a growing consciousness of Goans worldwide that they are intimately linked to their homeland and that they can draw benefits by interacting with other Goan communities.

Gomant Vishwa Sammelan

What about the recent 2nd Gomant Vishwa Sammelan? Rene was an active participant in the previous editions of this Worldwide Goan Convention annually held in Panjim. “There has been no interaction with the Goans living abroad and we are working on the idea that in future the Alliance of World Goan Organisations will have a representative for communication with the NRI Goa Facilitation Centre. And Mathany Saldanha has verbally promised the support of Goa Government to World Goa Day” he adds.

What moves Rene Barreto to spend hours in front of his computer and send dozens of e-mails per day? “I think of giving something back to my society and my community. I can’t stop doing something I love to do.” Thank you, Rene.

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