Father’s Day

Living in Africa, I feel like a cast away at times. Things are happening – good or bad – in the rest of the world, except that I am keeping extremely busy to make my self imposed exile period disappear in lightning speed.

Today is the hundredth year of celebration of Father’s Day in the US. Fathers (and mothers) were there even before Father’s Day (and its commercialization). Not everyone is as lucky as I have been. My father (some say he was my grand father) was like a mountain unmoved by storms, like an ocean with an unseen depth of love. He went to his eternal home when I was in 8th grade. To be honest, he never left me. He has been my guiding light. His standards were high. I try to emulate his values of hard work, punctuality, honesty, and frugality. I certainly fall short of his standards. I have been a father myself for sometime, learning about fatherhood on the job and making mistakes along the way. I will never be a father like my father. Regardless, I have been very fortunate.

What do the orphans and fatherless children of the world look up to? Perhaps Father’s Day is a sad day for them. On this Father’s Day as we think about our fathers, I hope we will also pause for those fatherless children of the world.

A Sunday at Barra do Kwanza

It was a Sunday (May 30) get away from Ilha where I simply work, eat, and sleep. Quintas took me to Barra do Kwanza (i.e. the mouth of the river Kwanza where the river meets the sea).















There were a few Chinese folks fishing on the river and families with small children were strolling on the river beach. The serenity of the place and a leisurely lunch made me forget my usual place for a few hours. Besides, I have a special affinity for rivers. They have a calming effect on me and they always remind me of the big river I grew up on as a child. One Angolan told me once (with a smile) that if you drink water from the Kwanza river, you can become immortal. Sounds like holy water of the Ganges!