Esta vai ser a minha terra.

Refere-se à África do Sul, a Durban. Aquilo sim, que era o mundo. Na Madeira, na Fajã, o trabalho era duro e a vida difícil. A chegada à África do Sul foi um  sonho. Aquela era uma cidade com mar e amigos.

- Não vou voltar à Madeira! 

Maria tinha 16 anos. Já estava casada com um rapaz que não conhecia. Assim: ele – vamos chamar-lhe M. – veio à Madeira com intenção de casar. Um primo provocou o encontro, trocaram olhares, receberam a bênção do pai, apertaram a mão e casaram na Igreja de S. Pedro – que o tempo não era de festas.

Fala, ri, chora, canta. Teve uma vida de trabalho, mas uma vida feliz.

A África do Sul foi a sua vida. Hoje, tem pena de ter voltado, de ter vendido tudo, de ter perdido aquela terra, aquelas gentes, aquela vida. Afinal, as áfricas não são todas iguais....

Maria trouxe-nos passaportes. Estão ali os seus caminhos, afinal.

This is where I want to live

 It meant South Africa, Durban. She had finally seen the world. Back in Madeira, in the country side life was hard and miserable. Arriving to South Africa was a dream came true. She encountered old friends and relatives.

-          I am not ever going back to Madeira!

Maria was 16 years old. She had just married to a young boy she had met once. He had come to Madeira to look for a bride. A cousin arranged the meeting. After a quick glimpse,  he talked to the girl’s father,  gave a hand shake to seal the matter and the young couple married at S. Peter’s church in Funchal – a family dinner was more than enough.

She is a cheerful lady. She laughs at lot, she sings and occasionally she drops a tear ( when painful memories get in the way). She has worked hard but she enjoys life.

She regrets having returned to Madeira. The family had to sell everything they owned … and part of her was left there. South Africa was a good place to live in.

Maria showed us some old photos and her passports… so as to show us the endeavours of (her) life.

 

 

MARCOS TEIXEIRA e o(s) caminho(s) que a vida lhe indicou

O que leva um miúdo de 12 anos a embarcar sozinho para o Brasil? O que sente um menino quando separa os seus olhos dos olhos da mãe que fica no cais, sem metade do coração? O que significa o silêncio da lembrança quando a lancha se afasta do cais e a terra vai ficando longe?

Começou assim a entrevista com Marcos Teixeira. Primeiro, o Seixal, a escola, a professora, a terra, a vida. O pai já estava embarcado na Venezuela. Em dia de carta, juntavam-se todos à volta da mesa, à luz de uma lamparina. A mãe lia a carta e guardava a remessa:

 – vinha sempre um dinheirinho para pagar a venda.

Olha com ternura para o passado que a memória lhe traz. Ilustra a sua história, com retratos que fotocopiou par nos mostrar:

- a minha mãe, eu e os meus irmãos. Eu era o do meio. Esse rapazinho de fato e gravata sou eu. Foi para a viagem:

 E avança: a aventura, a viagem no Salta, o encapelamento do mar, os clandestinos que iam no barco:

- Havia um cesto que passava debaixo da mesa. Cada um metia lá dentro alguma coisa: um pão, fruta…. Eram quatro, desembarcaram no Rio de Janeiro com os nossos passaportes que alguèm nos trouxe, depois, de volta . É que eu ia para Santos.

Na sua história, há um Brasil doloroso, com saudades da mãe, há um menino que chora quando a noite vem, há a chegada do pai e depois da mãe e dos irmãos….

Na sua história, há a Venezuela, a padaria, o quarto, a arte de estofador, a música… a música. Na sua história, há um disco (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leFMen96i60), o gosto de cantar, o negócio, o trabalho, a casa, o amor, os filhos.

Na sua história, há o sucesso, o medo, a insegurança. E a saudade do cais. Em 1977, veio à ilha pela primeira vez. Em 1980, vieram todos. Em 1983, vem para ficar.

Da sua casa, via-se a Sé. Um desejo velho de quem sabe o que é não estar. E ouvia-se o sino. Como dantes. E era-se feliz. Como nos sonhos.

É empresário. Falou com orgulho do que construiu, do amor que tem à família, dos filhos, da vida que tem, entre o trabalho, a casa e a igreja. Falou sem preconceitos de si, dos seus, de Deus.

Um homem de fé, sim. Um homem feliz.

 

Marcos Teixeira … Life has showed him the way

What was the real reason for flying to Brazil at the age of twelve? What did a young boy feel when he looked back and saw the tears in his mother’s eyes and her broken heart? How heavy was the silence that accompanied him in the rowboat that took him on board the vessel?

This is how the interview has started. Marcos Teixeira talked first about his childhood in Seixal, the school, the teacher, his house and everyday life. He explained his father had already gone to Venezuela. He was two years old and could hardly remember his face. Whenever a letter arrived, he and his brothers sat around the kitchen table, his mother lighted the oil lamp and read the letter. She also kept the money that had been sent inside the envelope:

-          It helped to pay the greengrocer’s bill.

Marcos looks back with tenderness and while talking he showed us some old pictures.

-          My mother, me and my brothers. I am here, in the middle. I was dressed in a suit and tie. This picture was taken for the passport:

And he carried on: he talked about adventure, about the vessel, the Salta from Argentina, he remembered the rough sea and also those who travelled undercovered:

-          There was a basket hidden under the table. Everyone tried to put something inside: a piece of bread, some fruit … there were four of them, they landed in Rio de Janeiro with our passports… later someone brought them back. I needed my passport to land in Santos.

We have noticed some pain and some sadness. The young boy missed his mother terribly …. He cried almost every night and sometime later, his father joined him and so did his mother and his brothers …

In Venezuela he started working in a baker’s. Then he decided to learn a job: upholsterer and he also started singing … he even recorded a single http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leFMen96i60). Those were fantastic days! He started his own business, had a house built and fell in love.

But there was also fear and a lot of insecurity. And most of all he missed his home land. He visited Madeira in 1977. He came back for another visit with the whole family in 1980. In 1983 they settled down in Funchal.

He found a house with a view over the city and from where he could look at the Cathedral. He could also hear the church bells. Like it used to be when he was a child in Seixal. A dream came true!

Today he is a local businessman. He has shared his story. He has opened his house and his heart … he is spiritual man, indeed. He is a happy man, indeed!