Bom dia! For those who don’t know me, I am Otto Ekk. I was born in Brazil, emigrated to the US as a young boy with my family, and have been living and working in Portugal since 1989. My wife Marjorie and I have been in North America since December 2011 on furlough, and return to our work in Portugal tomorrow, Monday July 2.
I want to share with you some personal reflections on the Friends of Portugal events held in Fresno and San Diego. From the enthusiasm that I saw at these two events, I believe that Friends of Portugal will have a positive impact in the lives of people living in Portugal. The initial take for me was that of much gratitude to all the people that showed up, and beyond that, all the encouragement I left with from each event.
We were fortunate to have my colleague José Arrais Velez from Portugal with us to give all present a good first hand perspective of a family of 5 living the current Portuguese economic reality. We were able to move ‘beyond the deadlines’ as José touched on one of the big problems of young people leaving Portugal in order to find jobs by telling the audience that his own two sons had just left Portugal in order to work for an Irish Airline.
José’s wife Paula had acquired a good variety of handcraft items that were for sale. Through the various contacts we have made, we have also become better acquainted with Elizabeth Anjos from the Porto region, a gifted artisan of jewelry inspired and handcrafted from Portuguese tiles. Authentic pottery and linens also were available in the artisan / handcraft area. Even some traditional “vinho verde” was to be had during the festivities, along with finger foods and drinks were available at both events. Our hope was to have people sample Portuguese goods and items, and see the uniqueness and high quality of these items. The lack of exports of Portuguese products is a major barrier to economic recovery, and we wanted to have our guests get some sense for what is available in Portugal.
The Central California gathering took place in a very comfortable setting in Fresno and this region has welcomed Portuguese for over one hundred years. Most of the Portuguese immigrants in this part of the United States have their origin in the Azores, islands located 2/3 of the way from New York to Lisbon, in the “middle” of the Atlantic Ocean. They came to the US to find a new life, in many cases because of the financial difficulties on the islands or even on the main land, causing serious personal hardships, and we had numerous attendees who had direct familial connections to the Azores or mainland Portugal.
Now Friends of Portugal came to the Central California on June 2nd, in order to help raise awareness of the current needs in Portugal. Much of the world is becoming aware of the enormous stress countries in the Euro-Zone are experiencing, and many Portuguese families are living under very austere conditions. All this is giving us an opportunity to be an encouragement and direct assistance to the good people of Portugal.
The San Diego event was held a week later on June 8th in the traditional Portuguese neighborhood of Point Loma. What a beautiful and historic setting, only a few miles from the famed Point that celebrates one of Portugal’s great discoverer João Cabrilho (Juan Cabrillo to North Americans) for his prowess of having sailed around the Southern tip of South America and being the first European to chart and record the coast of California! (The picture is of José Arrais Velez and Randy Ataide at the Cabrilo Monument in Point Loma.) Again, at this event the enthusiasm overwhelmed those of us that work directly in Portugal.
Even if an exact count of the number of people may have been a bit difficult to track as both events were open house style, I figure that some 65 people were present in Fresno and 35 in San Diego. While North Americans may think this is a modest size event, I want to say that as someone who has been working in Portugal for some 23 years, it was a true encouragement and would actually be a very large gathering in Portugal! The exciting conversations, especially with young people who clearly have a passion beyond their immediate circumstances, was very touching.
I would like to see Friends of Portugal become a vehicle that carries hope, help and encouragement to Portugal. North America is a very blessed region, and has a long history of lending substantive support and encouragement to the good people of Europe, and also Portugal in particular.
So as we count down our final hours now prior to our departure tomorrow, and finish our packing and final goodbyes to family and friends, I say ‘obrigado’ to those who attended and participated, to our new friends and supporters, and look forward to seeing you in Portugal!
