A Warm Welcome to the Dr. Ribeiro Goan School Ex-students, their families, friends, and guests, visiting Toronto for the celebrations.

Clicking the image of either school will take you to: http://www.goanvoice.ca/2003/Flyer_dr_ribeiro/nairobigoanschool.htm

Newsline Canada

Provincial Election in Ontario October 2, 2003
TORONTO-- Conservative Premier Ernie Eves called an autumn election Tuesday, naming Oct. 2 as the date Ontario voters will head to the polls. Eves is seeking his first mandate as premier, and the party's third straight majority. See:
http://www.goacom.com/news/news2003/sep/msg00007.html

Commentary: Ontario Elections - Premier Ernie Eves makes opportunistic power grab
In calling an election so quickly after the massive power outage that left millions of Ontarians sweating in the dark, Premier Ernie Eves is clearly hoping to take advantage of his highly-touted "visibility" during the
crisis, while tap-dancing around the whole issue of his government's electricity policies and the role they played in the blackout. See:
http://www.goacom.com/news/news2003/sep/msg00008.html

Nairobi Goan School Reunion Makes News
......A 40-year reunion Kenya school grads gather here
Mississauga is an unlikely place to hold a Kenya high school reunion. But then, much about Dr. Ribeiro Goan High School is unlikely.For starters, all the students were once Goans; this in a school that's located in Nairobi, one of Africa's largest cities.
Then there's the fact most graduates, circa 1963, by now have scattered across the globe, including many in Canada.
So, when you think about it, Mississauga is probadly as good a place as any to hold a reunion. At least, Agnes Rocha thinks so.
See Article by: Joseph Chin & Sent By: Tim de Mello, at
http://www.goacom.com/news/news2003/sep/msg00013.html

Canadian Community Health Survey: Mental health and well-being
Statcan News Wednesday, September 3, 2003
As many Canadians suffer from major depression as from other leading chronic conditions, including heart disease, diabetes or a thyroid condition, according to new data on mental health and well-being from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS).

Some 4% of people interviewed in the survey reported having experienced symptoms or feelings associated with major depression, compared with 5% with diabetes, 5% with heart disease and 6% with a thyroid condition.

While all mental health disorders could not be included, major depression was one of five mental health disorders assessed by the survey. The others were mania disorder, panic disorder, social phobia and agoraphobia, as well as alcohol and illicit drug dependence.

One out of every 10 Canadians aged 15 and over, about 2.6 million people, reported symptoms consistent with alcohol or illicit drug dependence, or one of the five mental disorders covered in the survey, at some time during the 12 months prior to the interview.
See complete article at: http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/030903/d030903a.htm

News Clips from Goa
by Joel D'Souza & Fred Noronha

GOANET MEMBERSHIP RULES
http://www.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet/2003-September/004861.html

YELLOW MENACE GRIPS GOA'S CAPITAL
Goa's capital city, Panjim. was gripped by the fear of jaundice with as many as 300 people affected by the yellow menace by end-August, with 32-year-old Rajendra Kudnekar of Saligao being the first victim to die of Hepatitis E in the last week. The inflow of filthy water from outside the kitchen of a Panjim hotel in the main pipeline has been pinpointed as the source of the problem. Large quantities of water, which is said to have stagnated in the underground chambers and cavities outside the hotel premises, found its way into the main pipeline. Though late the government swung into action and sealed, hotels and restaurants violating health, food and drugs norms, sealing a number of hotels, restaurants, fast-food kiosks in the main cities of Goa, after finding them violating all norms of hygiene. The government has also earmarked an amount of Rs.100 crore to improve the health care system in Goa by the year 2007.

FINE MONSOON THIS YEAR
The monsoon season has entered the 'nervous nineties'. For the first time in a couple of years, the total rainfall is likely to cross the century mark. While the State has already received 97 inches, the meteorologists are confident that the rain will duly complete its century during the next few days. The last gush was witnessed in 2000 when around 125 inches of rain was receiving during the normal season.

GOA HEADED FOR 'MEDICAL TOURISM'
Goa has already established itself as a popular tourism destination. Could it be the next destination for 'medical tourism'? Dr Pratap Reddy, chairman of the Apollo Group of hospitals, opined that this could be a possibility, particularly in light of the establishment of the super-speciality Apollo Victor hospital at Margao. He, however, emphasized that the Rs.27 crore, 150-bed hospital would cater primarily to Goan patients. "There is a potential to earn about $300 billion through medical tourism, he disclosed to the media on September 3.

ST FRANCIS RELICS EXPOSITION
The 16th solemn exposition of the sacred relics of St Francis Xavier will be held from November 21, 2004, and end on January 2, 2005, at Old Goa. A decree announcing the holding of the solemn exposition has been issued by the Archbishop of Goa and Daman, Mgr Raul Gonsalves. The first solemn exposition was held from February 10 to 12, 1782.

GOA'S BPO PROSPECTS
Shyamanuja Das, senior assistant editor with the Voice & Data magazine, said that the total worth of the BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) industry was about $1.8 billion, of which India has a lion's share of $1.3 billion. The factors in India's favour include a vast pool of cheap skilled labour and technological know-how. At the moment Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Bangalore are riding the BPO wave, there is no reason why Goa cannot do the same, Das reasoned. However, it was unanimously agreed that Goa had a long way to go, particularly in the area of infrastructure.

DIVAR BONDERAM
Pomp and gaiety marked the celebration of Divar Bonderam, organised by Piedade Youth Association in Divar on August 23. In the inter-group float contest organised on the occasion, Vittozem bagged the first prize, while Primeiro and Romantic bagged the second and third prizes respectively. In all, six groups participated in the pageantry, but the sixth group did not take part in the contest. Earlier, at the crack of dawn on Saturday, members of Piedade Youth Association went around the village playing the traditional 'Alvorad' to herald the ushering of the annual Bonderam. According to an estimate, over 10,000 people including villagers witnesses the colourful festival.

INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL VENUES
The twin sites of Campal in Panaji and the Fort Aguada have been selected by the Key Advisory Group (KAG) of International Film Festival of India to stage the next festival by December 2004. The site at Kala Academy, including the panoramic "Darya Sangam" and the adjacent football ground will comprise the venue for IFFI in the capital city. At Aguada there are plans to set up a state-of-the-art convention centre with at least eight to ten theatres, a multiplex with a grand studio, a seminar room, a venue for film bazaar, and a modern auditorium with a seating capacity of 1,500 to 2,000 seats.

FEAR OF BOMB BLASTS IN GOA
Police in the State have been put on high alert in view of the two bomb blasts in Mumbai. Wireless messages flashed to all police stations have specified that all madrasas, hotels, lodges be checked. All vehicles entering the State be also thoroughly checked and occupants be questioned. Police have been asked to keep a sharp lookout for suspicious looking persons specially along the coastal belt.

GOAN NRIS WANT INSURANCE PACKAGE
Goan NRIs have urged the State government to consider an insurance package on the lines of one provided by the Kerala government. They also suggested that the mediclaim scheme be extended to them. The FRI Facilitation Cell held an interaction with the members of the Kuwait Based Goan Welfare Society in view of the convention of Non-Resident Indians and Non-Resident Goans scheduled in January next year.

SHENOI GOEMBAB'S WORK IS PRAISEWORTHY
The celebrated journalist and chairman of Prasar Bharati, Mr M V Kamath, said that the work undertaken by Shenoi Goembab for giving Konkani language a place of pride among the national languages and making Goans aware of their culture and identity is unparallel. Mr Kamath, who earlier released two books, "Shenoi Goembab: The man and his work" by Dr Kiran Budkuley and "The triumph of Konkani" by Mr S M Borges, observed that there is a pressing need to teach Konkani language to the new generation, including its phonetic and grammatical aspects. "However, one should finalised the syllabus before teaching the same to the young students, as various forms of Konkani language are used in various states, including Goa, Karnataka and Kerala", he pointed out speaking in fluent Konkani prevalent in Canara district.

POPULAR FOR PAEDOPHILES TOO
Tourism-related paedophilia is moving out of Thailand and looking for more vulnerable targets on the beaches of Goa and Kerala, a confidential report commissioned by the British government says. It also said the children in these destinations were particularly vulnerable, because they were often the victims of the connivance of their own parents. (Devika Sequeira in Herald)

ROLAND MARTINS WINS 'GOENCHEM PRIZE'
Roland Martins, a social activist has been awarded the Goenchem Prize 2003 for the 'promotion of honesty, rationality and common sense'. In keeping with the spirit of the World Goa Day, the committee members of Goenchem Prize choose Martins for the award. The committee stated that Matins, a founder member of Jagrut Goenkaranchi Fouz is 'a remarkable citizen, whose main occupation and preoccupation has been and continues to be social activism'. In the eighties he fought against the reckless promotion of modern tourism industry in Goa.

People Places and Things

Winner of the 2003 Goenchem Prize

From: "Santosh Helekar" <Chimbelcho@aol.com>Posted on : <goanet@goanet.org> Sunday, August 31, In keeping with the spirit of the World Goa Day, we, the members of the Goenchem Prize committee are delighted to announce that the 2003 Goenchem Prize for the promotion of honesty, rationality and common sense is awarded to ROLAND MARTINS. We thank Mr. Martins for graciously accepting the award. Click for full text at : http://www.goacom.com/news/news2003/aug/msg00133.html (Image from:http://www.goacan.org/face_to_face/)

Tara Fernandes heading for Boston College

This Canadian hockey family doesn't believe in adding ice. Instead, Mississauga's Fernandes family continues to churn out stars in the sport of field hockey.The latest success story is Tara Fernandes. The 17-year-old graduate of Holy Name of Mary Secondary School has procured a full $30,000 U.S. scholarship at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Mass., to play forward/midfield for the school's field hockey team. See full article at: http://www.goacom.com/news/news2003/sep/msg00002.html

Toronto ~Janelle DeSouza scores 97.86%- Top Student of Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board's graduating OAC students

Janelle DeSouza believes that to be a successful student, you've got to stay on top of school work. So it's not surprising the top is exactly where the Brampton resident ended up when the marks of Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board's graduating OAC students were announced. DeSouza's 97.83 per cent in her top six OAC subjects was the board's best. "I still don't know what my individual marks are, but it's a wonderful feeling," the lively 18-year-old graduate of Brampton's Cardinal Leger Secondary School said. For more text click here.

Announcements

Don't Return Calls to 809 Area Code
From: Sal Rocha
We actually received a call last week from the 809 area code. The woman said "Hey, this is Karen. Sorry I missed you--get back to us quickly. Have something important to tell you." Then she repeated a phone number beginning with 809. We didn't respond.

Then this week, we received the following email:
Subject: DON'T EVER DIAL AREA CODE 809, 284 AND 876

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION PROVIDED TO US BY AT&T. DON'T EVER DIAL
AREA CODE 809
For more text click here.

Obituary

Fernandes, Lourdinha Peacefully at St. Michael s Hospital, Toronto on Monday, August 25, 2003. She lived a full life spanning eight decades and four continents. Born in Goa, then a Portuguese colony in India, she emigrated to Kenya after marrying Lazarus in 1941. In the late 1960 s they moved to the U.K., before settling in Canada 34 years ago. Predeceased by Lazarus (1975), she leaves behind her grieving family: brother, Vincent DaCosta (Goa); daughters, Joana (son-in-law Jaime Lobo), Astrid, Mitelia (son-in-law Victor Paul), Yasmin and doctor son, Lactancio (daughter-in-law Helen Gallace); grandchildren Ivan, Sharon, Alan, Brian and (grand-daughter-in-law Nicole), Rowan, Raina, Faye, Paul, Victoria, Diane and Joseph; and many nephews, nieces, and friends. Her independence, courage, love and advice will be sorely missed by all who knew her. . Funeral took place on Thursday, August 28, 2003, St. Bonaventure Church, North York followed by Interment to follow at Pine Hills Cemetery Scarborough.

Events

Wednesday, September 10, 2003
Events:	New Goan Seniors Group for Brampton Area
The inaugural meeting planned in April 2003 and postponed due to the SARS episode in he Toronto Area, will now take place on Wednesday September 10, from 6-9 p.m. The venue is 22. Knightsbridge Community & Senior Citizens' Centre (905) 874-2862 1-A Knightsbridge Rd. S/E Corner by Bramalea City Centre. See Map at http://www.city.brampton.on.ca/parks&rec/facilitiesmap.tml?rnav=15#7 Click on circle #22 The purpose of the meeting is to form a steering group of active participants to plan and lead the group. The facilities are limited. Those wishing to attend please leave a message giving name(s) and phone number at 905 451 2527 or send an e-mail message to info@goanvoice.ca before Sunday September 7, 2003. Admission is free! Light refreshments will be provided.

75TH ANNIVERSARY
DR. RIBEIRO GOAN SCHOOL - NAIROBI calling all ex-students and staff to reserve your table of 10 for the Dinner Dance at At the Crown Banquet Hall, Mississauga