-December 3, Friends of St. Francis Xavier celebration
of the Feast of St. Francis Xavier in the Church of St.
Francis Xavier, Mississauga. (click for article #1)
-December 3, Feast of St. Francis Xavier celebration
with an evening mass and dance organized by the Sons &
Daughters of the Goan Tailor’s Society, continuing a
tradition established by their forebears.
-December 4, a Sunday celebration of the Feast of St.
Francis Xavier by the Goan Overseas Association, patron
of the organization.
-December 8, Goan Delight – Carol Service and evening
social organized by the Toronto East Goan Seniors
Association. (TEGSA) (click for article #2)
-December 17, Christmas Dinner Dance organized by TEGSA
-December 21, Christmas Party & sit down dinner.
First
event organized by the Steering Committee of the newly
formed Fifty-Five Plus Goan Seniors Group, West GTA.(click
for article #3)
Please click on above links or images for further
details.
A recent fundraising effort
over the airwaves led to a flood of donations for the
William Osler Health Centre.
In seven days, Brampton's South Asian community raised
$2.3 million for the hospital, nearly $1 million of it
in the first 90 minutes alone."It truly was a tremendous
outpouring of generosity from listeners in the Canadian
Sikh community," said Maureen Flanagan Pool, WOHC
director of development and new initiatives. "We had
calls coming in from across the GTA and from as far away
as London, Cambridge and Ottawa."
From Nov. 15 to 22, two dozen local radio stations--
mostly Punjabi-- dedicated their programs to raising
money for construction of Brampton's new hospital.
According to organizer Manjit Singh Sahota, a local
radio personality and Osler foundation board member,
there were individual donations as well as 70
room-naming gifts of $25,000 apiece. The local Sikh
community has now drummed up more than $3.45 million of
a $10-million pledge made earlier this year, when
hospital leaders announced the emergency department at
the new facility would be named after Guru Nanak,
founder of the Sikh religion.
The radio fundraiser-- called the Better Health
Radiothon-- was set to coincide with the spiritual
leader's birthday, and will likely become an annual
event.
Christmas is a feast of joy,
a joy that is today celebrated in various and many forms,
ranging from the deeply spiritual to the purely secular.
At the deepest level, Christmas celebrates the fulfillment
of a basic longing of the human heart for God. For we
believe that the unseen God took human form in Jesus and
became visible to man.
By taking flesh, God elevated our human condition and now
calls us to re- discover Him in every other human being,
specially in the poor and the marginalized, with whom he
identified himself in an eminent way through his very
birth in a stable. When we succeed in recognizing God in
the faces of our sisters and brothers, irrespective of
their social or religious background, we become citizens
of a new civilization of love, wherein everyone is
welcomed, accepted and cherished. Indeed, every Feast of
Christmas is a renewed call for all of us to work, hand in
hand, for the genuine transformation of our
social, political, economic and cultural environment,
according to God's plan. May this Christmas strengthen our
resolve to help in the realization of this dream that God
has for His creation. I take this occasion to wish
everyone a joyful Christmas, full of divine blessings and
peace that only God can give.
+ Filipe Neri Ferrao
Archbishop of Goa and Daman
Archbishop's House, Panjim, December 24, 2005
http://www.archgoadaman.org
Worldwide Goans meet from jan 3
PANJIM: The third two-day Gomant Vishwa
Sammelan, a convention of worldwide Goans, will be held at
Panjim from January 3. Governor SC Jamir will inaugurate
the Sammelan. The topics that would be discussed during
the conference are on tourism, education and industry. "We
are expecting at least 70 to 100 NRIs and 200 NRGs," added
Dinar Bhatkar, chief cordinator, NRI facilitation centre.
(GT)
CHURCHILL ALEMAO IN THE EYE OF THE
STORM
For the second consecutive day local dailies
in Goa carry headlines on the alleged scam in which South
Goa MP Churchill Alemao was shown by cable TV Star News
discussing kickbacks for a Konkani project to be set up in
Goa.
Says GT
See no Evil, Speak no Evil, Hear no Evil
PANJIM: Gloom and silence has descended over the Congress
camp in the State after senior partyman and two-time MP,
Churchill Alemao was caught on camera negotiating his
'cut' in the allocation of funds to the tune of Rs.15 lakh
for a proposed Konkani library in Goa through the MPLAD
scheme
Cameron, Kate to backpack in Goa?
PANJIM, Dec 20: According to The Sun,
Hollywood's hottest blonde beauties - Cameron Diaz and
Kate Winslet - are planning a joint backpacking tour to
Goa early in 2006, to prepare for their roles in the
upcoming movie Holiday. (H)
MICCKY'S WIFE FILES BIGAMY PLAINT WITH PRESIDENT, CM
BETALBATIM: Sara Fernandes
Pacheco, aggrieved wife of Agriculture Minister Francisco
Xavier (Mickky) Pacheco, has accused the Minister of
bigamy. She further stated that persons, who blatantly
violate the law, particularly relating to women, shouldn't
be permitted to hold high elected office, be dropped from
the Cabinet and prosecuted for bigamy. In the letter
written on December 16, 2005, to the President of India,
Governor and Chief Minister of Goa, AICC general
secretary, IGP, Panaji, and SP, Margao, she stated that
she is the legally married wife of Mickky and had married
him on April 10, 1999 at Margao. She has accused Mickky of
brutally assaulting her and kicking her out of the house
because of Viola, whom Mickky married though her marriage
with him is subsisting. Reacting to the advertisements in
the newspapers in which he proudly posed with his second
wife and son, she stated in the letter that it was now
obvious and clear that Mickky is brazenly living a life of
bigamy and flaunting his second wife and son. (GT)
Mario, Muriel bag Malvina Athaide Award
PANJIM, dec 18: Mario
Mascarenhas and Muriel D'Souza from Saligao have bagged
the 'Malvina Athaide Award' for their outstanding efforts
in advocacy for social justice in Goa. The award was given
away by Malvina's sister on the first day of the Goa State
Consultation on 'Trafficking in Women & Children' at
Caritas Holiday Home in St Inez on December 17. Malvina,
originally from Saligao, before settling abroad, was at
the forefront in her work with the underprivileged and
marginalised in the villages of Pernem taluka. (H)
2. Christmas Plates (Assorted Traditional Christmas
Sweets) are available @ $10.00 each.
Call Gita Tel : 905-814-6138
Cel :
416-887-4482.
e-mail :
godfrey@thenetadvantage.com
Fifty Five Plus Goan
Seniors Group - West GTA
Notice of
General Body Meeting
Purpose:
To Review and Ratify Proposed Constitution
Date:
Tuesday January 10, 2006 - 7.00 - 9.00 p.m.
Place:
PEACE LUTHERAN CHURCH
SQUARE ONE, 100 CITY CENTRE DRIVE,
MISSISSAUGA, ON, L5B 2C9
Entrance to elevator/stairs in the Food
court between Bowrings and Burger King.
Agenda:
1. Review and Ratification of Proposed Constitution.
2. Steering Committee tends resignation.
3. Elections/Approval of new Office Bearers, as called for by the
constitution.
Draft copies of the proposed constitution may be obtained in advanceby sending e-mail request to
seniors55pluswest@goanvoice.ca
Muriel Lucas - Acting General Secretary
Fifty Five Plus Goan Seniors Association - West GTA
Anniversary Mass
The family of Patricia Pereira, her Mother and
sister invites you to attend an Anniversary Mass for her father -
Mr. Socorro Carvalho to be held at 10:00 am on Saturday,
January 7th, 2006 at Saviour Of The World, Chinese Catholic
Mission, followed by a reception in the basement hall.
The Church is located at
30 Bristol Road West,
Mississauga,
ON, L5R 3K3,
(905) 568-8939.
Major intersection being Bristol and Highway10/Hurantario Street,
just north of Eglinton. Your attendance is appreciated. Kindly
pass the word around.
In excellent condition
inside and outside. No damage to the body outside.The total
mileage is only 103089 Km. In perfect running condition.Nissan
Dealer has valued the vehicle for $14,000. An offer nearing
$10,000 will be acceptable. Call Frank 416-287-0908
People
Places and Things
GOAN MAGISTRATE RETIRES
December 2005 marks 20 years of service as a Justice of Peace
for one Goan lady who marks her seventieth birthday on 18th
December.
At her retirement party held at the Luton Magistrates Courts,
the Chief Magistrate congratulated Mrs Gloria Ferreira on her
retirement and noted that Mrs Ferreira was one of the few
Magistrates with a unique perspective on current justice
issues because of her background and understanding of the
communities that make up modern day Britain and has helped
shape the manner in which the local Magistrate Service
performs in it’s multicultural environment.
Toronto: Antoneta & Jose Dias' $7.3 million lottery win
21
Dec: Toronto Star. Excerpts: A couple waited more than two
months to claim their lottery winnings, keeping the $7.3
million secret from even their children while they figured out
what to do next. Now that the word is out, Jose and Antoneta
Dias say they want to use some of their winnings to help less
fortunate relatives in India improve their lives through
education. "I always said that if we won this we wouldn't be
the only happy people," Jose Dias, 51, said yesterday. "I want
to make a lot of people happy with this." Dias, a
self-employed consultant, had used the same numbers based on
family birthdays since they arrived in Canada from the Middle
East about four years ago. Antoneta Dias,(42) who works in
the equipment supply industry, said she plans to continue
working for about two months so her company can find a
replacement.
For text, 508 words, click here.
For another photograph and text, click here.
Emanuel Nazareth: Playing God in running shoes
17 Dec: Globe & Mail (Canada). Emanuel Nazareth holds a Petri
dish up to the light. He squints at the clear, tiny bubbles
dotting its amber surface, as though staring at it will make
it grow … In the 21st century, this godlike power is shared by
people who schlep backpacks and study for mid-terms, such as
Mr. Nazareth, a 22-year-old, fourth-year engineering undergrad
… Emanuel Nazareth began programming computers at the age of
10, not long after he and his family emigrated from Kenya to
the Toronto suburb of Mississauga … After graduating from high
school with a 93 per cent average, he secured a spot in
biomedical engineering at U of T. And so the slight, serious
and extremely soft-spoken Mr. Nazareth comes at genetics like
an engineer, describing it in mechanical terms. 4,843 words.
[From Mervyn Lobo]
Goan Voice designed and compiled by
Demerg Systems India for GOACOM
Campal Trade Centre, Next to Military Hospital, Campal,
Panjim, Goa-403001
Tel: +91 832 2420797 Email:
info@goanvoice.ca
Traditional Goan Christmas Treats
Goan novel "The Sixth
Night" 
December 2005 marks 20 years of service as a Justice of Peace
for one Goan lady who marks her seventieth birthday on 18th
December.
21
Dec: Toronto Star. Excerpts: A couple waited more than two
months to claim their lottery winnings, keeping the $7.3
million secret from even their children while they figured out
what to do next. Now that the word is out, Jose and Antoneta
Dias say they want to use some of their winnings to help less
fortunate relatives in India improve their lives through
education. "I always said that if we won this we wouldn't be
the only happy people," Jose Dias, 51, said yesterday. "I want
to make a lot of people happy with this." Dias, a
self-employed consultant, had used the same numbers based on
family birthdays since they arrived in Canada from the Middle
East about four years ago. Antoneta Dias,(42) who works in
the equipment supply industry, said she plans to continue
working for about two months so her company can find a
replacement. 
17 Dec: Globe & Mail (Canada). Emanuel Nazareth holds a Petri
dish up to the light. He squints at the clear, tiny bubbles
dotting its amber surface, as though staring at it will make
it grow … In the 21st century, this godlike power is shared by
people who schlep backpacks and study for mid-terms, such as
Mr. Nazareth, a 22-year-old, fourth-year engineering undergrad
… Emanuel Nazareth began programming computers at the age of
10, not long after he and his family emigrated from Kenya to
the Toronto suburb of Mississauga … After graduating from high
school with a 93 per cent average, he secured a spot in
biomedical engineering at U of T. And so the slight, serious
and extremely soft-spoken Mr. Nazareth comes at genetics like
an engineer, describing it in mechanical terms. 4,843 words.