November 10, 2005 – Vol. 41, No. 13
 

New Cape Verdean consul forging ties with community

Yawu Miller

When Maria de Jesus Mascarenhas decided to study law at University of Azerbaijan in 1983, she spoke no Russian. But living in Cape Verde, where there are few options for higher education, the academically-inclined live by a simple rule: go where the scholarship dollars are.

“In general, we utilize any opportunity for scholarship we have,” said Mascarenhas, the new Cape Verdean Consul in Boston. “In my case, I could have gone to Portugal, but I wanted to know a different culture. For me, it was a great opportunity for enrichment. I lived through perestroika.”

As the Soviet Union underwent the profound political changes that led to its eventual dissolution, Mascarenhas studied international law, acquiring a broad base of knowledge and language that prepared her for a career in diplomacy.

That career led her to posts in the Cape Verdean government including diplomatic advisor to Cape Verde’s prime minister, secretary of state for Youth and director of Economic and Regional Integration Services at the Office of External Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Communities.

Along the way she also gained fluency in French and Portuguese and conversational skills in English and Spanish.

And while the halls of power in the Cape Verdean capital of Praia and the academies of the Iberian Peninsula and Eastern Europe may not be commonly thought of as training ground for community work in Roxbury, if her first meeting with the local Cape Verdean community was any indicator, they have suited Mascarenhas well.

“I think the community is very excited to have her,” said Denise Gonsalves, executive director of Cape Verdean Community UNIDO, who attended the meeting held in October. “At her community meeting, people were really impressed with the level of involvement that she wants to have with the community.”

As the consul in Boston, Mascarenhas serves as the island nation’s liaison to one of the oldest, largest and most important communities in the Cape Verdean diaspora. It is a community of home owners, business owners and hard working families. It is also a community that faces significant challenges, including a widespread perception that the community faces more than its share of crime.

“The majority of our community is well integrated here,” Mascarenhas told the Banner. “But we have a great number of people, especially young people, that are facing real challenges right now — that are hindered by a lack of opportunities for education and employment. And the problems that this minority faces are presented to the mainstream as a characteristic of the community.”

Mascarenhas says she intends to work to help improve the lot of struggling Cape Verdean families by helping them connect to services. To that end, Mascarenhas has met with local Cape Verdean community activists to discuss ways to decentralize the consulate and bring its resources out from its Copley Square office and into the communities the office serves.

Mascarenhas has already met with the Cape Verdean communities in Boston and Brockton. Gonsalves says her organization, which works on many of the issues Mascarenhas is interested in targeting, is poised to help the consulate by providing space in the community for their services.

Mascarenhas says working in government is an aim she has had since attending college in Lisbon. While she has held several positions inside the Cape Verdean government, her positions on the outside can be just as influential. The Cape Verdean population in the United states — estimated to be 400,000 — is almost as large as the islands’ population of 418,000.

Remittances from Cape Verdeans in living abroad supplement the republic’s gross domestic product by nearly 20 percent. Government officials increasingly look to the diaspora as a possible source of investment as well.

“When you work for the development of communities outside of Cape Verde, it helps with development inside,” Mascarenhas said. “The Cape Verdeans outside Cape Verde help make Cape Verde better-known.”

 

 

 

 

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