Grandparents Family

GRANDPARENTS FAMILY
 ZANZIBAR

Dear Friends & Relatives – Connected to Zanzibar

Cc: My grandchild Molly May

Only recently one of my grandchildren Molly May, daughter of Yvette & David May said to me “Granddad we do not know anything about your life in Zanzibar where you were born and know nothing about your grandparents”. Could you tell us about your life on the beautiful Spice Island before you came to the UK?

I was quite touched with her request backed by the other grandchildren who were at our home at the time enjoying a Sunday lunch and in return I told Molly I would talk about all we did in Zanzibar and promised to show her photographs from my mega photo collection, and to follow this up, I chose to put my life on Paradise Island Zanzibar onto a personal website which is currently under construction and titled ZanzibarBenitosDream – web address http://www.zanzibarbenitosdream.com

In response to requests from far and wide, including my grandchildren, I have dedicated various pages on my website introducing my grandparents on this page followed by my parents Alexio & Laurie De Souza, Betty’s parents Albert & Muriel Bocarro and much more, all connected to some activities I enjoyed on the Island hoping to share this website with all my friends.

Below are some photographs of my Grandparents Papa & Mama and family with some photographs of my Great Grandparents.

I am so proud to say that my Grandparents ‘The Agapitus De Souza’ family were very enterprising as my Grandfather’s status was registered as a Banker and besides this ran his own Bakery known to all on the island as Africa Bakery.

Besides this, he had a Toy shop and many properties in Zanzibar & Goa, some beautiful homes built on the sea front in Mtoni where they had a great farm we call SHAMBA which I guess had every tropical fruit tree where many of us spent our Sundays at the Shamba with the sea opposite for swimming. Those were the great days.

On the North-East coast of Zanzibar, a little village called UROA, my grandparents had a wonderful holiday home right on the beach front where we spent many of our school holidays and often used by friends for Sunday picnics.

Africa Bakery was known to all of us for their great bread making not forgetting the Kisus!!. (Special bread favoured by all).

My grandmother was a great cake maker and produced great cakes which today, looking at some of the photographs quite surprises me. My wife Betty too is an expert cake maker and her blog can be seen titled Betty’s Sugar craft.

My grandparents also enjoyed Shell Collecting and was even awarded a Gold Medal from the Sultan for having the best shell collection on the Island. My mum followed on with the same hobby and had a most wonderful shell collection to include the very rare cowries. See photographs and details of Shell Collection on my website when you have time to spare.

I could go on forever talking about all their achievements which will delight my grandchildren I hope, and will try and include some of the official documents dating back to the time when Zanzibar even used rupees for its currency. This you will see on some documents and the Stamp collection I will be adding to my website.

Enjoy some of the photographs released below and see if you can trace some of the friends in some of the photographs.

Molly May and all my children & grandchildren hope you all will have a quick glimpse of our life on Paradise Island Zanzibar.

For a more detailed report on my grandparents and parents, I would have to ask my sister Yvette to report.

Love

Benito

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Dear Molly,

Below is some added information for you to read and I hope I have managed to give you an insight into my life in Zanzibar. Hope this website has helped answer some of your questions regarding my family and relatives.

All told, we all enjoyed a great life on our beautiful Island Zanzibar and this remains in my mind forever. 

Love - Grandad.

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Hi Folks,
 
Greetings from Benito Simeon de Souza hailing from Zanzibar-Goa-England ..... actually I feel like I am a Citizen of the World! Take me as I am for my roots are from my ancestral homeland Goa ... by birthplace Unguja Zanzibar, and my present abode is the UK with my precious wife Betty Boccaro my school mate whom I love, married, and cherish unconditionally, together with our three children Winston, Lisette and Little Yvette, and seven grandchildren Miles, Alex, Molly, Abigail, Emily, Jacob and Sophie ..... whom you will undoubtedly meet in due course via my pictures and stories, as you will my siblings Yvette, Annabella, Jerome and Rhoda, and all the in-laws as well.

In response to requests from far and wide, including my grandchildren, I have decided to release my Pictorial Memories which began in that beautiful Spice Island called Zanzibar, my Paradise on Earth as I once knew it, and still know it from recent visits there, ending in The Queen's Isle ...... the British Isles. 

Geographers and Historians have all accurately given the world all the details about Zanzibar. My rendition, which I call "Benito's Dream" consists of personal encounters with myriads of people from immediate family, to friends and acquaintances, scattered around the world. You will not find any of what I am gifting to all of you in any book or documentary. My treasury of pictures comes from my camera and from photos handed down to me or from my family archives .... I have been an avid photographer ever since I received my first Kodak box camera as a child .... I have saved them all ... ALL 6000 of them??? 

I hand these photographic memories to you who know me, with much love and admiration of your friendship/s throughout my life, from Zanzibar days to now UK days. All great ! Thank you for the wonderful times we spent together over the years first as Family members, then as students at St. Joseph's Convent School before embarking on Cable and Wireless days under the tutelage of my wonderful Dad, Aleixo de Souza, to growing up to see the world and making our very own histories. 

Apart from my Dad, my mother Laurie de Souza was my best friend and confidant. Both she and Dad loved music and dancing and I can honestly and proudly say that I inherited both these gifts from them. My UK Band, Black Velvet still bespeaks a story of its own in grace and popularity. I am truly proud to dedicate all my successes to both my Mum and Dad who encouraged all my efforts and dreams. Also, from them I learnt from a very early age about kindness, generosity, and love, without discrimination or prejudice, and I have tried to live what I learnt all my life to this day. Thank you dearest Mum and Dad whose abode is now in heaven. God bless you. Please continue to watch over all of us, for "Family" was your most precious gift to us. 

I must here add that my siblings and I were very blest to have had our maternal grandparents living in Zanzibar. Our paternal grandparents Jerome and Flavia de Souza were deceased in Goa at an early age. We all have fond memories of our grandfather Agapitus C. De Souza who was a distinguished Banker and business entrepreneur who brought many Goans to Zanzibar to work in his Confectionary and Toys Shop show before the wars in Europe. Our grandmother Christina de Souza was a lady of grace and beauty and she was an exquisite hostess to all who graced her table. We loved going to visit our grand parents. 

My pictures and stories contained herein are a record of music, dancing, scuba diving, sport, "Sikuku" soup and Zanzibar "Mushkakis", Sorportel and Goa Feni not to mention Reunions, Birthday Parties and Weddings, and arrivals of numerous grandchildren yours and mine amidst top-notch celebrations galore. And you my dearest Family and Friends are featured somewhere and everywhere within "Benito's Dream" rendition. 

I hope you will like my special "BENITO'S DREAM" gift .... A gift from my heart to you for posterity. 

With all my love.
Benny
[Benito Simeon de Souza]

Grandfather with his first vintage car!!