October 1998
October 1998
In June of this year, Donaldo Macedo, director of the ESL/Bilingual Graduate Program, travelled to the small African nation of Guinea-Bissau. Macedo, who is originally from Africa, is often invited there to help with educational issues. He had planned to assist in the development of a university system, but his plans were soon diverted.Shortly into his stay, the impoverished, but seemingly peaceful nation was rocked by a military coup. Chaos reigned as thousands attempted to flee the country. Constant shelling and firefights made any efforts to evacuate virtual suicide missions. UN workers feared that those risking escape would have no chance in the now devastated capital of Bissau. What days ago had been a thriving metropolis was now a mere pile of rubble. Macedo was one of those trapped.
"We were on a dock," he recalls with a calmness that belies the intensity of the experience. "Over four thousand people trying to escape, being bombed every half-hour by the rebels. We were like sitting ducks. Just ten minutes before I boarded the ship to leave, a missile just missed the ship and us by about 50 yards."
The supposed refuge and passage to safety of the transport ship also proved to be a grueling ordeal. Two thousand people were "packed like sardines under the tropical sun" onto a container ship meant for 1100 with no food, little water, and only two bathrooms, as missiles rained down around the vessel.
"That was the worst moment," he recounts. "Trying to get out from the dock to the ship and then in the ship for about 30 hours to Senegal...There were two or three critical moments during this time that bombs were exploding so near to us that I didn't think that I was going to make it."
From Senegal those fleeing were transported to Portugal and from there to the United States. Macedo credits UMass Boston officials for intervening to facilitate his escape when the US embassy was surprisingly slow to respond. The Portuguese government was also helpful during this difficult time. Finally, after nearly ten days of hell, he made it home alive.
For Macedo, this harrowing experience validated and made more urgent what he sees as the crucial role of the educator in an increasingly global culture. "In fact," he says, "it intensified my commitment to work towards a world that is less ugly, more just, and more democratic. With all the ugliness that I saw, and the despair, and the fear, it gave me the conviction that it is important that all of us be activists working toward saving our endangered humanity. That, after all, is all we have. It reinforced my committment to work for a place like UMass that is trying to make a difference in peoples lives."
Along with this strengthened commitment is a desire to return to Guinea-Bissau.
"It would be very difficult because the level of openness and lack of fear I had in travelling the country and meeting people will not be the same. But the people are enormously beautiful open, and giving. I think the risk would be well taken."
Macedo sums up the lessons learned best when he states simply, "We are first human beings. Then we are advocates. But, we must remember that life is only worth living in a context that is humane."
--by Mike Lally
This is an excerpt from a longer article which will appear in the 1998 Fall/Winter issue of UMass Boston magazine.
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