Meldrita Laurente
The Queen of Track and Field
The
years between 1950 and 1966 were the golden years of Goan track and field in
East Africa, especially in the sprinting and middle-distance events. The Kenyan
coastal capital of Mombasa produced the best Goan sprinters of all time, led by
the late 1962 Commonwealth Games sprint double gold medalist, Seraphino Antao.
These fleet-footed Goans included Avila Laura Ramos, Albert Castanha (the man
who should have gone to the Games but faltered in the trials), Winnie D’Souza
Singh, Joe Faria, Juanita Noronha, Pascal Antao, Alcino Rodrigues, Jack
Fernandes and a few others. They were all potential medal winners.
But
this story is about one of the most determined athletes of her time: the
extremely shy and humble Meldrita Laurente Viegas. She was born in Mombasa on
January 16, 1939, and was the second of four children. Greta, her older sister
lives in Goa. Her younger brother, Stafford Laurente, lives in Brantford,
Ontario, Canada, and the baby of the family, Lauriette D’Souza-Lobo, lives in
Toronto. Growing up, Meldrita often felt like the middle child who had to excel
elsewhere to get the attention her siblings enjoyed.
Her
father John Delphin Laurente was a civil servant with the British Colonial
Civil Service (Revenue Department). At the time, the British Government relied
on an army of Goan civil servants, sent to virtually every corner of the
country, to keep things well-ordered. As a result, Meldrita’s family lived in
Meru (Central Kenya), Eldoret (Rift Valley) and Kilifi (the Coast) before
finally settling in Mombasa when Meldrita was 12 years old.
Her
mother, Maude, always tried to minimize the impact of this nomadic life on the
children. She sent the kids by ship to Karachi, Pakistan, to live with her
parents for two years. A young Meldrita remembers hearing bells for the Angelus
from the local church and playing bones and ball (a game featuring pig bones
and a tennis ball) on the stairs of her maternal grandmother’s home.
Maude
also sent the kids to live with her sister Charlotte and her family in Nairobi,
while her husband was working in Eldoret, a Kenyan frontier town founded by
South African Boer migrants. While in Nairobi, Meldrita went to the Dr. Ribeiro
Goan School in Parklands for two years. Her aunt Charlotte was very strict and
had a structured routine for her three children and their three cousins. She
taught the children how to share. Table manners were high on the priority list.
Meldrita missed her parents very much. Her frequent requests to return home
finally wore her aunt down, and she was sent to Eldoret to be reunited with her
parents. The persistence and determination she showed at a young age would
serve her well as she matured.
The
family finally ended up in Mombasa, which was much smaller than Nairobi but
larger than other places the Laurente family had called home. When they moved
to Mombasa, there was a natural period of adjustment. Meldrita went to the Goan
(Sacred Heart) School. She found it difficult to make friends as most of her
peers had their own social circles, which were largely closed to newcomers. The
Goan community there was plagued by the old prejudices of the caste system.
Meldrita
was not the kind of youngster who would let these sorts of things affect her.
She played rounders, netball, and badminton, and participated in track and
field in an attempt to fit in.
Interschool participation in track and field brought her great success.
She felt a sense of belonging with her track and field family. Later, she
continued training and competing while she attended teachers’ college and after
her teaching career began at the Goan School at the age of 20.
Maude
was a huge supporter and was always present when Meldrita ran at the Mombasa
Municipal Stadium. John did his part by keeping the evil eye at bay and
relishing in her accomplishments. After most meets, John would take Meldrita up
to the terrace of their apartment building to take out dishth (evil
eye). This ritual involved circling dried red chillies and alum around her head
and burning the chillies in a charcoal fire (shigri) thereafter. The burned alum was thought to reveal the faces
of those casting the evil eye. The stench of burning chillies is pretty awful.
But that was the tradition in those days.
Initially,
Meldrita trained at the Goan School. Later she was a member of the Coast
Teachers’ Training College team. Mr. Loadman, the principal, took a keen
interest in her. After Teachers’ Training College she returned to the Goan
School to teach. She coached the track and field team at the school and selected
three girls to run the 4 x 110 yards relay at the Coast Championships with her.
She trained with Ray Batchelor at the Mombasa Municipal Stadium. (Ray Batchelor
revolutionized Goan sport at the Coast. He was perhaps the only one (or one of
a very few) who broke the Colonial colour bar by working and socializing with
Goans. He was also the man who coached Antao to gold.) Among those who trained
with Meldrita under Batchelor were Seraphino Antao (sprints, hurdles), Albert
Castanha (sprints, hurdles, high jump), Alcino Rodrigues (330 yards, 440 yards)
and Joe Faria (sprints), Bruno D’Souza, Fathiya Hinaway (hurdler), Ann Sanford
(relay team) and Irina Ribitzski.
Meldrita
has fond memories of Ray. After light jogs and warm-up exercises, he would ask
her to run up the stadium steps with her knees as high as she could get them.
He told her that this would help improve the length of her strides. She
remembers him giving the athletes tins of Milo. He insisted that they eat two
hours before a meet.
When
Meldrita first competed against Winnie D’Souza Singh, Winnie defeated her in
the 100-yard dash in a close finish. That was a turning point for
Meldrita. Winnie hadn’t broken the Kenya
record in the race, so Meldrita set her eyes on the record. It motivated her to
train intensely. She had become accustomed to winning and never wanted to be
second best again. She never lost to Winnie again. Meldrita broke the Kenya
record at the Kenya Championships in Kisumu and the record (11.4 secs) stood
for many years. The success she enjoyed fueled her training, and she remained
the champion for a number of years. The Queen of Track and Field had been
crowned.
Meldrita
saw success in other events as well. She broke the Kenya record for long jump at
the Coast Championships and held the record of 17’ 5
for several of years. She held the Coast
record for the 220 yards (26.5 secs), and she usually ran the anchor leg of the
4 x 110 yards relay.
Meldrita
was recognized for all her contributions to track field and field when she was
named the female Athlete of the Century at the centenary celebrations of the Mombasa
Institute in 2001.
Every
win was followed by “a feed”, a celebration at Blue Room in Mombasa that would
always include falooda and samosas.
Meldrita
stopped participating in track and field after she got married. Her husband,
Menino Viegas, worked for the Kenya Railways and was based in Voi (relatively
close to Mombasa) for many years. The family returned to Mombasa in the late
1970s. Meldrita played field hockey with the Mombasa Institute, and she
encouraged her four children to play as well.
Meldrita,
Menino and their four children moved to Canada in 1983 and experienced a huge
culture shock. Meldrita, who was very involved in the lives of her children,
had to come to terms with leaving the children at 7 am and not seeing them
again until 5 pm. Not having any house help was also a huge adjustment, as it
made the day longer and there was less time for leisure. Meldrita and Menino had left all their
friends behind, and they both found it difficult to find employment. Getting
around the city required making allowances for significant travel time.
However, in time, things improved tremendously. Meldrita and Menino found work,
the kids thrived and ultimately went on to university. There was much to
cherish.
Meldrita
participated in the GOA (Goan Overseas Association) Sports in the first summer
after her arrival in Canada. She finished second in the 100 meters. She had to
take pain killers to be able to participate as she was experiencing right hip
pain. The pain eventually overcame her desire to compete. Furthermore, she
didn’t like being second best! Three hip surgeries have sidelined her
completely. She now officiates at track and field meets.
Meldrita and Menino
are presently enjoying retirement and are very involved in the lives of their
nine grandchildren. They have wonderful memories of lives well-lived.
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