Cherished Memories of Africa — Page 58
40 First Journey to Cape Verde and Divine Support It is a little known country; it is quite difficult to locate it in the world map. Hence, it was hard to get basic information about this country. (These days, internet has made such difficult matters very easy). I was totally unaware of this country’s religious, political and economic condition. I kept on making and deleting mental pictures of cities, towns, streets and their inhabitants. Quite a lot of time passed by in that confusion. I had never even heard of this country, therefore, I had no acquaintance there and there was no Ahmadi brother in that country either; no jama’at contact and no personal friend. Where to go in Cape Verde, whom to go to, how to get there? These were the questions. There was no Embassy in the Gambia where I could get some information. The embassy was in Senegal and I had to go there to get the visa for Cape Verde. So I went there, got the visa and some informatory pamphlets mostly in Portuguese language that I did not know at all. There were some booklets in French which helped me get some basic information about the country. The Language Conundrum The second problem was my complete ignorance of Portuguese – the national language of the country. I can, by the Grace of Allah, converse in nine languages but not in Portuguese. How would I communicate with the Cape Verdeans – that worried me? Most of them speak Portuguese – their mother tongue and the official language. Then there is the creole – a distorted version of Portuguese language. There are few, if any, who speak