Francisco Gomes de Mato Gives a Promise to His Granddaughter
Francisco Gomes de Mato gives a promise to his granddaughter,
published on the website of the Promise Club by Kerry Bowden:
For my 9-month-old granddaughter Marina, born in Recife, capital of Pernambuco State, Northeastern Brazil
Dear Marina,
Your grandfather promises that until the day my physical life ends, in talking to you (face-to-face or on-line),
I will greet you with PAZ, SAúDE, AMIZADE! , Portuguese words meaning
PEACE, HEALTH, FRIENDSHIP,! and will do my best to silently express the same wish to
to strangers on the street, whenever my mind reminds me to . You see, throughout life
we tend to wish well to those closest to us -- our parents, relatives, friends, classmates, workmates, etc --
but neglect to extend our good wishes to those we will never meet ,who just pass us by on
the street. In doing so, I also promise to put on a happy face .
Your grandfather Francisco
Sent by Francisco Gomes de Matos, Recife,Brazil
Dear Marina
I am pleased to say that when Professor Francisco (your Grandfather) visited The Promise Club website for the first on the 8th Febuary 2006, which was yesterday, he was inspired to write this poem, which I now include below
Human promises are easy to make
When they are just simple declarations
Our promises are so easy to break
When there is no fruit of expectation
Promises for children when we make
Are they filled with love and joy ?
Do they keep us wisely awake
For the world is not always a toy ?
A better world for children can be realized
If our promises are planted with Peace
Then global harmony can be perennized
And children´s happiness will never cease!
This granma in Down Under Australia would like say PAZ, SAúDE, AMIZADE! and thank you to the Grandfather in Brazil.
Professor Francisco Gomes de Matos teaches linguistics and languages at the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) in Recife, northeastern Brazil. He holds degrees in languages and law from UFPE and in linguistics from the University of Michigan and the Catholic University of São Paulo. He has served as a visiting professor at the Universities of Texas (Austin), Mexico, Ottawa, and Georgia (Athens, USA). Gomes de Matos is the author of two pioneering pleas: for a Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights (1984) and for "communicative peace" (1993). His current research interests include linguistic rights and responsibilities (of language users) and peace linguistics.
