Saude! Illawarra's Portuguese people get set to celebrate

June 10 is Portugal Day, and for thousands with Portuguese heritage living in the Illawarra, the celebrations started early.

On Saturday night, members of the Portuguese South Coast Association (PSCA) filled their centre in Warrawong to mark the occasion with guest performer Elvio Santiago.

The Portuguese migration journey half way around the world to Australia, and ultimately to Wollongong, is another of the great success stories which makes the Illawarra such a fabulous multicultural hub.

Secretary of the PSCA, Patricia Laranjeira, says Wollongong’s Portuguese story dates to the early 1970s.

“It originated as an extension of Our Lady of Fatima School that was initiated around 1972, where they used to meet and hold classes at the scout hall in Warrawong’s Cowper Street (now the location of the Warrigal Warrawong nursing home,” Patricia said.

“In 1974, the committee of the school and the community decided to form a Portuguese association because there was nothing that could meet the cultural and social needs of the community besides a football team.”

In 1975, local leaders of the community, which included Martin Coelho, Joao Nascimento, Father Antonio Marquez (the community’s chaplain at the time), Manuel Calisto, Firmino Belo, Jorge Nascimento, Portuguese teacher Deolinda da Encatnacao formed the first board of directors with the support of the Portuguese consulate and called for registrations.

After the first constitution was developed and then translated, the first property was acquired at 127 Flagstaff Road in Warrawong.

“It used to be an old chapel for another religion which became our headquarters for many years,” Patricia said. “In April 1975, the constitution was approved and the association became a legal entity.”

A few years later, a neighbouring property was acquired and it served as the Portuguese Social Welfare Office.

Patricia said at its peak, the PSCA ran myriad activities, including social and cultural festivals, religious ceremonies, a children’s centre and youth and seniors groups, art and craft classes, fashion parades, fundraising events, three folkloric dance groups, and even a Miss Portugal competition.

Mariana Belo, who was born in Wollongong to Portuguese migrant parents who moved to the Illawarra in the late 1950s, remembers as a child the early days of the PSCA.

“They ran monthly dances to raise money to buy this land, and when I was eight, I joined a dancing group,” Mariana said.

“In those days, when European migration to this region was at its peak, the organisation provided huge support for the new arrivals.”

Many didn’t speak any English.

“We offered English lessons, support for people needing doctors appointment, getting Australian passports, etc.”

Mariana said there was a large Portuguese community of many thousands which based itself mostly in Wollongong’s southern suburbs close to the steelworks where most of the men worked.

Patricia Larangeria is a relative newcomer to the region, arriving originally on a one-year student visa in 2008, who instantly falling in love with “this amazing place with sea and mountains”.

After completing her masters of gerontology, Patricia has found employment with the Multicultural Communities Council of the Illawarra, and for the past eight years has been the coordinator of the PSCA’s seniors group.

Both Patricia and Mariana acknowledge the remarkable 51-year history of the organisation and, like so many migrant communities, the challenge today is attracting new faces and younger members.

In the meantime, Mariana says the PSCA has also tried to retain many of the traditions of the past which came to the fore at Saturday‘s early Portugal Day celebration.

“To the point that in our community hall, many of the regulars, and especially the order ones have kept their favourite seats for a long time.”

The Illawarra Flame wishes everyone at the Portuguese South Coast Association a very happy Portugal Day.

Saude! ("Health!")