Victor

Victor Manuel de Resende e Sousa

“My name is Victor Manuel De Resende E Sousa and I am 76 years old. I was born in north Mozambique. My father was the governor of Niassa. He was born in Portugal, and my mother was from Failal island of the Azores. She came to Mozambique when she was 15 years old. My father’s name was Fernando Reis De Sousa and my mother’s name was Maria Beatriz De Resende E Sousa. I had 2 brothers and 2 sisters. First born was my sister Manuela. Second was Victor Third was Antonio Fourth was Fernando and the last one was Beatriz. I started working as a motor mechanic at age 13 years old and became a professional mechanic at 18 years old. At school I studied 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th of primary school, then two years in industrial school. I retired when I was 70 years old. I’m now 76. I went to the army in north Mozambique, fighting Frelimo (Samora Michelle who was a terrorist in those days). I served in the army for seven and a half years. I caught a landmine while I was in the army and was blind in my right eye for three months . My brother Antonio was an official in the Portuguese government. Then he went to the army, also fighting for the Frelimo. After one year, maybe more, he got married to a lady named Naty. They had a baby named Shana. At the end of the war my brother went back to the government. One day he took a truck with some guys to pick up landmines from the war. Unfortunately he caught a landmine and got killed. From there Naty went to Sweden with her daughter Shana. My brother Fernando has never been to the army and is living in England. My oldest sister got married and she went with her husband and children to Portugal. Beatriz, my youngest sister, married a sergeant from the army. They had one boy and they live on Madeira island. My wife Egida was born in Madeira and she went to Mozambique at a very young age. I met her when I was in the army, she has 21 brothers and sisters, some passed away. After all these years I went to South Africa and lived there for about 35 years. I have three children. First born was Ana Paula, second was Steven and the third was Michelle. This is my story.”