Morabeza

Sometimes, it is all too easy to focus on trauma, crime, poverty, hunger, disease, disaster, homelessness — all the challenges and wrongs in a community. Negatives do exist, and I am not saying they should be ignored. Ignorance is, of course, no solution. But, if we are to help support solutions, we also should pay greater attention to what is good, to the ties that bind, to the traditions that lift people up, and the connections that build resilience — all that is beautiful, caring, and elevating in a culture, often in the face of overwhelming odds.

During a recent trip to Cabo Verde, I witnessed that kind of strength. In a word, you can find it in the country’s morabeza. Morabeza is not easily translated, but it is a distinctly Cape Verdean word that folds in warmth, hospitality, kindness, generosity, and more. Always more. At its root, morabeza is about giving, even when there may be little to give. Somehow, morabeza grows even greater in those situations. And it is about giving back, even when you it may be easier to take away and not look back.

Some words grow smaller in translation, but Cape Verdean morabeza seems to grow more expansive and encompassing. It is about gratitude, empathy, and compassion. It cannot be translated literally, but everyone you ask adds more to its meaning. Perhaps, that is because it is felt so deeply. It is about community in the truest sense.

I witnessed and felt morabeza during a recent visit to Cabo Verde. In an opportunity I am so grateful for, I was invited to be part of a delegation from Bridgewater State University that went to the island nation on an economic, cultural, educational, and governmental exchange. BSU President Fred Clark headed up the group, which also included legislators, educators, and governmental officials. Massachusetts has some of the largest Cape Verdean communities in the country, so the connections run deep and are heartfelt.

One of the places we visited was a Saturday school in Praia, Cape Verde. Children from pre-K to high school come here every weekend to learn English. We were able to sit around and share stories with the students and teachers who mentor and educate. What amazed me most was the sense that this endeavor wasn’t so much an individual pursuit to get ahead but a way of bettering their community. The students talked about how they wanted to learn to improve life for their friends and families: so they could bring more opportunity, so they could help raise the economy, so they could find ways to address issues such as accessing clean water, relieving hunger, bettering mental health, and ameliorating the devastation of the continued droughts plaguing the country.

When I returned home, I came back with fantastic photos in my phone and other mementos tucked into my bags. As I upacked though, I realized that Cabo Verde had sent me home with a greater gift — a little bit of morabeza.