From sawfish he moved on to having fish and chips on the table. Like many others, he found in the land of Her Majesty the island of great opportunities. Today, Joca Fonseca tells us about his experience of living in one of the most cosmopolitan capitals in the world, London, but it is with confidence and eagerness that he says he wants to be Mozambique’s Minister of Culture and Tourism. He says it without offending or attacking anyone. He says it with joy and the boundless love he has for his country.
He was born João Carlos da Fonseca almost 40 years ago, but everyone calls him Joca Fonseca. A native of Maputo, he knows the streets and neighbourhoods of the Mozambican capital like no one else, having spent his childhood and youth to the rhythm of his father’s job, which made the family change address several times.
Dynamism, courage and rebelliousness may be characteristics associated with Joca’s way of life. It was the sum of all this that led him to want to discover what lies beyond the City of Acacias. “My two brothers left Mozambique very early. At a certain point, my trips abroad became constant, but I had never thought of actually leaving. When my uncles and aunts, who lived in the United Kingdom, came to Mozambique on holiday, they gave me this bug of going to live in that country. At that time, I was already working, but I felt that Mozambique had become too small for me and that I needed to grow and embrace new challenges,” he shares.
Joca has been successful. His boldness and good humour led him to take on the presidency of the Mozambican youth association, a role that allows him to organise many events and celebrate Mozambican culture
Joca Fonseca has done many things professionally, but he has always been linked to civil safety. “I went through the Aeronautical School, studied Law and worked at Aeroportos de Moçambique as an aeronautical technician, as a firefighter,” he says. Nowadays he works for the German government, at the German Embassy in London.
On London, Joca says: “A dream city for some, it is where life took me, but you never know for how long. I like challenges, and who knows whether life won’t challenge me again.” A father of four, Joca admits that the whole process of leaving his social comfort zone was not easy: “In Mozambique I had already won my place, and, on arriving in a different country, with a different culture and language, I had to start from scratch,” he confesses. Even coping with the cold was an unexpected challenge, he reveals with a smile, in the email correspondence we exchanged.
But Joca has been successful. His boldness and good humour led him to take on the presidency of the Mozambican youth association, a role that allows him to organise many events and celebrate Mozambican culture. With humour, he recalls that these moments are important, if only to enjoy an ice-cold 2M. And he declares with conviction: “I think it is fundamental for our children to grow up somehow connected to our culture; we have to know where we come from. Only then will we know where we are going, hence our constant struggle to bring and create things for our community. We have already worked with some Mozambican artists. I know this world more or less, and I would like one day to be Minister of Culture in Mozambique. Not because I want to take anyone’s place, but because I think I can help my country in this respect. I think I have a different vision and a different kind of knowledge.”
If he does not become Minister of Culture, Joca Fonseca will certainly be an excellent ambassador for Mozambique.
