Some of our members may remember Gardini and Sons the Italian family who were builders in Victoria Falls, SR. In the late1970s they sent a chap named Marco Menegon to start up the Swaziland branch of Gardini. I have just read on the Expats Alive FB page that Marco has died. What sad news! I knew Marco well; he gave me a job with Gardini helping to build the bridges on the northern railway link from Mpaka to Komatipoort. Nearly all the other foremen were Portuguese except for one English speaking guy whose name I forget for the moment. It is the Portuguese custom to address one another only by surname so I never knew many of their first names. I remember Ramos who was a brilliant civil engineering and building man. Also Sousa who on our way to work would grumble, Stupid job, stupid life, fordor! I would tease him, What do mean Sousa? This bakkie has only got two doors, not four doors. The rail line ran through a game reserve. There was a small dirt track through the thorn bushes next to it. One day on our way to work a giant rhino blocked the track and we had to stop and wait for him to move. As usual Marco came on the radio and asked about progress. When he heard that we had not reached site he became quite cross and wouldnt believe that there was a rhino blocking the track. Nowadays we could have just taken a photo with our cell phones and sent it to Marco. Sousa later started his own construction business with a friend and I believe did very well. Then there was Rodrigues who used to take off his shirt and tan to a deep mahogany brown that was almost darker than black. Magandiyan (small strong man) was a short Portuguese guy who couldnt speak a word of English but was very skilled at making the 110 ton precast concrete beams that we used for the bridges. He had his own team and used to move with the from bridge to bridge. Then there was and Italian mechanic who was better at painting the machines than fixing them. I remember him fondly and his son who helped me sink the shafts down to bedrock for the foundations of the bridge over the Black Mbuluzi.River. I wish I could remember their names. I wonder what has happened to them? We started with the road bridge at Mpaka, then the Msulutani River bridge, the White Mbuluzi bridge, the Black Mbulusi bridge and finally the road bridge at Tshaneni. It was an interesting job and Marco and his merry men were a pleasure to work with.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 07:29:02 +0000
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