Portal da Açorianidade

The Regional Government, through the Regional Directorate for the Communities, promotes the launch of the book “Mandem Saudades” by journalist Mário Augusto, next Thursday, November 24, at 6 pm at the Parish of Santa Clara Auditorium in the municipality of Ponta Delgada, São Miguel Island. Besides Mário Augusto, the session will also be attended by the Director of Public, International Affairs and Archive of RTP, José Maria Lopes de Araújo, author of the preface, who will also present the work, and the Regional Director for the Communities, José Andrade. The session also includes the presentation of a documentary about the Portuguese in Hawaii, also directed by Mário Augusto, and is promoted in partnership with the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation and the Parish Council of Santa Clara. The event is open to the public in general and admission is free. The book and the documentary tell the story of the Portuguese, especially from the Azores and Madeira, who took the long emigration route to the Hawaiian archipelago, located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, from the late 19th century until 1913. During this period, about 27,000 Portuguese embarked on this adventure in search of better living conditions, working in sugar cane, coffee, sweet potato and fruit fields. The Portuguese presence and traditions, some of which originated in the Azores, are still visible in the everyday life of Hawaiian society, with institutions such as the Portuguese Association of Maui, the Holy Spirit Brotherhood of Punchbowl or the Portuguese Genealogical & Historical Society of Hawaii. A considerable community of Azorean descendants currently lives in the US state of Hawaii, where they still preserve their culinary traditions, such as sweet bread and Hawaiian malasadas, and their religious beliefs, such as the Holy Spirit worship.