More than luck

By Marifi Jara

QUELIMANE, Mozambique–Boa sorte! That’s how we say ‘good luck’ here.

Sending my boa sorte wish to Pangasinan and the town of Rosales for having been shortlisted in the top five local government unit (LGU) best practices award for Region 1 in the annual competition organized by the National Economic and Development Authority.

Pangasinan, the only province in the roster, and Rosales are competing against the towns of Nueva Era and San Nicolas in Ilocos Norte, and Candon City in Ilocos Sur for the top spot plus a first and second runner up position.

Members of the Regional Search Committee, composed of representatives from various government agencies and the private sector, are doing their rounds this month to check out the nominees, validate how true on the ground the impressive picture that is painted in the submitted documents. They will be looking at the following criteria: positive socio-economic impact, promotion of people’s empowerment, transferability and sustainability, effectiveness of service delivery, and creative use of powers provided under the 1991 Local Government Code.

Surely everyone is hoping to be champion, but having been included in the five is honor enough, a testament to the nominated LGUs’ efforts to move forward and make life better for the people in their respective communities. And that is really the bigger reward for our well-performing LGU officials — that they can sleep easy at night knowing that they are doing a good job in public service and making a positive difference to their locality. Now that doesn’t need much luck, what it takes is mostly sincerity, political will and a lot of hard work.

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After a trip to Kruger Park in South Africa last year, we believed that we were ‘safari’d out’ and could live without going to another game drive ever. Never mind if we’ve never been lucky in seeing a leopard, not in any of the parks we went to in Uganda, Zambia or South Africa. Our luck has been with lions – a bunch of males lazing out in a tree, a mother with her cubs, another in full hunting mode, and a whole gang of them at one time. But when a friend offered a chance to spend a weekend in Gorongosa National Park here in Mozambique, we just couldn’t resist and eagerly said, why not!

And so, forgoing our usual Saturday sleep-in routine, there we were last weekend, up early and on the road at 5 a.m. headed for another safari adventure. And we were rewarded! Just between the main gate and the gate to the camp area, we already saw quite a lot of creatures: wildebeest, kudu, oribi, waterbuck, impala, lots of baboons and of course, the ever-funny warthogs. Later on we would see buffaloes, crocodiles, an elephant, nyala, sable, reedbuck, vervet monkeys, bushbuck and a good assortment of birds.

Still no luck though with the leopard after three game drives over the next 24 hours. But it proved to be a great weekend. We weren’t safari’d out after all. Now I think it will always be thrilling to spot animals, amusing to just sit there and watch them, both humbling and exhilarating to be out there in the wild — luck or no luck with our elusive leopard dream.

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