Fátima Langa dies

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Fátima Langa dies

11:35 CAT | 27 Jun 2017

O País (File photo) / Fatima Langa

The writer and journalist, Fátima Langa, was born on June 24, 1953, in the Manjacaze district of Gaza province, and friends and family expected to celebrate her 64th birthday much as usual. Fate, however, determined that this would rather be the day of her departure.

At 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, the beloved grandmother complained of feeling ill and was rushed to hospital. Her condition adjudged non-threatening, she was medicated and returned home.

In the warmth of home and with her birthday candles still warm, she fell ill again. Returning to the hospital she received all possible medical treatment, but effort s to save her were in vain, and Fatima Langa passed away.

According to her brother, Alberto Simão, she had been sick for some time, but the situation was under control and her death came as a surprise. To the many friends who saw her as a sister, the moment is one of pain and shock. With eyes full of tears, they remember the shared moments and mourn her departure.

Given her importance in the world of literature, they say that the children have lost not only a storyteller, but a grandmother. “I hope her soul continues to write. The children are left alone, because she was the only one who bothered to write for them,” said long-time friend Natividade Bule.

Fátima Langa is described by her loved ones as a woman of strength and struggle. One example is that until the age of six she only spoke Cichopi, her mother tongue, and learned Portuguese only later when he entered primary school in the village of Manjacaze. As a dedicated mother, her training in journalism had to wait until she saw her children graduate.

During an interview with STV’s Mais Mulher program last year, she revealed that from an early age she had cultivated the habit of telling stories around the campfire in her mother’s tongue, though with no thought of publishing. It was writer Lília Momplé who encouraged her to publish the stories she wrote for her children. Accepting the challenge, Langa gave herself totally to the literary world.

In life, the writer and journalist wrote several books for children, both in Portuguese and in her mother tongue, among them “The Gazelle, the Ram and the Rabbit”, “The Rooster and the Rabbit”, “Nhembeti” and “Ndinema Goes to School”.

Her writing was strongly influenced by the childhood she spent mostly in her native land and, as one of the few authors who dedicated herself to children’s literature, her name is now an obligatory reference.

Fatima Langa was the oldest of 10 siblings, and leaves two children and many grandchildren, most of whom are in fact ‘Avózinha’ Langa’s young readers.

Source: O País