1981/1999

Page 2 of 3

Joey spent two weeks in Portugal and met our families and friends and his kindness and easy going personality left a mark on anyone who met him. Still today, sixteen years later everyone remembers and talks fondly about Joey Dabwido.

Selling the catch of the day at Nauru Boat Harbour

Portuguese love to eat charcoal grilled sardines but Joey prefers them "au natural’. On a family gathering, Joey was the focus of attention when he ate the sardines raw.

We took Joey to some of the typical places in Lisbon and as usual Joey managed to add a Nauruan touch to the occasion:

•  At the bullfight Joey attempted to throw the brand new Texan boots to the ‘Toureiro". After a "Toureiro" finishes fighting the bull he walks around the arena and receives the applause of the audience. The ladies normally throw him flowers, hats and scarves which he returns in an act of gallantry. Well…Joey saw the ideal opportunity to get rid of the boots, that he bought for the occasion but were strangling his feet. Thank God I saw it in time to save the Toureiro of an unpleasant surprise.

•  The visit to a nightclub and a strip tease show which Joey found very uncomfortable especially with the presence of Filu and Belinha making smart remarks and inviting Joey to comment about the anatomy of the dancers.

Filu, Joey and our girls in Batalha, Portugal

• The visit to the Feira Popular (Luna Park) where Joey almost caused the daredevil bike rider in the Poço da Morte (the death well) to kill his little daughter. In this attraction a rider carrying his little daughter on his back rides a bike in a metal cylinder. The audience stays on the top of the cylinder and at the end of the ride people throw money into the cylinder to show appreciation. Normally people throw the equivalent to fifty cents or one dollar bills. Well…Joey was very moved with the fact that the little girl was risking her life and decided that one hundred dollars was a small price to pay for such a risk. When the rider saw one hundred dollars bill floating down the cylinder he almost crash the bike. Attempting to get to the note quickly he forgot that he was defying gravity and needed to keep the speed of the bike up.

After two weeks Joey returned to Nauru being probably the first Nauruan to ever set foot in Portugal. The people that met him were left with an indelible mark of his kindness and generosity.

After five years on Nauru we decided to emigrated to Australia and settled in Tasmania. Joey kept in touch with us and, one Christmas he decided to visit us.

Joey and Seravina had two girls and named the eldest Anna Paula after our girls Ana Rita and Erica Paula.

Joey, Rita, Erica, my nieces Vana and Claudia and Sandy in Costa da Caparica, Portugal

One day he rang us and told that he was to come to spend sometime with us but would like to travel on the ferry from Melbourne to Tasmania. Knowing Joey and his disregard for rules and regulations I told him that he needed to book the trip in advance because during the Christmas season it was very difficult to get tickets to and from Tasmania and in particular when travelling with six people.

You would think that Joey would listen to my advise? Wrong… one day he rang and told me that he was in Melbourne with all his family plus two nephews and no way to come to Tassie. Joey Dabwido had arrived in Melbourne and went straight to a car yard, bought a station wagon and drove the family to the wharf to learn then, that all ferries to Tasmania were booked out for the next three months. Obviously plane tickets were not available also and we end up having to charter a plane to bring the Dabwido’s to Tasmania.

Rita, Anna Paula, MyAnne and Joey's relatives in Tasmania

The two families spent two weeks together and around the many barbecues we had all over Tasmania we recalled the good years we spent in Nauru. Rita, who had forgotten the Nauruan language was already speaking like one by the time the holidays were over.

The Dabwido’s returned to Nauru after a couple of weeks touring Tasmania and our contacts resumed to a couple of postcards at Christmas.

In our house in Burnie, Tasmania with the Dabwido's