Kuito, formally called Silva Porto is the birthplace of Nhamalanda. These photos taken over 35 years ago by my friend Cagi, are now mere memories.
My grandparents on my mother's side, Beatriz and António Leal came to Silva Porto around 1930 already with grown up kids. The majority of my generation of the Leal Family was born in Silva Porto.
After the wedding my parents went to live in Lobito, but my mother returned to Silva Porto for the birth of her three childrean. My grandfather passed away we were still very young but my grandmother's house would fill up with the grand kids every school long holidays.
The madness that ravaged Angola since the 70's destroyed what once was a tidy and peaceful town. In the next pages you will be able to see how the war destroyed these buildings and the effort to bring the city to its previous explendor.
The Government, Council and Taxation Buildings.
The Post Office and my friend Madalena
One of the servant's huts in the Embala
The Embala, place where the Portuguese explorer Silva Porto lived and died