Domingas Velez Phandju – Love is still a ticket to success

Domingas Velez Phandju believes in love and lives to spread it, she pours this feeling into every action she takes, without expecting anything in return.

Her path can be summarized in a couple of lines: she had only one employer — Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique (LAM); only one love — her late husband, whose presence she still feels and who inspires her to be what she is; and one mission: to carry out her work with dedication and selflessness.

Adversiting

Born in Quelimane, in the province of Zambézia, she applied to join the extinct company DETA, what is now LAM, in July 1977, aged 19. “I was one of a thousand candidates in my province and I was ranked the best, which gave me the right to participate in the selection process in the country’s capital, at the time Lourenço Marques. In the national tests, I was in the top position and chose to stay in my home town,” she tells us.

In Quelimane, she worked in booking and issuing tickets, but due to her versatility she helped in other sectors such as the check-in. After getting married, she decided to move to Maputo, her husband’s birthplace.

“It was June 1982, an unforgettable year. In the capital I was assigned to the Central Control of Reservations, everything was so analogical, all the passengers’ files were done manually. I had the privilege of participating in the introduction of the first computerized system, called Gabriel. I was one of five people chosen for training in Atlanta, United States of America. The team returned and promoted the dissemination of this new system,” she says.

While graduating, Domingas realized that, in the process of sharing, it’s not about transferring knowledge; much is also received from the trainees. “It wasn’t just technical knowledge that was shared, they exchanged life experiences. Some entered with a troubled and clouded view and left more enlightened and ready to face the work environment and beyond.”

In the 1990s, her husband was offered a job in South Africa. “I got a transfer and went with him to Johannesburg. I worked at the LAM branch in the “land of the rand” from 1991 to 2001,” she says, adding that, after returning to Maputo, she worked until her retirement. “A large part of LAM’s current staff passed through my hands. I treat everyone like children. I look at LAM as home. We are all family,” she said.

Domingas is retired now and, looking back on her path, she is certain that she was meant to refine souls, offering an alternative way of seeing life. Therefore, she remains ready to help. “I still get calls out of hours, I share what little I know,” she says.

▶ HIGHLIGHT

“I still get calls out of hours, I share what little I know.”

Edição 77 Jan/Fev| Download.