Angela
Morado of the British Vice Consulate in the Algarve has been
presented with an Honorary MBE, awarded to her by Her Majesty the
Queen, in recognition of her significant contribution to relations
between the United Kingdom and Portugal.
The
award was formally presented by the British Ambassador to Portugal,
Kirsty Hayes, at a reception on Tuesday in Portimão.
The
Ambassador said in tribute: “Angie has proved herself to be a
consummate professional in dealing tenaciously with hundreds of
consular cases, and providing exemplary support to many distressed
and vulnerable British nationals.
“Angie
always sees each and every person as an individual, an essential
skill in consular work, where each person has a set of unique,
personal circumstances, even if the type of situation is one she has
dealt with many times before.
“She
has a seemingly limitless supply of empathy and compassion for fellow
human beings, often facing up to the worst situation in their lives
in a foreign country, sometimes alone, where they don’t speak the
language or understand the norms”.
The
Ambassador also noted that crisis response is another significant
responsibility of consular staff around the world, and, in 2010,
Angela was deployed to Funchal to assist British nationals caught up
in the flood crisis there. With all communication systems down, there
were huge challenges in making contact with British residents and
holidaymakers in Madeira.
A
year later, Angela went to Malta at one hour’s notice to assist
with the evacuation of Libya during the Arab Spring crisis.
Angela
Morado was born in Durban, South Africa. At the age of 18 she
emigrated to Portugal with her parents and sister. Her father is
Portuguese.
Angela
was hoping to study fine arts but did not have the Portuguese
language skills at the time to pursue a university degree in
Portugal.
Instead,
in October 1988, she started working for the UK Foreign and
Commonwealth Office at the British Consulate in the Algarve, having
been advised about the job vacancy by her previous employer, Zita
Neto, Director of the language school Interlingua in Portimão.
The British Consulate was just up the road from the school.
“I
was interviewed by the then Honorary British Consul, Dr José
Pearce de Azevedo, to whom I am ever grateful for teaching me the
Portuguese I am able to read, write and speak today,” she says.
Having
started as a consular support officer, she was promoted to consular
assistant in 1994. With the retirement of her former colleagues Ron
Underwood and Zefita Azevedo, she was promoted to Proconsul and then
appointed Vice Consul in 2004.
She
has served under seven consuls. Commenting on her MBE award, Roger
Nuttall, the British Consul in the Algarve between 2000 and 2005, who
now lives in retirement in England, said: “Among former colleagues
in my 40 plus years in the Diplomatic Service, Angela Morado was
simply the best consular officer I ever worked with. She was
conscientious, professional, and wonderful with the public, British
and Portuguese alike. I wish we could clone Angela for every consular
job in the Service”.
Angela’s
own reaction to the MBE award: “I am truly honoured for the
recognition and proud to work for this organisation that has provided
me with so many opportunities in my career to learn and develop and
to travel.
“Above
all it is the great job satisfaction I have every day in being able
to help vulnerable people. Within the consulate we have a saying that
“there is never a dull day” and this makes my job exciting.
“I
have always worked with fantastic teams who have been supportive
especially when dealing with the more complex cases.
“It
is a luxury these days to be able to say that I get paid for the job
that I love doing”.
Angela (right) with the British Ambassador
photo by Clive Jewell, the UK's Vice Consul in the Algarve.
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