Our foundation

Professor Joaquim Silva

Professor Joaquim Silva, the namesake of our organization, was a teacher at the Catholic Mission in the 1970s. As a teacher, he helped train hundreds of children from Jugudal. At the time, some parents would not let their children go to school due to work in the countryside and the War of Independence. Professor Silva used his influence with the parents and persuaded them to send their children to school. While teaching at Jugudal, he resided in Mansoa with his family.

In 2003, due to his precarious health, he moved to Bissau. He lived there until his death on December 25, 2011, waiting to be transferred for medical treatment in Portugal.

About Mansoa

Centrally located between four regions in Guinea-Bissau, Mansoa is a village with more traces of Portuguese colonial presence than many. Called the "Green city" for the quantity of flowers and trees that surround it, it has an estimated population of 35,616, mostly young people — and soccer is its greatest passion.

Education in Mansoa currently ranges from preschool to year twelve, with one teacher-training institute created by the local Catholic mission in 2014. Teaching materials are nearly nonexistent, and most schools do not have a single computer, nor books, desks or manuals to support the students.

Mansoa contains the regional hospital that covers five sectors, serving an estimated 226,000 locals. It faces a shortage of logistical materials — beds, laboratory supplies and an ambulance to transport patients to Bissau, sixty kilometres away, for more intensive care.