How to help people in poverty: Donate to nonprofits that give OPPORTUNITY, not CHARITY.

For a long time, nonprofits have tried to help people in poverty through charity – by giving them things for free. Free meals, free clothes, free electricity-generating soccer balls. Free anything. The reason is simple: unlike businesses, nonprofits are not funded by the people they serve (the homeless don’t pay for shelters, for example). Instead, […]

5 facts about Guinea-Bissau in West Africa: Its people, food, languages, economy – and islands run by women

Streets of Guinea-Bissau

At first glance, the country of Guinea-Bissau doesn’t seem like much more than just a tiny speck on the map. In fact, it may be the most forgotten country in Africa. But take a closer look, and you’ll discover a land bursting with rich cultural heritage, an economy centered around buttery cashews and sweet mangoes, […]

Four examples of how vocational schools use practical job skills training to help young people in West Africa

West African Vocational Schools has equipped more than 1,400 young people with life-changing job skills through practical training programs at locally-led vocational schools. After completing their courses, more than three out of four graduates find employment, start their own business, or continue with their studies. And most of them see a significant increase in their […]

Announcing a third WAVS campus

Today, we’re announcing a new donation to WAVS: an existing vocational school in Guinea-Bissau. That’s right – an entire school in Guinea-Bissau has been donated to WAVS. Here’s how it happened. More than a decade ago, an organization called Servants to Missions built a vocational school on a 2.5-acre compound in a city called Gabu, […]

‘None of us are professors, secretaries or doctors – but I thank God for the profession he’s given us.’

Cirilo welding student at WAVS Vocational School in West Africa

Cirilo grew up in a country where most people live on less than $2 a day. As a kid, he dreamed about becoming a doctor or lawyer. With a career like that, he thought, he’d leave his life of poverty behind. Now as an adult, Cirilo shows up to work every day ready to direct […]

Impact of the coronavirus in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa

WAVS students and staff have been proactively cleaning and disinfecting the school in anticipation of the coronavirus outbreak.

For the latest number of cases in Guinea-Bissau click here. September 14, 2020: The WAVS Schools resumed classes, with extra protocols in place like wearing masks, for those students who were enrolled in the Spring term that was cut short by the state of emergency which closed all schools. These classes will go until September […]