Welcome to The Yearbook
As a One Student member, you’re part of a community of people who are creating a world where everyone has the opportunity to provide for themselves and their families. To celebrate this exciting work, we’ve created The Yearbook. At the end of every three-month term at the WAVS Schools, visit The Yearbook to see your impact up close.
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Highlights
Latest updates from the winter 2020 term
Graduates gathered together to celebrate one of the biggest days of their lives!
44 students graduate from the WAVS School in Canchungo
Thanks to the One Student Community’s investment in the future leaders of West Africa, 44 WAVS students celebrated their graduation in January. This year, 28 students graduated from the computer course, 4 from the English course, and 12 from the welding course. Thank you for giving these young men and women a brighter future!
A team from the well community church in Fresno, California visited the Gabu campus and helped teach one of the English classes.
New campus in Gabu growing quickly
Students are excited about studying English at the WAVS School in Gabu, which opened last fall. This winter term, the campus expanded its English program and now offers English levels 1 and 2. The school plans to offer even more courses in the coming years.
WAVS students and staff came together to help disinfect the Canchungo campus.
WAVS staff respond to the coronavirus
The coronavirus has forced all schools in Guinea-Bissau to temporarily close, including the WAVS Schools in Gabu and Canchungo. But thanks to the consistent monthly support from the One Student Community, the WAVS Schools are able to continue to pay their teachers during this difficult time. Read more about the impact of the coronavirus in Guinea-Bissau here .
See the “Around Campus” photos and the featured video below to learn about how the WAVS School in Canchungo is helping their community, including by repairing the only ambulance in town.
Around Campus
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WAVS School employees Matheus and Lili worked on the vehicle for the Director of Regional Medical Center to help prepare their community for COVID-19.
The WAVS School staff asked the local hospital how they could help prepare their community for COVID-19. The hospital’s leadership asked them to drive around town and share public service announcements about social distancing and practicing good hygiene. So School Director Lili Mane, left, made an audio recording and drove around town each day, playing the public announcements and talking with community members about COVID-19.
This is the only ambulance in Canchungo. WAVS School staff volunteered their time and resources to fix the ambulance for the Canchungo Hospital as part of the preparation for COVID-19.
On February 14 in the capital of Guinea-Bissau, WAVS hosted a grant signing ceremony marking the start of a partnership between WAVS and the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In attendance were the Japanese ambassador to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau, the Guinea-Bissau minister of education, and members of WAVS local and international team.
WAVS Executive Director Chris Collins visited Guinea-Bissau in February and attended a grant signing ceremony with the Ambassador of Japan to Guinea-Bissau. The Japanese government’s grant will help pay for more than half of the first classroom building on the new WAVS campus in Bissau, the capital city. WAVS donors have helped fund the remaining cost of the building.
Lili Mane, the director of the WAVS School in Canchungo, was a guest lecturer at a three-day training for entrepreneurs. The participants gained so much from the advice Lili shared that they asked him to come back to speak the following day!
Matheus, the Head of Security for the WAVS School Canchungo campus, was among the graduates this past January. He received a diploma in computer basics.
A team of visitors from The Well Community Church in Fresno, California attended the WAVS School graduation in Canchguno. They are pictured here along with some of the guest speakers at the graduation.
In his spare time, the director of the WAVS School campus in Gabu helps a team of people translate the Bible into Fula, an ethnic language. So far, they’ve been working on the project for nine years.
Batteries for the solar power system at the WAVS School Canchungo campus were ordered back in December and have now arrived at the school! Solar is what powers the school and the staff is excited to install these new batteries.
Kalu, a WAVS employee in Bissau, was married in January! Congratulations to Kalu and his wife.
Behind the Scenes
Lili Mane, director of the WAVS School in Canchungo, shares about how his school is helping the community prepare for the impact of COVID-19.
Spotlight
Mussa Djalo
Head of Maintenance
Meet Mussa
The WAVS School is excited to welcome back a familiar face to the Canchungo campus, Mussa! Mussa is no stranger to the WAVS School. The school first welcomed him as a student in the welding program in 2015. After graduating from the welding program, Mussa was selected to be a welding intern for the 2017-2018 school year. Upon finishing his internship, Mussa worked with other WAVS School welding graduates at a workshop they opened together. This practical hands-on work gave Mussa the experience he needed to be hired in March 2020 as the Head of Maintenance at the WAVS School. Mussa is excited to be back at the school and to be “helping a school that helped me”.
When he’s not at the WAVS School, Mussa can be found helping others in the community, relaxing with a game of basketball or reading a good book.
Where are they now?
Read stories about WAVS Graduates.
View Past Yearbooks
