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Highlights
Along with their diploma, each student was gifted their own Bible.
First graduation at the Bissau campus
This year’s graduation celebrated the achievements of over 50 students across all programs. The event drew a crowd of more than 100 attendees, including government officials and even the traditional chief of the local neighborhood (Antula). The event was broadcast on multiple TV stations and was streamed live on a popular facebook page where it has almost 34k views.
The students also manufactured stands that will hold water filters produced by another local organization. The stands and the water filters will be sold together.
Welding has ramped up their production
Welding students worked on fugaderos (small charcoal stoves), stools, tables, grills, cabinets and stands for water filters. These projects give the students hands-on experience while also creating revenue for the school.
Tiofilu (center) with the Computer Literacy Program instructor, Dauda (left) and WAVS Country Director, Sloan (right).
Computer Literacy Program intern is equipped with a new computer
A new computer is awarded to Computer Literacy Program interns after they complete a two term internship with the department.
Around Campus
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The staff celebrated their annual Christmas party with festive activities and a delicious catered lunch for the team and their families. Each person received a bag filled with cooking ingredients to prepare a Christmas meal to share with their family and neighbors.
As one of the projects last term, each welding student welded a small fugadero. To their delight, the teachers surprised them by gifting their finished fugaderos to them as Christmas presents.
The projects that the welding students worked on during the term were available for sale to the community at graduation.
Members of the US embassy in Senegal, visited the school during a trip to Guinea-Bissau. The school recently received a self-help grant from the US embassy to help fund part of the solar panel system that will be installed on the new workshop building.
Staff trainings always have an element of fun to them at the WAVS schools! During the December training, staff participated in a dance variation of the game “telephone”.
Welding created a locking cabinet for every classroom this past term.
[1/3] WAVS participated in a community initiative to help repair the road to the campus. The initiative was led by a neighboring university, and consisted of a collection of other NGOs, businesses, mosques, and churches. Continue scrolling for more pictures of the road project.
[2/3] View of the road leading to the Bissau campus before work was done. Torrential rain had damaged it to the point where a majority of sections were only passable for one direction of traffic and had so many washouts that public transportation was no longer able to operate on the road
[3/3] After several weeks of work, the road has been significantly improved to the point where public transportation has been able to return to the area!
Behind the Scenes
Spotlight
Marame Paulo Mendes
English Student
Meet Marame Paulo Mendes
Marame is determined to achieve her dream of becoming an interpreter. She began studying English in Bafata, but since there wasn’t a university there she moved to Bissau to continue her education, recognizing that learning a foreign language is essential for future opportunities.
“My dream is to be able to speak English and become an interpreter,” Marame shares. “It’s really good to know a foreign language because you don’t know where you will find an opportunity to work.” She sees English as a key to unlocking new possibilities, especially in roles with NGOs that require language skills.
Marame’s advice to others is clear: “Work hard, because everything you want in life requires effort. You can’t stop when it gets hard.”
Where are they now?
Read stories about WAVS Graduates.
Deusa’s WAVS story: How computer skills gave her new opportunities and hope in West Africa
Learning new computer skills helped Deusa advance her career. Deusa was nervous. It was her [...]
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The odds were against Cirilo. He found a way to overcome them.
He grew up in one of the world’s poorest countries. As a child, he nearly [...]
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To finish university, Rukas first needs to become a welder
I’ve had the privilege of getting to know many of our welding students since moving to [...]
Read MoreView Past Yearbooks
