The Professor Joaquim Silva Foundation
Professor Joaquim Silva, the namesake of our organization, was a professor in 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 Jugudul, Professor Silva resided in Mansoa with his family.
In 2003, due to his precarious health condition, 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
CURRENT SITUATION OF EDUCATION AND HEALTH IN THE MANSOA IN THE CITY OF MANSOA
A Brief Introduction about Mansoa
Centrally located between four regions in Guinea Bissau, Mansoa is a village with more traces of Portuguese colonial presence than many. Although its colonial history has diluted through time, some architecture - the bridge, the prison, the administrator’s residence, and the Balanta’s soccer club, to name a few - still remain. Called the "Green city" because of the quantities of flowers and trees that surrounded it, some of its landscape is still scarred with the shrapnel of PAIGC bombs nailed to its canopies since the country’s liberation war.
With a population estimated at 35,616 inhabitants, the city is mainly composed of young people - and soccer is its greatest passion. One can see this by looking at not only the local team (the Balantas), but also by the packed stands full of mothers and children at the regional and national games.
Currently, education in Mansoa ranges from preschool to year twelve, with one higher learning institute for teachers’ training created by the local Catholic mission in 2014. Some students, if they have the means, can pursue additional education in Bissau, the capital, about sixty kilometers away. Those who do not have this luxury are unable to finish their education.
Quemo Mane High School is the one high school connecting all four sections of the region. Students are required to travel great lengths from villages across the region in order to attend this one school. The teaching materials are nearly nonexistent - there is no laboratory in this sector, and the only library has shut down, so the students have no place for research. Most schools do not have a single computer, and most are without 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 lack of logistical materials, like beds, laboratory supplies and an ambulance to transport patients to Bissau, sixty kilometers away, for more intensive care. When it is being used, other patients must wait until it returns - which has led to preventable deaths and worsened health conditions.
PJSF is a 501 (c)3 tax-exempt non-profit organization
EIN: 83-3851521
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