In April 2020, the world had just locked down to Covid-19. All of the tourists had been repatriated; hotels were left empty. Employees in the tourism sector were left jobless with little or no income. Those who were once the bread winners (supporting their families on the other islands) found themselves jobless and homeless. They were left with no choice but to return home as they were unable to support themselves. Overnight the whole tourism sector in Cape Verde was completely wiped out.
At this point Gus knew he had to do something to help! He couldn’t see his fellow countrymen suffer. After a conversation with Amanda, various fundraising activities took place in the U.K to provide essential food parcels. This proved very successful and we were able to reach 1,736 families in desperate need.
During these distributions, it became clear to Gus that as time went on something more was needed – a sense of hope and a little joy. The hot meals seemed like the perfect solution. Combined with leisure activities (like football) they provided a nutritious meal along with a little fun and companionship. We were able to provide in excess of 1,300 hot meals for locals and add a little bit of fun.
Lisa had been fundraising by selling items on ebay kindly donated from friends and family. Word spread and she ended up with so many amazing things and lots of children’s clothes that were so desperately needed in Cape Verde. This is how our third project evolved. Shipping to Cape Verde is complicated and expensive but with Lisa’s dedication and determination she managed to ship 432 kg of clothing to Sal during a global lock down!
Cape Verde has always had areas of extreme poverty and deprivation. Covid-19 highlighted that behind the doors of the shiny 5* hotels lies a whole different world to what tourists see! Working so well as a team, and with the enormous support of our volunteers and donors, we knew we had to do more and take things one step further.
On 6th February 2022, we applied for U.K charity status. This was granted to us on 23rd February 2022 and so CAPE VERDE IN NEED was born!