May 13, 2020

Alveno Soares is Providing for His Community via Crowdfunding

Alveno Soares, a 2016 Mandela Washington Fellow and Coordinator of the Embassy-sponsored American Space Djêu d'Merka, has created a local fundraising initiative initiative to support Cabo Verde's #LavaBôMon (Wash Your Hands) campaign. Soares knows that good hygiene is one of the most effective methods to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In order to raise awareness and spread knowledge throughout his community, Soares formed partnerships with several national and international organizations to share preventative health practices and to crowdfund to get needed supplies. His initiative has managed to help more than 300 at-risk families  on the  islands of Santo Antão and São Vicente with food and items, such as soap. 

Soares’s crowdfunding effort is co-sponsored with several international partners from the tourism industry, such as Dada's Animations (tourism agency in São Vicente), O Ritmo (tourism agency in Switzerland), Rabasa (musical group from the Netherlands), and Fundação Cabo Verde (based in Switzerland).  

Soares is also volunteering with health centers in São Vicente to inform the local population about hygiene measures that help prevent COVID-19. To see and read more about Alvano Soares and his amazing work, check out the post on U.S. Embassy Praia, Cabo Verde’s  Facebook page.