Charity in Paradise … Schoolbooks for Kids

Nilton Gomes is a man with a big heart, an even bigger smile and the biggest desire to make a difference in the lives of children. He was born 24 years ago in the interior of the island of Santiago surrounded by rolling green hills. He grew up poor. He remembers his school-days as happy days. But he also remembers that his parents were too poor to buy the textbooks he needed for school. Each of these books cost about €3 or US$4. His parents had to choose between feeding their kids and buying the text books. It’s a very tough choice for any parent. His school, Escola de Salina, did not have the resources to supply him with free schoolbooks.

Despite those early challenges, Nilton eventually went on to success: he serving in Cape Verde’s military, obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and is now assistant manager of operations at Cabo Verde Fast Ferry in the capital, Praia. But he never forgot where he came from. He decided that he would give back to his community, the community that raised and nurtured him, by helping the students who are sitting in the same desks and classrooms that he sat in almost 20 years ago.

Nilton enlisted the help of his former teacher – Manuel Barreto – who coincidentally, also works at Cape Verde Fast Ferry. Today they are headed back from Praia through those beautiful rolling hills into the interior of Santiago to visit three schools in Salina, Santa Cruz and Achada Ponta; with 400 text books that Nilton purchased on his own account; to distribute them to the students whose parents cannot afford to purchase them; accompanied by the proud CEO of his company.

What kind of money should tourists and longer-term residents bring with them to Cape Verde?

One of the questions most often asked by visitors to Cape Verde, based on some of the activity on the travel websites, pertains to foreign exchange. This posting will help you to plan ahead with respect to your monetary instruments.

OFFICIAL CURRENCY:
The official cash currency of Cape Verde is the Cape Verdean Escudo (CVE). The value of the escudo is pegged at a permanently fixed exchange rate to the Euro:

€1 = 110.265 ECV.

CASH

Because the escudo is pegged to the euro at a permanently fixed rate, euro cash is accepted everywhere in Cape Verde. Since you can't buy escudos outside Cape Verde, be sure to bring euros. You will receive in exchange, 100 CVE for each euro. So there is a cost to using euros. You could always go to the bank to exchange euros but you will have to pay a fee at the bank as well as wait in long lines to be served.

There is also a black market in currency exchange. You will find some of the "street bankers" near the market on the Plateau in Praia (Santiago). You'll get a slight better rate than the banks, but I would be very cautious because you may run the risk of getting counterfeit notes. For me, it's not worth the risk of getting a few extra pennies.

Other currencies are not readily accepted in local establishments. But if you have British pounds sterling, US dollars or Brazilian reas, they are readily exchanged at the banks.