João Afonso is quite an extensive valley on the Cape Verdean island Santo Antão, the second largest island of the archipelago. The valley comprises some 12 villages with a total of about 950 inhabitants. The land is mountainous having rough and steep slopes. The infrastructure is poor. With the actual infrastructure it is only be possible to reach the beginning of the valley by car.
Economy
The area is economically undeveloped. People live of the home-grown vegetables, such as corn, sugarcane, cassava, beans, and various kinds of fruit. The sale of these crops is the only means of living for the village people. To carry the harvest from the fields homewards people will have to turn to hinnies. Villagers that do not possess a hinny will carry the vegetables on their head.
Infrastructure
The infrastructure is just poor: there are no shops, no sanitary facilities, only one school for the entire valley and just one first-aid post, which, besides, is often unused. The villages can be reached by footpath only. In case of an accident one must walk 4 to 6 hours (on rainy days) before reaching any medical care. Road lighting and water supplies are missing.
Ageing This is the reason why many youngsters are off to the cities, where they expect to find better possibilities for self-fulfilment. Others will emigrate. As a result the population is ageing. If this trend continues, the existence of the entire valley will be threatened. However, the area is very fertile; in future it may be opened up to tourism as well.
Amigos de João Afonso Foundation The aim of the A.J.A. Foundation is to stop the ageing and depopulation of João Afonso. This will work out in favour of everybody's welfare, both of young and elderly people. Highly important is the accessibility of the valley. A.J.A. Foundation wants to build a road or a cable-lift (which is more expensive, but also more recommendable from an environmental engineering point of view).
Fajã dos Cumes
We have our base in the little village Fajã dos Cumes, located under the summit of the mountain Corda (here the feasibility of a cable-lift is being investigated; however, for the time being A.J.A. Foundation is not starting from this idea). Right now there already is an unmetalled road via the Figueral valley up to halfway João Afonso. Thereafter the road will turn into an aisle.
Access road
To start with, A.J.A. Foundation intends extending the existing road from Figueral to Fajã dos Cumes, which means that the aisle will be developed into an unmetalled road. To this effect roads will have to be broadened, bridges built, banks thrown up - on rainy days there is flooding (by way of example: somebody died during the rainy season and had to be buried within 24 hours; the coffin had to be pulled by rope across the water: this needs to be improved!)
Joint endeavour
There live some 14,000 Capeverdean people in Rotterdam (who will regularly remit money to their family on the Cape Verde Islands). A smaller part of these Capeverdean people are coming from João Afonso. In a joint endeavour they - as A.J.A. Foundation - are trying to get the road fixed up.
