Health
Abel is a family doctor. On every visit he sees dozens of patients who have no health centre within reach, and we support small basic care posts. The goal is a health centre in the village that also serves its neighbours.
Guinea-Bissau · Fulani people
Health, education and light for a people in darkness
There are around 900 Fulani villages in Guinea-Bissau, almost none with a health centre or school nearby. We started with one, Sitchan Samba: medical care, a school, milk for the children and a trade for young people.
Sitchan Samba · Gabú Region · Guinea-Bissau
“Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.”
Romans 15:21
0.02%of the Fulani are Christians
1 in 15children in Guinea-Bissau die before their fifth birthday
600,000Fula people in Guinea-Bissau, mostly in the interior
Why the Fulani?
A people of millions, in one of the most neglected regions on earth
- The Fulani are tens of millions of people who share a language (Fula) and a culture across some twenty countries of the Sahel and West Africa. Traditionally herders, many now live in rural villages.
- During the Islamic expansion they were among the first groups to adopt Islam as their religious and political foundation.
- In Guinea-Bissau there are about 600,000 of them, close to a third of the country, concentrated in the east (Gabú and Bafatá), the area furthest from hospitals and schools.
- Guinea-Bissau has some of the worst maternal and child health and literacy indicators in the world, and the deep interior is worse still: villages with no electricity or roads, reachable only by donkey tracks.
- Most villages have no health post, no trained teacher and no safe water.
This is our goal: if we help solve this in a couple of villages, they can become a desirable, replicable model of development for the rest of the Fula communities.
What we do
It started with a water well
Sitchan Samba is a Muslim village that opened its doors to us when we were able to drill a water well. Since then we have worked with the community on four fronts that reinforce each other: health, education, nutrition and building.
School
About 80 children started school in a village where almost no adult can read. They are taught by Umaro, a Fulani teacher, in their own language and culture, with Ivanildo alongside him.
A glass of milk
A glass of milk every other day for every child at the school. It adds protein in an area with child malnutrition, and it also brings the children to class.
Building with the earth
With a compressing machine we make compressed earth blocks (CEB): a local, cheap material that keeps buildings cool. They are used for the school, the health centre and the team house, and young people in the village learn a trade they can take to others.
Concrete needs
What your gift does
We do not replace the state: we do what we can sustain, without going into debt. These are today’s needs, with their real cost.
€100 per month
Support a teacher
The salary of Umaro, the teacher at the village school.
€120 per month
Milk for 80 children
A glass of milk three days a week for the whole school.
€75 one-off
A school bench
Made by a carpenter. Seats three or four children. We need places for 120.
€10 one-off
A bag of cement
One bag makes 100 compressed earth blocks.
From the field
News
Looking ahead to 2027: a team from Argentina is coming to build
In January a team from Argentina arrives to build the mission house and the Sitchan Samba school with earth blocks.
Fruit of discipleship
Ivanildo and Genabu are walking with girls from the village in faith and in learning to read. One of them decided to be baptised.
We've started making compressed earth blocks
With a block press we make CEBs to build the mission house, the school and the health centre, and we teach young people a trade.
Who we are
A small team, rooted in the village
We are an African and Argentine team of evangelical Christian faith: a family doctor, teachers and skilled workers. We live in the village or travel there often, and a network of people and churches supports us from afar.
In the village
Ivanildo and Genabu
Living in Sitchan Samba
They live in the village with their daughters Dorcas, Ivana and Normita. They are the team’s daily presence: they support the school and the children and teenagers.
Umaro
Schoolteacher
A Fulani from the area, he teaches about 80 children to read and write in their own language. Ivanildo works alongside him day to day.
In Bissau and in the field
Abel and Paty Vallejos
Coordination, health and education
Abel is a family doctor and Paty works in literacy. They have worked in Africa since the 1990s; today they live in Portugal and travel often to Guinea-Bissau.
On the way
Team from Argentina
January 2027
A group travelling to build the school and the team house with earth blocks, together with two young men from the area hired to make the 8,000 blocks needed.
From afar
Those who support us
Argentina, Portugal and other countries
Families, friends, professionals and churches who give from afar. MEVIC (Missão Evangélica Intercultural) is our partner organisation in Portugal.
If you pray with us
Prayer requests
We are a team of faith, and many of those who support us pray for this work. These are today’s requests.
- For Ivanildo and Genabu, missionaries in the village, and their little daughters Dorcas, Ivana and Normita.
- For Ezequiel, a young Argentine who joined the work, as he adapts to serving among the Fulani.
- For Umaro, the schoolteacher, and for the families of his pupils.
- For the health of the children and mothers in the village.
- For the team travelling from Argentina in January 2027 to build the school and the team house.
- That what began in Sitchan Samba may reach other Fulani villages in Guinea-Bissau.
One village today. Hundreds tomorrow.
A well, a consultation, a class, a glass of milk. What works in Sitchan Samba can be taken to other villages. Join us once or every month.
Donate now