We, the people of Brava, demand Respect - Aisha Vicente

Good morning to you wherever you find yourself getting up on this beautiful day. I'm not here from a place of anger or annoyance. I am simply stating my experience and welcome you with an open heart to understand my perspective.

Apr 7, 2023 - 19:43

Sep 2, 2023 - 23:30

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We, the people of Brava, demand Respect - Aisha Vicente

Good morning to you wherever you find yourself getting up on this beautiful day. I'm not here from a place of anger or annoyance. I am simply stating my experience and welcome you with an open heart to understand my perspective.

My parents were born here in Cape Verde (islands off the west coast of Africa) on the smallest island of Brava. However, I was born hundreds of thousands of miles away in the USA. For that reason, I am writing in English so my words don't get lost in translation. I moved here in the summer of 2018 with a lot of love and pride for my country. Some find it strange that I was born in the perceived land of dreams and opportunities, and sold all my possessions, and left all my immediate family, and reversed the course of immigration taken by my parents and grandparents to come and build my life where my forefathers built theirs. The amount of pride, love and joy I feel for this country is indescribable and I won't bore you with all my details. It is this love and pride I speak of that led me to open a small hotel (or bed and breakfast as we say in the states) so that I can share my culture, history and magic with travelers around the world. It became my passion and my joy.

However, this has not been the experience in recent months and perhaps even years. I spend more time trying to make excuses and trying to navigate the transportation issues here on Brava. It seems that our government doesn't care or consider people's lives and lively neighborhood in Brava. The lack of daily transport to and from our island has sometimes left us short of food, gas, medical supplies and medicine. Not to mention tourists' lack of ability to travel, which affects our economy in major ways! I myself have had over 20 cancellations in the last 6-8 months due to lack of transportation. For those of you who don't know, a ship is the only way to get to or from the island. We don't have an airport, we don't have helicopters for emergencies. I've seen people die due to lack of transport to our sister island of Fogo because we have a small hospital that functions more like a clinic and is not equipped to handle most emergencies.

I'm saddened by the amount of people that

I will never know and love this island the way I do for fear of getting stuck and missing transfer flights or losing other travel tickets. I am saddened by the people who had the chance to come but say they will never come back because of the inconsistent boats and left with a sour taste in their mouth. I'm tired of making excuses and comforting my guests when they're stuck an extra day or three. I'm tired of seeing the fear they have when they hear about boat cancellations. People have lives, jobs, and families to reach. A small 3-day vacation shouldn't be filled with so much stress.

I speak for us when I say

We, the people of Brava, demand Respect

We demand equality

And we demand accountability from our decision makers

I apologize for my speech so early in the morning. I hope this situation is resolved soon. I look forward to continuing my passion of sharing the majesty and beautiful experiences that Brava has to offer with people all over the world. I'll leave you with some pictures of Brava, as I know for some of you the pictures will be all you'll be able to see.

Love.

Peace.

Abundance.

Aisha Amor Vicente

Good morning to you wherever you find yourself rising on this beautiful day. I am here not from a place of anger or annoyance. I am simply stating my experience and welcome you with an open heart to understand my perspective.

My parents were born here in Cape Verde (islands off the west coast of Africa) on the smallest island of Brava. I however was born hundreds of thousands of miles away in the USA. For that reason I am writing in English so my words won't be lost in translation. I moved here in the Summer of 2018 with so much love and pride for my country. Some find it strange that I was born in the perceived land of dreams and opportunities, and sold all of my possessions, and left my whole immediate family and reversed the immigration course made by my parents and grandparents to come and build my life where my forefathers built theirs. The amount of pride, love and joy I feel for this country is indescribable and I won't bore you with all my details. It is this love and pride I speak of that has moved me to open a small hotel (or bed and breakfast as we say in the states) so that I can share my culture, history and magic with travelers around the world. This has become my passion and my joy.

However this has not been the experience over the last few months and maybe even years. I spend more time trying to make excuses and trying to navigate the transportation issues here in Brava. It seems that our government does not concern themselves with or consider the lives and lively hood of the people in Brava. The lack of daily transportation to and from our island has left us at times with a lack of food, gas, medical supplies and medicine. Not to mention the lack of ability for tourists to travel which affects our economy in Major ways! I myself have had over 20 cancellations in the last 6-8 months due to lack of transportation. For those of you who don't know, a ship is the only way on or off the island. We have no airport, we have no helicopters for emergency. I have seen people die due to lack of transportation to our sister island of Fogo because we have a small hospital that functions more as a clinic and is not equipped to handle most emergencies.

I am saddened at the amount of people who

Will never come to know and love this island the way I do for fear of being stuck and missing transfer flights or losing other travel tickets. I am saddened by the people who have had the chance to come but say they will never come back because of the inconsistent boats and have left with a sour taste in their mouth. I am tired of making excuses and consoling my guests when they are stuck an extra day or three. I am tired of seeing the fear they have when they hear of boat cancellations. People have lives, jobs, and families to get to. A small 3 day vacation should not be filled with such stress.