BACKGROUND
The Descendants and CVJHP
The Project works in conjunction with the descendants of the Jewish families of Cape Verde to accomplish its goals. Many descendants throughout the world are collaborating on various aspects of the Project such as providing oral testimonies, technical support, and financial assistance.
Descendants of Cape Verdean Jews in Lisbon, Portugal, 1994.
An organization called the Cape Verde-Israel Friendship Society (AMICAEL) was formed between Cape Verde and Israel in 1994. An AMICAEL subcommittee is also collaborating on the Project.
AMICAEL members in Praia, 1994.
The seeds of the Cape Verde Jewish Heritage Project were sown in the late 1980’s while Carol Castiel was managing a USAID-funded scholarship program for Portuguese-speaking Africa at the African-American Institute in New York City. From her Cape Verdean students, many with Jewish surnames, she learned of the Jewish cemeteries throughout the islands. Castiel continued to travel to the archipelago in the 1990’s as an independent consultant/free-lance journalist. Her trips coincided with a resurgence of interest in Jewish roots on the part of many descendants who were pressing for the restoration of the dilapidated cemeteries.
Castiel in the Jewish cemetery, Boa Vista, 1995.
Since then, Castiel has contributed time and effort to interviewing descendants, publishing articles, and making presentations about the Jewish presence in Cape Verde. Initially called "The Jews of Cape Verde Project: Preservation of Memory," the project was affiliated with B'nai B'rith International. In 2007, the Project, now renamed "The Cape Verde Jewish Heritage Project" received independent 501 (c) (3) status and can now more effectively raise funds to achieve its goals of preserving the cemeteries and telling the story of Cape Verde's Jewish heritage.
