When we were in Cabo Verde seven years ago I fell in love. I thought “I could live here.” I have agreed to live in places that I had never visited. I visited here, albeit for only a day, but started thinking about USAID media development projects I could apply to be part of. But I convinced myself that I had retired (as it turns out, I had not.) Coming back makes me want to reconsider. Although, as far as USAID is concerned, that train has left the station.

I sit on the board of an NGO, Developing Radio Partners (DRP), that has worked with local Cape Verde community radio stations to educate farmers about climate change. According to UN reports Cape Verde is one of the countries most likely to be most affected by climate change because of a drop in annual rainfall and increased severe storms. The rain that does come is more intense. This means the country needs to adjust farming methods. DRP’s program in Cape Verde is over now but the country has decided to deal seriously with climate change. It is committed to clean energy. We saw new wind farms, they are using solar, and biomass to generate electricity. They are encouraging electric cars.

Cabo Verde a stable democracy. It has one of the freest presses in Africa, a strong judiciary, and ranks highly in fighting corruption and in e-government readiness. I’ve worked in many unstable and corrupt places, and we made progress. But how nice it would be to work in a place where we could really help a nation make the jump. Cabo Verde seems ready.

This time we saw a little more than the capital. Here are some more pictures from Mindelo.

And some shots from the Folklore center, including a display of the sailor’s craft, macrame,/ of some of Cabo Verde’s textile art and a tribute to music.