Achada Furna

Fogo

COMMUNITY

Achada Furna, according to the census, is linked to the neighboring community of Cabeça Fundão in terms of counting the number of inhabitants, totaling around 1000 people. Although the main activities are agriculture and livestock and their derivatives, there is a women's cooperative Remanescentes do Vulcão that is dedicated to handicrafts made through the processing of volcanic stone.

Achada Furna can count on the support of several organizations, but above all with a feeling of solidarity and welcome. The project financed the purchase of equipment, work tools and furniture.

The objective is to improve the cooperative's production, the feeling of belonging and consequently improve family income in addition to encouraging young people to get involved with crafts.

THE WORKSHOPS OF ACHADA FURNA

MAKING CHEESE

Fogo cheese is famous throughout the Sotavento islands, it is a fresh cheese obtained from goat's milk. This laboratory will allow you to produce your own cheese from goat milk.

YOU DISCOVER

THE LAVIC STONE SCULPTURES

One of the activities that women use to try to combine lunch with dinner in this area is the production and sale of lava stone souvenirs. Processing lava stone is a process that requires experience and great manual skill. The women of the cooperative will show you their work, through a visit to the Achada Furna studio.

YOU DISCOVER

THE WORKSHOPS OF ACHADA FURNA

MAKING CHEESE

Fogo cheese is famous throughout the Sotavento islands, it is a fresh cheese obtained from goat's milk. This laboratory will allow you to produce your own cheese from goat milk.

YOU DISCOVER

THE LAVIC STONE SCULPTURES

YOU DISCOVER

ANOTHER CAPE VERDE

The community tells its story

Veronica Nunes Alves

A lot of tourists pass through here, my house is right on the road…I see them. Every day someone passes by, but I wish there were more. My name is Verónica Nunes Alves, I am a cheese maker. I have twenty-eight goats, eight cows and four pigs. I take care of them together with my husband, our eldest son also helps us. I've always made cheese only with goat. It's a special cheese, everyone in Cape Verde knows it. I really like it, my days are dedicated to this and I would also take care of it in my spare time. I can tell you how it’s done, look.

Maria Nundez Vieira

After milking, it is important to let it cool for at least an hour. When it is very cold, make the curd. I prepare the curd about four times a year, the kid must be about ten days old. I was saying, after an hour of rest and the curd, I mix it. I mix until I see the serum separated from the pasty part, then I manipulate it. I add salt and put it in the fridge. Here is the recipe for my fresh goat cheese, as it is made in Fogo.

Jose Silva Lima

Pico do Fogo is the highest point on the island, and also the only volcano still active in Cape Verde, reaching 2,829 meters above sea level. The last eruption was in 2014, but we also remember very well the one in 1995. The lava buried houses, cultivated fields, reached the coast and opened a new caldera, a cavity. My name is José Silva Lima, I was born on the island and would never leave it. I am convinced of the precious potential of this land and the people who live on it. A natural, cultural and human heritage. The volcano is the heart of Fogo, alive, pulsating, when it speaks we can hear it in the streets, inside the houses, even in the sea.

Jose Silva Lima

The Cova Figueira path goes up Pico do Fogo to the crater, and then goes down to the coast. In this area the most significant magmatic stratification is that of 1951, like a slow and silky wave flowing into the sea waters and today those lands are among the most fertile in all of Fogo. This island, you know, is the most flourishing and the greenest thanks to him, to the Volcano, beneath the igneous rocks the earth is fertile. Investing in Fogo for me means not abandoning it, knowing how to capture its uniqueness and contradictions and then saying, this is why I'm here, this is my work.

Dolinda Fernandes

We have always worked with lava stone, I learned from my parents. It's not easy, you know, you have to know how to get it right. Right means how you want it, how it should be to build what you need. The rock can be more porous, harder and cannot be sculpted, softer, it all depends on the eruption that brought it. The one from the 2014 eruption is still not good, for now we use the one from 1995. I learned to recognize it as a child, like all of us at the Cova Figueira association. We are artisans and are dedicated to the production of lava stone objects, from collecting the material to packaging.

Dolinda Fernandes

Chã da Caldeiras is also famous for the pink pepper trees that grow wild. We collect the beans and let them dry for at least ten days, in the sun, in the backyard. We toast some of them, say for fifteen minutes, so that they turn black. Thanks to the tour guides we were able to explain the difference, sell the bags we packed as well as the turtles and the lava stone houses. You know, our pepper is good for women when they have pain, for toothaches, for headaches.