Guinea-Bissau

Guinea-Bissau
First National Convention of Guinea-Bissau, 1989.
Location of Guinea-Bissau
National Assembly		Guinea-Bissau
Statistics:
Total Population
-	UN 2021	2,060,721
Bahá'í pop.
-	Bahá'í source
-	Non-Bahá'í source	345
History: Firsts
-	Pioneers	1953, Jose Rodriguez 1953, Hilda Rodriguez
-	National Assembly	1989
How to contact:
-	Email	bahaiguibis@yahoo.com.br
Official Website		https://www.bahai.org/national-communities/guinea-bissau
Related media
Categories: Guinea-Bissau • People

The Republic of Guinea-Bissau is a country in West Africa. The official language of the country is Portuguese, however the majority of the country speaks Portuguese creole. There are a number of religions in the country with no clear majority.

The region was ruled by the Mali and Kaabu Empires during the Middle Ages. In the 15th century the Portuguese Empire began colonizing the region and by the 19th century the colony of Portuguese Guinea had been established and in 1951 it was renamed the Overseas Province of Guinea. In 1974 the region became independent after an extended period of rebellion. The name of the capital city, Bissau, was added to the countries name to distinguish it from Guinea.

The Bahá’í Faith experienced resistance and persecution from the Portuguese authorities however a community has been firmly established since the country achieved independence. The community began to be consolidated in the late 1980's and has continued to develop capacity to the present day.

History

At the opening of the Ten Year Crusade opening Portuguese Guinea to the Faith was a goal assigned to the Bahá'í community of the United States of America. Jose and Hilda Rodriguez moved to Bissau from Lisbon in September 1953, but the Portuguese authorities had them expelled from the country in March 1955. Brief teaching trips by Bahá'ís were made in 1956, 1957, and 1960 but no progress was made in establishing the Faith.

In 1962 Eduardo Duarte Vieira, a Bahá'í from Portuguese Guinea, returned to Bissau having converted to the Faith in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1961. He faced persecution due to teaching the Faith and was dismissed from his job with the government, was denied travel documents, had his correspondence censored, and later had his home raided and his Bahá'í literature confiscated. In March 1966 he was arrested, two months after being dismissed from his job and he passed away in prison later that month, with signs that he had been tortured. He is regarded as the first African martyr of the Bahá'í Faith.

At the opening of the Seven Year Plan in 1979 the goal of teaching the Faith in Guinea-Bissau was assigned to the Bahá'í community of the Gambia. In May 1984 a teaching team consisting of Luiz Gonzaga of Brazil, Ebrim N'Jie of the Gambia, Kobina Fynn of Ghana, and Pierre Vieira from Bissau undertook a teaching trip across the country visiting Bissau, the capital, and Gabu, Bafata, Bolama, and Canchungu. Fifty people declared as a result of the teaching trip. In 1986 The Promise of World Peace, the peace statement by the Universal House of Justice, was indirectly presented to the President of Guinea-Bissau through a Charge d'Affaires. As of 1987 the size of the Bahá'í community in Guinea-Bissau had increased by over 2,000 percent since 1979.

In 1989 the National Spiritual Assembly of Guinea-Bissau was established, with recognition of the body from the government having been secured in July the previous year. Around the same time the country officially recognized Bahá'í marriage.

See also

• All articles about Guinea-Bissau
• National Spiritual Assembly of Guinea-Bissau