BURKINA FASO
Cape Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island nation located in the central Atlantic Ocean off the western coast of Africa. It consists of ten volcanic islands, with the capital city located in Praia on Santiago Island. As of 2023–2025 estimates, its population is roughly 600,000 people.
Cape Verde is a multiethnic, Creole-influenced society. Portuguese is the official language, while Cape Verdean Creole (Kriolu) is widely spoken across all islands. Major cultural groups reflect a mix of West African and Portuguese heritage, with strong regional differences between islands.
FAMILY
This category includes anything related to a client’s home life, relationships with parents, siblings, or extended family, and the roles they play within their household. It also covers family expectations, communication patterns, cultural values, responsibilities, conflicts, and any major events or changes happening at home. The goal is to understand how the client’s family environment shapes their daily stress, emotional wellbeing, and behavior.
This article explores how Cape Verdean families navigate long-distance relationships and immigration policies, focusing on how care is maintained across borders and generations. It examines how legal frameworks (such as family reunification) interact with traditional kinship networks and influence roles, responsibilities, and emotional ties. For counselors, this highlights how migration reshapes family expectations, support systems, and client backgrounds even before they arrive in the U.S.
This page explains the structure of Cape Verdean households, including the role of extended family, kinship, and lineage. It highlights how Creole heritage influences family expectations, gender roles, and social behavior. Counselors can use this to understand the cultural foundation behind communication and family obligations.
This video provides a visual look into daily spiritual life and religious practices in Burkina Faso, showcasing community gatherings, traditional rituals, and moments of faith‐based interaction. It highlights how belief systems are woven into family life, social norms, and coping strategies in Burkinabé culture. For counselors, the footage offers valuable insight into how spirituality and communal religion may influence a client’s worldview, healing path, and expectations.
This resource explains how marriage, family, and kinship are structured in Cape Verde, showing that marriage relations are closely tied to social status, ethnicity, and skin-color rather than simply legal norms.
COMMUNITY
This category explores how people in Cape Verde live together beyond the nuclear family — their neighborhoods, friendships, communal networks, social expectations, village or urban community structures, and how these influence daily life, social support, identity, and belonging. It covers social norms, community rituals, mutual aid, socialization practices, and how daily life is shaped by community ties.
This article shares the personal reflections of an African American who moved to Cabo Verde and explores daily life, family roles, and community integration on Santiago Island. It highlights how migration, local customs, and island living influence relationships, work life, and social norms in a modest but connected society.
This resource provides a comprehensive overview of Cape Verde’s culture, including its history as a Creole society rooted in African and Portuguese heritage. It explains how extended kinship, communal property practices, and shared responsibilities shape family and community life on the islands.
Provides general cultural and social norms — communal living, respect, social behavior inside neighborhoods/communities, which helps counselors understand cultural socialization.
This video takes an intimate look at family and everyday life in Cape Verde, highlighting how island living, migration ties, and kinship networks shape household routines.
RELIGION
This category explores the beliefs, spiritual practices, and religious values that shape a client’s worldview. In many African communities, religion is deeply connected to daily life, moral expectations, community belonging, and decision-making. By understanding the client’s religious background—whether traditional beliefs, Christianity, Islam, or blended practices—counselors can better interpret their coping styles, sources of support, stress responses, and the meaning they attach to personal struggles.
The Wikipedia page gives an overview of the major religions practiced in the country, highlighting that Cape Verde is predominantly Christian, especially Roman Catholic, with smaller Protestant and minority faith communities. It also explains historical roots of religious traditions, demographic percentages, and notes the presence of religious freedom in the nation.
This research article explores the rapid growth of Protestant and Evangelical churches in Cape Verde and how these movements are reshaping religious life on the islands. It explains why many Cape Verdeans are shifting from traditional Catholic practices to more charismatic forms of worship, and how this change influences community life, values, and coping.
This interview explores what Keeps Diaspora Communities Glued Together” explores how Catholic faith serves as a unifying force for Cape Verdean communities at home and abroad. Bishop Ildo Augusto dos Santos Lopes Fortes discusses how religious rituals, communal values, and shared identity help maintain cultural ties and provide emotional support. The piece offers valuable insight for counselors aiming to understand the role of faith in their Cape Verdean clients’ lives.
This short YouTube documentary gives a visual overview of the religious landscape in Cape Verde—highlighting the dominant Christian traditions (especially Roman Catholicism), the growing Protestant/Evangelical presence, and the small minority faiths.