São Tomé and Príncipe is a group of three islands, but the country's name is given by the two largest. São Tomé Island is the largest, but to go around it (if it were possible, because there are no roads to go around the entire island) it would be necessary to travel less than 250 km. Príncipe Island is much smaller and only a quarter of its area is inhabited. São Tomé has around 200,000 inhabitants and the island of Príncipe has only 15,000. The name Ilha do Príncipe is due to the fact that the King of Portugal gave the uninhabited island to his son, the Príncipe. Just a century after people went there, crossing 500 km of ocean. In the 19th century the islands became the largest cocoa producers in the world, becoming a wealthy colony of Portugal, sending money to build the city of Luanda in Angola and the city of Maputo in Mozambique. But in 1975, São Tomé and Príncipe became independent from Portugal. Without good managers and with a lot of corruption, this new country has become poor. Beside this poverty there is a country that has 100% literacy (structured by the Portuguese) and a very polite and kind people. A poor people, well educated but without dignity.
The lack of dignity is the central point of the feeling of this people. Every year on Children's Day (first day of school) all children receive a new outfit and their mothers' mothers take very good care of their hair, with braids and beads of all types and colors. This is Dignity Day! The day every girl can be a princess in her own world.