Fresno nonprofit to host banquet, wine tasting Oct. 7

The Fresno nonprofit West African Vocational Schools (WAVS) will host its fourth annual Dine & Discover West Africa dinner banquet on Oct. 7 at Engelmann Cellars winery.

The event is from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and includes dinner, wine tasting and live music.

Engelmann Cellars is located at 3275 N. Rolinda Ave.

There will be live music from Patrick Contreras, an African dance performance, authentic West African cuisine, complimentary wine-tasting, and live auction, WAVS said.

Since 2006, WAVS has partnered with community leaders in Guinea-Bissau to run a vocational school that has equipped more than 700 young women and men with life-changing job skills, the organization said. The school offers courses in auto mechanics, welding, computer basics, English and French.

Guinea-Bissau is one of the smallest and poorest countries in the world where more than half the population lives on less than $1.25 a day, WAVS said. Fresno State alum Domingos Simões Pereira served as prime minister in Guinea-Bissau from 2014 to 2015. Pereira graduated from Fresno State with a master’s degree in civil engineering in 1994. He shared his support for WAVS in a video message to the Central Valley.

“WAVS is an organization that is helping to provide job-skills training to young women and men in Guinea-Bissau,” Pereira said. “We believe that education is the first step towards the big transformations we are planning for the future.”

Tickets are $50 per person and $95 per couple, and they are available online. More than 400 guests have already reserved seats, WAVS said.

For more information, email WAVS at info@wavschool.org.

This story was originally published September 26, 2016 at 11:20 PM with the headline "Fresno nonprofit to host banquet, wine tasting Oct. 7."