Divaldo Franco
Born in Feira de Santana, a small town in northeast Brazil, in the state of Bahia, Divaldo displayed clairvoyance and clairaudience before he was 5 years old. Through his childhood, Divaldo played with friends from another dimension of life that others could not see or hear. In 1947 Divaldo, along with his friend Nilson Pereira, founded "Caminho da Redencao"(Pathway to Redemption) Spiritist Center - this was the beginning of a labor of love to benefit the sick and those in need. Two years later, in 1949, Divaldo saw through clairvoyance a very large area with many children and, through clairaudience, Divaldo heard a voice stating that his life would be dedicated to caring for children in need. In 1952, then, "Mansão do Caminho" (Mansion of the Way) was established to provide housing and care for orphaned children in Salvador, Bahia, through a system of foster homes. All of this has been going for over 50 years now, and still is going strong -- and growing.
As an educator, Divaldo's life is also one marked by devotion. Since 1952 more than 600 adoptive sons and daughters have been raised in the system of foster homes at Mansao do Caminho. As time went by elementary, middle, high and professional schools were created to cater to the ever growing number of children. "Mansao do Caminho" has become a very large educational institution complex with 22 activities which provide guidance to more than 3,000 children and teenagers everyday - all free of charge. To this date, more than 30,000 boys and girls have received an education and care at Mansão do Caminho's many schools.
As a speaker, Divaldo has ministered more than 10,000 lectures and conferences in more than 300 cities worldwide. In the 25 states of Brazil alone Mr. Franco has lectured at more than 600 cities. Divaldo has held lectures and seminars in 53 different countries: 21 in Europe, 21 in the Americas (North, South and Central), 5 in Africa and 6 in Asia Mr Franco has also spoken 7 times for the United Nations - 4 times in the New York headquarters, and 3 times in Austria, at the Vienna headquarters. Divaldo has also lectured in more than 40 universities throughout the world, always addressing issues of great importance for the human being in its search for enlightenment. Mr Franco is no stranger to media either: Divaldo has done more than 215 interviews to various TV and radio stations throughout the world and, in Brazil, Divaldo's home country, he has been interviewed more than 800 times. Divaldo's schedule, as you can see, is always a busy one.