Still Time to Make a Difference in 2015!

As we celebrate another year and look forward to an exciting new one, I just wanted to take a moment and say THANK YOU for your support and partnership. Through your investment in Senegal, we are affirming dignity, building hope, and empowering others on the path toward real, sustainable change. Would you continue to walk with Andando and the people of Senegal? As we close out this year, would you consider making an end of year gift to Andando and help us finish the year on a high point? All donations are tax-deductible and all gifts made by midnight (December 31st) count towards your 2015 giving. There are two simple ways to make your end of year gift:

•Online - through our website

•Mail - Send a check postmarked by 12/31/15 to: PO Box 542, Jefferson, OR 97352

Thank you and many blessings in the new year.

Sincerely,

Lewis Kiker

Andando

Grand Opening of Thiamene Taba Health Post

The rural health post in Thiamene Taba, Senegal is now officially open! Through hard work and a great deal of community organizing, this project came together and is now operational. This facility will handle basic health services and the delivery of babies in the village.

Access to health care in remote parts of Senegal is extremely limited, which is further exacerbated by problematic road conditions and unreliable transport. To seek treatment, people must walk long distances or find transport of some form, which often means hitching a ride on a cart drawn by a donkey. While this works some of the time, it is extremely problematic in emergency situations, especially in cases of child birth.

This health post will greatly alleviate problems associated with these situations. Three village members have received extensive training from the government and gained experience at nearby health clinics. They will staff the facility and be on call for emergency situations. They also provide services like monthly child-weighing to monitor for malnutrition and basic first aid. The health post will also be used to host vaccination efforts and clinics from outside organizations.

We recently had the opportunity to attend the grand opening of the facility, and it was quite the occasion! Many local and regional dignitaries attended, gave speeches, and noted the importance of steps like these in the health of rural areas. The fact that many local chiefs, mayors, health workers, and even a parliamentarian were there shows just how vital these efforts are in village life.

The facility has four rooms - a delivery room with full plumbing, a recover room for new mothers to stay (also with plumbing), a treatment/consultation room, and a large waiting room area with seating. As the use of the health post develops, we will work with regional partners to fully equip the post with everything it needs.

We are very excited to be a part of broadening health care access in Senegal and to see the health of this village and the surrounding community benefit because of it. It was very encouraging throughout the process in working alongside community partners and seeing them mobilize and create a real momentum that will carry this project to success.

A huge THANK YOU to all our partners who helped make this a reality!

I am Proud to Contribute

We continue our series with the women of the Keur Soce women’s garden cooperatives. These women are bringing beautiful gardens to life in the middle of harsh and arid conditions in rural Senegal. To learn more about the program and these women, here is part one and part two. Today, we speak with Awa Nair.

What have you learned working with Andando in the market gardens in the past year?

I learned the practice of gardening techniques, such as how nurseries work, making garden beds, how to plant, how to maintain plants, how to pick fruit & vegetables, etc. Through the training workshops we learned to vary the garden according to the needs of the market and other important practices.

How has your participation in the project changed what you believe about yourself?

My cash income has increased and I can add more to our household budget. I feel proud that I am able to contribute more toward the success of our household.

How has this project changed what you believe about your community?

The garden and Andando helps women's groups. So I think that the project called the community into a union and the organization of the work. Before, everyone was in solitude in income-generating activities, but with this project increases our chance of having a better income. The project has created the availability of vegetables and allowed their geographic accessibility because we sell the produce in the local vegetable market.

How has the project changed what you believe about the future?

We must capitalize on this and develop it not only we who are currently beneficiaries, but, for future generations of women in the community. And also why not for men?

How has the project changed what you spend your time on?

The project has especially changed the use of our time in the afternoon because we had not much to do. Now, we are in the garden in the afternoon, watering as we do in the morning. On the other hand, today we have the impression of having lost a lot of time before the arrival of Andando. As a result, we feel to be relieved by Andando both individually and collectively. It gives us work for the entire year.

How does your dedication in this project show?

We put in everything up to the limit of our capacity,physical and intellectual, because we are the beneficiaries of this great program.

How has the project changed you as a person?

I now know that a woman can support herself in everyday expenses and does not have to rely on the men for everything.

How does this make you feel about the future?

Our dynamic organization will be strengthened, and with that, the income of households will be increased. We see ourselves developing and we can take that into our own hands.

We Are No Longer Unemployed, We Are Gardeners

We continue our series with the women of the Keur Soce women's garden cooperatives. These women are bringing beautiful gardens to life in the middle of harsh and arid conditions in rural Senegal. To learn more about the program and read part one of this series, click here. Today, we speak with Kardiata Ba.

What have you learned as a member of the Keur Soce women’s garden project?

The vegetable garden has strengthened my abilities in new cultivation techniques. Of course, before this market garden, I was trying to practice gardening but it did not succeed. We have learned to diversify the seeded area and now I know how to move forward.

How has your participation in the project changed what you believe about yourself?

It has allowed me to gain a sense of freedom and pride since I am making more income. I am able to pay for many things – especially for my children – that was not possible before.

The garden has made the community more united and organized. Working together empowers the whole community and we are becoming more successful together.

How has the project changed what you spend your time on?

There is awareness of the importance of time. Indeed, we have discovered that time is investment capital. Before, we spent a lot of time and hard work in the savannah looking for tamarind, jujube, or pick up a few handfuls of peanuts left in the field, but were left with very little. Now, we the effort we put in here, we make much better use of our time.

What else are you doing differently?

With the savings we contribute each month into our group savings, we believe that tomorrow we can achieve a degree of financial autonomy for the budget of our activities especially for things like tools, seeds, and maintenance.

It has made me believe that rural women can actively participate in the development of the community and of Senegal.

How does this make you feel about the future?

The entire community knows that we are no longer the unemployed. We are gardeners.

How has the project changed the future of the community?

The development of the community can benefit from the support of partners such as Andando Foundation. The women working here consider have two major advantages: the economic and nutritional aspects. With these tangible benefits throughout the community things are improving, and we encourage Andando to accompany us yet for new challenges.

The Potential that Sleeps in Us

Andando has worked hard over the last several years to establish thriving vegetable gardens in the arid peanut region of Senegal, in the community of Keur Soce. Working with local groups, we installed wells and solar-powered pumps to irrigate gardens run by women’s cooperatives. They have responded by working hard and dedicating themselves to the success of the garden and the hope it can give for a better future. Beyond the initial investment, our Garden Technicians work with these partners on a daily basis to provide technical assistance, special training workshops, and other support.

We recently sat down with Dieynaba Ba – one of the women in the co-ops – to discuss what the project has done for her and the changes she has felt, both in herself and in her community. Despite being one of the oldest members of the cooperative, Ba is extremely dedicated and is out in the garden everyday. The interview was conducted by Massamba Ndiour, Andando’s Keur Soce Project Manager.

What have you learned in your time working with Andando and the garden?

Through working in this garden with Andando, my abilities in vegetable cultivation techniques have been developed and strengthened. I learned what is organic (no fertilizer or pesticide), what serves as a nursery, how to make garden beds, and how to sustain the beds. I learned to diversify the seeded area to increase production and maintain soil quality.

This garden vegetable has allowed me to acquire a new spirit of entrepreneurship. I understand now that I can be more productive during the nine months of the dry season in Senegal. This garden has increased my income and given me hope.

How has this project changed what you believe about your community?

Union is strength. It reminds us that the community must continue to unite and organize themselves. Indeed, we are working as a collective status toward the common good of the women members. Andando emphasizes the aims not of the individual personal, but that of the group.

For me, the vegetable garden has strengthened the women and given us knowledge in the chain of values for the vegetables - production, marketing and consumption. So, I am excited about the future with the capabilities gained in this Market Garden with the presence of Andando.

First, we realize more and more that time is precious. Then consider that, before this project, the nine months of dry season were long and unprofitable economically. Now, we plan our activities on the basis of the work in the garden.

The rainy season is brief in Senegal. After this period it is usually the housework that dominated the rest of the year. There was a little trade, but it was not much. Some women wandered in the bush to cut wood to sell, other harvested wild berries. All these activities left us very tired and yet yielded almost nothing. We did not want to sit everyday and do nothing, but there were little options. However today, the Market Garden is nearby and is less tiring and more cost-effective than what we were doing.

How does this make you feel about the future?

There is more awareness of the potential that sleeps in us. We feel that can create more wealth. The future is promising if we stay engaged with determination.

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We love to hear stories like this and personal testimonies of the impact these projects are making! Check back with us on Wednesday for another interview with one of the women of the garden.

Workshop Success...and a Near Riot!

We recently conducted a small business workshop as part of our ongoing efforts to equip the villagers of Keur Soce with skills to help them thrive on their own. They have diligently worked over the past few years to build a successful garden in the midst of difficult conditions. They have worked to build up the soil, carefully monitored for pests, consistently watered everyday, attentively grown crops from seeds, and organized themselves into operating teams.

They are starting to see real success in the volume and quality of produce they are harvesting, but now we want them to take the next step. The goal from the outset of this was to not only provide additional nutritive options for themselves and the community, but also allow them to produce enough to sell, creating a vital income generation stream. Now being in that position, we are developing their business skills so that they can identify markets for their produce, learn ways to be competitive and grow, and create an efficient delivery system.

There is some knowledge of these ideas in the village, but they are often confined to very small markets with little or no room for growth and the thought of expanding (outside their small community) seems daunting. And as with any economic system, there is potential for those with little knowledge to be taken advantage of, dissolving any possibility for growth and profit.

With this in mind, we brought the women together to teach and inspire them down this road. To say they got excited is an understatement!

Teaching largely through storytelling, the women really connected with the ideas and were enthusiastic about adopting the new practices. As the meeting went on, the crowd grew more excited and starting shouting about what this new knowledge could do for them. While the pictures don't do it justice, the event got pretty intense. Fearing there might be small riot, our instructor - Andando Founder Kevin Kiker - asked our interpreter what was happening. He said "they are just so happy!" Another woman stood up and shouted "This is a wake-up call!!", and everyone joined in the shouting and some began dancing.

....slightly different that most business seminars in America!

Time will tell exactly what principles they took away from the whole event, but seeing this enthusiasm was very encouraging. This is the first business workshop in a series with these women, so it will be great to see where this goes. We are hopeful this inspiration will translate into new action toward development, and we really appreciate all the excitement!

Nearing Completion!

We are very excited to be nearing the completion of the two-room schoolhouse in Mbouma, Senegal that you helped make a reality! In just a few short months, this space has gone from a barren field to a source of pride in the community representing a renewed hope for a better future.

Previously, the students were meeting in makeshift classrooms that are detrimental to the health of the students and regularly burn to the ground. The construction of this school will facilitate the education of generations of students to come and ensure a healthy and safe learning environment.

After signing agreements with the school and the community, we worked hand in hand to gather materials and get water to the site. We worked hard to identify qaulity craftsmen that would work with community members to collectively build this school.

After months of hard work in difficult conditions, we are now approaching the finished product and we could not be happier. The administration is there daily to check on progress and provide insight, members of the PTA are there everyday contributing volunteer labor, and enthusiastic students stop by often to see their new school.

Using locally-sourced materials and Senegalese building techniques, we sought to create a structure in line with community expectations on top of quality that can last for decades. The finished building - while simple and humble - is a landmark achievement in this rural community that represents a true step forward.

Thank you again for your investment in the future of the people of Mbouma, Senegal and the real change that is taking place there. Keep your eyes peeled for future updates as we near completion of the school, and spread the word about the good that is happening that you helped create!

Fuel-Efficient Cookstove Training with CREATE

A major highlight of our recent trip to Senegal was partnering with the team from CREATE (an Oregon-based non-profit) to conduct a very successful training on improved cookstoves for villagers in Keur Soce. As in many parts of the world, most homesteads in Keur Soce collect firewood found in the surrounding areas to fuel fires for cooking.

However, deforestation is a major problem in this already arid climate, and families must spend more and more time collecting enough firewood to use throughout the day.

This is a big burden on families, with some keeping a child out of school in order to go search for wood, as well as a big burden on the local environment.

Inefficient cookstoves not only require more precious firewood, but they can also create health problems such as respiratory conditions. In the photo above, you can see the traditional method of cooking over a fire that is inefficient at containing and conducting heat, and then at right is the finished product that can reduce fuelwood consumption by up to two-thirds!

Partnering with CREATE, we hosted over 100 men and women from Keur Soce and the surrounding communities to get hands-on experience to build their own more efficient cookstoves. The training team guided them step-by-step and involved them in the process to build a stove to be used daily at Keur Soce Primary School in conjunction with our nutrition program there.

Many of the participants were very excited to take this new knowledge home and create one for themselves. The best part of this basic technology is that all the components used - grass, sand, clay, and water - can be easily found in the community for absolutely no cost!

Small steps like these can make a huge difference for families by saving them precious time searching for firewood, giving them more time to take care of other important household tasks and potentially saving money. The additional beneficial environmental effects make this a vital part of daily life in rural Senegal and we hope to continue to grow this program and reach more families.

Andando's Year In Review

Thank you for helping make 2014 Andando's most life-changing year yet! Here's a look at Andando's Year In Review:

Over 200 micro loans made to rural farmers and small business owners on the road to self-sufficiency

Over 1000 people benefiting from solar energy installations

25% Boost in Income for those in the womens' garden projects

Comprehensive infrastructural and educational improvements at schools resulting in a 50% increase in test scores

Two latrines built to offer sanitary solutions that prevent diseases

One school constructed to be used by 200+ students

One rural health post constructed for those with little access to healthcare

Hundreds of students receiving a nutritious breakfast everyday at school 

1000+ people received emergency food relief in Ebola-ravaged Sierra Leone

The past year has been one of enormous growth for Andando and - more importantly - for the communities we work in throughout Senegal. There has been so many more great things happening this year beyond what you read above, and we are excited about the direction we are going.

Thank you again for joining us as we walk together with the people of Senegal, and we look forward to a fantastic 2015!

Raising the Walls

We are excited to see so much progress in just a few short months! Over the summer months, you helped make this school a reality for hundreds of kids in rural Senegal. We were excited by the response we received from people from all over and are well on our way to reaching our goal of $12,000. Previously, the students were meeting in makeshift classrooms that are detrimental to the health of the students and regularly burn to the ground. The construction of this school will facilitate the education of generations of students to come and ensure a healthy and safe learning environment.

In just the last few months, we have signed an agreement with the school and the community to provide the materials they have access to - specifically water and sand for construction the blocks that will form the walls. Community members gathered and filtered sand to be used in the construction process and the school pulled together to lay water piping from a nearby well.

Construction began about two months ago and the walls are now going up! We have a great team of builders working with community members who volunteer time to help with the project and they are making progress everyday. The school is excited about all these new developments and are eager to move into the new space as soon as possible.

Thank you again for your investment in the future of the people of Mbouma, Senegal and the real change that is taking place there. Keep your eyes peeled for future updates as we near completion of the school, and spread the word about the good that is happening that you helped create!

Emergency Relief for Ebola-Stricken Community

Last month, we asked you to help us alleviate the suffering in the Ebola-stricken community of Buedu, Sierra Leone, where Andando has a long history. In addition to fighting the terrible disease that has already claimed thousands of lives, many in this area are struggling to carry on with day-to-day life, now threatened by hunger. With limited resources, those who are surviving are now going hungry as farmers we unable to plant their fields this year because of the risk of infection and illness.

Further, the quarantine of entire towns and regions necessary to help slow the spread of Ebola has impacted trade and trucks carrying food cannot reach isolated areas. The United Nations has reported that over one million people now face major food insecurity.

You responded and within two weeks we had enough funds to send rice and oil for 250 families. Our contacts got the necessary documents, organised the distribution and brought a little hope to this bereft town that they were not forgotten. It took our team a week to get there because of the poor road condition and difficulty with driving through quarantined areas.

When they arrived, community leaders had already registered the neediest families and the distribution took place quickly. People were overcome with gratitude for this relief that can alleviate the suffering temporarily.

William (pictured in brown shirt) is an eight year old boy from Buedu who tragically lost all his family members to Ebola. He is now alone and often goes hungry. Our colleague - Tamba Allen Boakai - managed to connect him with one of the families who received food and can stay with them until a proper solution is found.

Tuwor (pictured in white shirt) lost her husband and their four children to the disease, but was extremely grateful for the assistance and helped with the food distribution.

Another woman (pictured with her children) lost her husband and eldest daughter to Ebola and now faces the daunting task of raising her children on her own, compounded by the loss of the two people that worked her family’s field that provided them with food.

It is stories like these - and so many more - that demanded action. Andando is primarily involved in development projects - not relief - but this was an obvious emergency situation, a call for help from a community that we had worked with in the past, where we still have many friends that we could not let suffer like this.

The community of Buedu is very isolated in the corner of Sierra Leone, near the border of Guinea and Liberia. It is located about twenty miles from ground zero of the current Ebola outbreak and seventeen miles from the nearest Ebola treatment center on virtually impassable roads.

Only emergency supplies can get through to Buedu as it is in a quarantined area. Through these efforts, we were able to bring a little hope to this devastated community.

But there is still so much that needs to be done. We would like to repeat this process, this time on a larger scale. Since it is so difficult to get supplies to Buedu, we would like to do a larger shipment in December. This would alleviate hunger until the farmers can plant again.

Our goal for this effort is $10,000.

Please consider a donation to this overlooked side effect of the ebola crisis. The people of Buedu have been through so much sickness death and despair, and now they are faced with battling hunger. A little can go such a long way to helping alleviate suffering, and is something that you can do directly to help a family that has suffered through this unimaginable crisis.

Click here to donate. Thank You!

To read more about our efforts in Buedu over the years, click here. To read more about Andando and other ways to get involved, click here.

Community in Crisis

Buedu is a beautiful, sleepy little town located in a remote corner of Sierra Leone near the borders of Liberia and Guinea, but it is also the region where the current ebola outbreak began, in a village in Guinea about twenty miles from Buedu. Andando has a long history with Buedu where, among other things, we set up a sustainable rice farming project with 168 families and supported a local school there. When we finished working in Buedu we left with the knowledge that the kids were learning and families were well on their way to self-sufficiency.

Ebola has changed everything in Buedu. Since May, the virus has been wreaking havoc in this isolated area of Sierra Leone. Schools are closed, crops have not been planted because of illness and now the community is facing severe food shortages. Buedu is not easy to get to under normal circumstances, but for the last four months the government has quarantined the area, only allowing emergency vehicles through.

We have been trying to get information for the last couple months and have only recently been able to understand better what is happening. We have a long-time partner who has informed us of the situation on the ground and the need for emergency food supplies.

Andando would like to send an emergency supply of food - mainly rice and oil - to this hard hit community. Through our contacts, we have arranged shipment and a fair distribution system. In order to accomplish this, we need your help. A 50kg bag of rice costs $40 including delivery costs, which are high because of the remoteness and difficulty of the terrain. Please consider donating for this project. There are multiple ways to donate through our website - any amount is welcome, just put "Buedu" in the notes. The goal for this effort is $5000. We know that this is not a long-term solution, but the seriousness of the situation demands a response.

You can also send a check to Andando at PO Box 542 Jefferson, OR 97352.

If you would like further info, email info@andando.org with ‘Buedu’ in the subject line.

Thank you for considering ‘walking together’ with the people of Buedu.

Building Success

At Andando, we often structure our programs around building the capacity to help people help themselves. But sometimes, additional assistance is needed in the form of small infrastructure projects to keep programs going and improve efficiency. Here are a few ways we are doing that in Senegal: Primary School Latrine

Like many rural Senegalese schools, Keur Soce Primary is overcrowded and underfunded. One area where that manifests itself is the lack of sanitary bathroom options for students and staff. The facilities at the school are pushed to their limits and children must find their own solutions, which can mean missing school due to unsanitary practices. The lack of hand-washing facilities and general lack of health and sanitation knowledge contribute to diseases such as diarrhea, causing more students to miss school.

To complement the latrine Andando built a few years ago at the school, we are in the process of constructing another latrine to lessen the burden on existing facilities. Further, this will give girls and boys separate options, which will encourage more use, especially among girls. Construction should be completed in the coming weeks before the school year starts in October.

To ensure success and sustainability, we will be increasing our efforts to educate students and staff on proper health and sanitation techniques. Collectively, this will boost attendance and enable a healthier student body to achieve more in their academics.

Mbouma Junior High School

We are excited to be breaking ground on the junior high school in Mbouma, Senegal this month! Over the summer months, you have helped make this school a reality for hundreds of kids in rural Senegal. We were excited by the response we received from people from all over and are well on our way to reaching our goal of $12,000.

We have recently met with the community leaders of Mbouma to secure proper supplies and materials to begin construction. They are excited to be a big part of the process and have committed to supplying anything they can. While not having much to give, we have asked the community to provide sand for the mixing of concrete and water for many steps throughout the process. They will also be contributing a great deal in the form of labor. We have committed to paying a mason who will work alongside the volunteers to guide them and ensure a quality job is done.

We believe that steps like this are crucial to the health of a project - getting people involved and participating. Not only does this reduce costs allowing your dollars to go further, but it also creates ownership among the community, resulting in a lasting solution that will endure. We do not want to build solutions that just patch over a problem, but rather create a sustainable answer that allows the community to flourish for many years. This school will help to educate generations of students in this area and we are hopeful that can bring real change.

We anticipate construction taking several months and will be keeping you up on the progress. The school (currently meeting wherever they can find room) is ready to move in whenever it is finished and make it their home!

Thiamene Taba Health Post

Rural health posts are absolutely key to village life in Senegal. They allow expectant mothers to deliver in a safe environment close to their homes and administer basic care to local populations, among other services. In rural areas, getting to a hospital is prohibitively expensive or time consuming, often resulting in a lack of attention paid to health issues with dire consequences.

In order to combat this, Andando has constructed rural health posts in several communities around Senegal, and we are nearing completion on our current one!

When finished, the government will staff this post with a trained mid-wife and a nurse providing basic services. This health post will serve over 3000 people in the area!

Amazing Test Scores!

We have been working hard over the past year making a ton of improvements at Keur Soce Primary School. With 360 students, Keur Soce Primary faces many obstacles including overcrowded classrooms, lack of textbooks, and crumbling infrastructure. Many students are forced to stay home during seasons of the year to work in the family’s fields or take care of siblings. When they do come to school, a poor learning environment and an empty stomach often translate into poor test scores and limited opportunities for the future.

I did not get the chance to go to school, but I believe that it is very important. School permits students to have knowledge and to serve their community.  School teaches a child not to waste time, to work, and to be healthy. - Mother Aissatou Ndao

In working with the school and the community, Andando has helped rebuild this crumbling school and bring pride back to those who attend. We rebuilt crumbling walls, restored chalkboards and desks, and provided a small library for each classroom to get books in the hands of students. We established a nutrition program to draw back to school those who often go hungry and dramatically increased parental involvement as mothers got involved to cook the meal.

Previously, the students would be hungry by a certain time and unable to follow the lesson. Today, they are happy; they want to learn. - Teacher Magatte Thiaw Mbaye

So with all these efforts over the past school year, we were incredibly excited to see the change this caused – a 50% increase in test scores from previous years!!! We knew that there would be some kind of noticeable change, but this dramatic improvement is fantastic! The community, the school, and the parents were very happy with the students’ performance this year and are excited for the future. We are very proud of the students and excited to continue this partnership and hope to gain even more ground in the future.

The school looks after the good fortune of the child. School helps me to work and to succeed to help my parents. - Student Ibrahima Diagne

The Ministry of Education in Senegal has taken notice of these improvements and is very pleased with the progress at the school. Because of improvements in the facilities - coupled with increased test scores - Keur Soce Primary recently received three computers and a projector for students and faculty to use! In this rural corner of Senegal where even textbooks are hard to come by, this is a huge boost to the learning possibilities for the students. For these students, having access to technology was never even a dream. Now, they can learn new skills that can translate into real, applicable competencies for the rest of their lives.

Great things are happening in Keur Soce and we are happy to be a part of it

Introducing Refilwe!

We are very pleased to introduce Refilwe Moahi, our new Program Manager Intern based in Keur Soce, Senegal. Refilwe is from Botswana, and has been studying the last several years in the US, most recently at Brandeis University where she is working toward a Masters’ Degree in Sustainable International Development.

Refilwe has a passion for and commitment to Africa’s sustainable development and social progress for women and youth in Southern and West Africa. Having studied the political and social climate of Senegal, as well as having lived all over the world and speaking many languages, Refilwe hit the ground running and has been a vital part of our operations in Keur Soce over the last month.

We are excited to have a full-time intern monitoring and evaluating our programs in Keur Soce and Refilwe has dramatically increased our ability to be efficient and effective in the work we are doing. With her background in Sustainable Development, we will be using her experience to implement initiatives to further sustain our programs in as we move forward.

Refilwe will be in Keur Soce through the summer before she heads back to the US to finish her studies. She was able to come on board through our partnership with Vibrant Village, and we are excited about the possibilities for this kind of cooperation in the future.

Introducing Penda Diop

Penda Diop struggled through primary school. Her father died when she was very young and left her mother as a poor housewife with a heavy load to bear. Her mother then passed away when she was in grade 3. She found herself alone, but was able to continue her studies through the generosity of a caretaker in the community.

She proved herself a very willing and clever student and passed the entrance exam to further her education at junior high school. However, the nearest school was many miles down the road and she would have to find somewhere to stay in the new community. Having no financial resources to pay the school fees and no family to stay with, she had to drop out of school.

Penda now must fend for herself and has gotten a very low-paying job as a maid in a nearby city. She has almost no hope of going back to school and very limited opportunity to get a better job and improve her situation. Consider helping kids like Penda by donating here.

There are many students like Penda in the town of Mbouma who have the capability and willingness to succeed in school if given the chance. If Penda and her friends had a school in their town, she would not have had to drop out and leave the village. There are many children like Penda who can have hope for a better future if we are able to help them build the school they deserve. Learn more and participate in her story visiting our fundraising site on Global Giving. Thank You!

Less Than a Week Left!

It has been an exciting couple of weeks for all of us here as we raise funds to build a school in the community of Mbouma, Senegal. We are getting close and there is just a week left to reach our goal. Consider walking with us and this community on the way to a better future. Click here to learn more! On our recent trip, we met with the leaders of the community of Mbouma and the principal of the junior high school – it was a compelling experience and illustrated just how badly a school is needed in this area. Andando is partnering with the local population to build a school in the village of Mbouma, where 250 motivated primary school students have no junior high school. Some students travel over 10km to go to school in another town, but only if they can afford transportation or lodging. Most are not so lucky, particularly the young girls, forcing them to drop out. Currently, some classes are held in this agricultural warehouse (pictured above). While it is a roof over their head, it is an open building with sheets between classes, resulting in a very loud and poor learning environment. Further, this building will be needed by the community in 2-3 months when it is harvest season, making it no longer available to the school. Other classes in are held in makeshift huts made from millet stalks (above), which have now burned down FIVE TIMES! These classes are also extremely hot, dusty, and wind-blown, providing a poor alternative to the traditional classroom. In the most recent fire, part of the adjacent primary school was damaged, leaving them with even fewer prospects of a proper place to meet. Above, you can see school administrators standing in the spot of a recently-burned makeshift classroom, with the damage to the primary school visible behind them. But there is hope as this community has rallied around its students and staff to try to continue to provide them with options for education and a better future, and you can help!

Please consider giving to the students and community of Mbouma. Just click the link to learn more about the project and check out the progress we have already made. Thank You!

Help Us Build A School In Senegal

We are excited to announce we are participating in GlobalGiving's Open Challenge during the month of June! With your help we will raise $12,000 to give the children of Mbouma hope for a better future. Click here to donate. Andando is partnering with the local population to build a school In the village of Mbouma, where 250 motivated primary school students have no junior high school. Some students travel over 10km to go to school in another town, but only if they can afford transportation or lodging. Most are not so lucky, particularly the young girls, forcing them to drop out. Currently, classes in Mbouma are held in makeshift huts made from millet stalks, which has twice burned down.How will this project solve this problem? 

The parents and students of Mbouma need a permanent structure that will provide a more comfortable, safe learning environment. Unfortunately, they simply cannot afford the building materials. Village elders have petitioned the government for a junior high school and have been deeded land by the community. The government sent teachers, but it is left up to the community members to build classrooms. Help us give this motivated community the school they need.Potential Long Term Impact 

In constructing a permanent school building with two classrooms, and the potential for more classroom space and a latrine in the future you will help provide students with a cleaner, healthier place to learn. The building of the school establishes it as a permanent, necessary part of village life for future generations of students. Our goal is not to simply put up a building, but to help put this rural community on a path to a more secure future.

Click here to donate and read more about the project.

Senegalese Garden Party

The recently completed solar pump installations at the two market gardens in Keur Soce was cause for great celebration.

On our last visit, the ladies organized a great party complete with locally produced juice, delicious homemade snacks, drummers, story tellers, and many, many speeches from local and regional representatives.

Thanks to our partnership with Vibrant Village, the 150+ women who work in these gardens can now grow three seasons of crops instead of one. This means improved health and income for them and their families, directly impacting around 1,000 individuals, and many more indirectly through their market sales.

Madame Diagne is in charge of one of the market gardens and is head of the women’s cooperative made up of 85 ladies.

Now that the water is pumping, there is ample water to irrigate the one hectare plot she is the lead on. She has convinced the ladies that instead of expanding immediately, they will go through a one year cycle to determine whether or not to expand.

“We have organized ourselves into groups of about 10, with one woman responsible for a bed,” she tells us. They determine collectively what to plant. If they use for own use, they must ‘buy’ it from their group at a reduced price with everything going into a collective pot. Madame Diagne has taught them to be extra frugal at this point as there is no guaranteed income. However, they already have one steady customer in town, a small basic motel for 30 kilos of produce a week! Diagne says, “We are excited to have customers and now want to develop relationships with more and keep it steady.”

They will have three harvests per year instead of one and they hope this can translate into the ability to constantly be supplying customers. For the rainy season they are planning lower maintenance crops such as bissap, okra as they will be busy in the millet and peanut fields providing for their families. During the other two harvests they will plant higher cash crops to make money.

Diagne says, “We have already learned things like storing some water overnight in barrels because if we come early to the garden, there is sometimes not enough water as the sun has not been up long enough to fill the tank.” Overall there is always a surplus of water. They allow women to take water for home use but only in the late morning after watering, because then the sun has enough time to replenish the tank for the evening watering.

By working closely with the Garden Manager, Mandou Ba (picutred above), the women are starting to bring their own soil amendments, manure, peanut shells, etc. Some of these practices will take time as change does not come easy and the Senegalese (like anyone else!) are skeptical of new agricultural practices at first. Some of the crops being grown include, lettuce, carrots, onions, tomatoes, okra, corn, peppers, eggplant, radish, yams, potatoes, and cabbage. Diagne tells us that she already has plans to collectively purchase a scale to weigh their produce before it’s sold and keep better track of what is going in and out.

Overall, the garden has exploded with life and is a constant flurry of activity. We are confident that with strong leaders like Madame Diagne these market gardens will continue to grow and be a huge success.

We would also like to acknowledge the wonderful, professional, timely work done by FlexNRJ, a Dakar based solar company led by Pathe Diagne (no relation to Madame Diagne above). We are impressed by their work and professionalism and hope we can collaborate again in the future.

Keur Soce Primary School Upgrades

As part of our ongoing partnership with the Keur Soce primary school, we recently completed the rehabilitation of all the desks in the school.They look absolutely amazing! Before, there were 3-4 kids to each small desk, making for distracted kids and uncomfortable learning conditions.

Now the kids all have a place to sit and are not in danger of getting cuts/slivers or worse from using broken desks. The entire job was completed on site while the kids were on spring break. Wish we could have been there to see their faces when they got back!

The desk project was done in partnership with Legacy International who run a vocational training school in a nearby town, giving young men the tools and training they need to learn woodworking and welding.

We have now rehabbed all the classroom floors, painted the entire school, installed secure windows, instituted a very popular breakfast program and started a school garden.  

Next up, small classroom libraries - and a playground!