Health

Help Rural Families Respond to Coronavirus

We are inspired by the resilience of those we serve. Every day, women return to the gardens to keep their families and communities fed. Every day, they have been working hard to overcome poverty and provide financial security for their families. But now the progress they have made is being threatened by conornavirus.

Food security is always an issue in Senegal, but it’s made even worse in these uncertain times. While the gardens continue to produce fruits and vegetables, other items such as rice, cooking oil, and soap are more difficult to get in rural communities.

Hand washing stations in each garden help protect hundreds of families.

Hand washing stations in each garden help protect hundreds of families.

In an effort to minimize the spread of coronavirus Senegal has closed schools and markets, banned gatherings, issued curfews, and limited transportation between regions in-country. This not only makes it difficult to earn an income but also makes access to basic items limited, thus driving the prices up for communities that are already vulnerable.

We are committed to ensuring that families have access to food and sanitation supplies and we need your help to do it. Will you join us by providing face masks, soap, rice, and other emergency supplies to families?

  • $25 can supply one family with enough rice for a month

  • $45 can provide reusable face masks for all of the women in one community garden

  • $100 can provide soap, cleaning supplies, and education for 50 families

Our current programs are helping over 40,000 people in Senegal. We need your help to provide additional support during these uncertain times.

If you prefer to write a check, please make payable to:
Andando, PO Box 542, Jefferson, OR 97352

Update: Coronavirus and its impact in Senegal

Dear Andando Family,

With so much changing around the world on a daily basis, it is refreshing to see how people and communities are coming together to support one another. Keeping our staff and the participants in our programs safe is the highest priority for Andando.

In an effort to minimize the spread of coronavirus, Senegal has closed schools, banned religious and social gatherings, issued curfews, and limited transportation both at the border and in-country.

Diya (pictured left in green Andando shirt) is a health worker in the village of Ngor and is instrumental in teaching proper hand washing techniques to the community.

Diya (pictured left in green Andando shirt) is a health worker in the village of Ngor and is instrumental in teaching proper hand washing techniques to the community.

In response, our staff collaborated with local health workers to provide hand washing stations in all gardens. They are also closely monitoring the recommendations from the government and making sure those in rural communities have access to the information and resources needed to stay safe and healthy

Village chiefs and mayors have expressed their gratitude for the Andando gardens, which are now the sole source of produce for many communities.

Customers come directly to the gardens from local villages to purchase their produce.

Customers come directly to the gardens from local villages to purchase their produce.

We will continue to keep you updated both on the situation as it unfolds in Senegal, and with bright and inspiring stories of families and children who you have touched with your support!

Follow us on Facebook @TheAndandoFoundation

A Day in the Life of a Senegalese Midwife

Last October, the construction of two new health posts in Batara Wolof and Keur Ngor was completed. To manage the new health posts, local midwives are elected by the community to take charge of each facility, turning concrete walls and wooden benches into a safe and relatively comfortable clinic for her patients.

A midwife proudly standing in the waiting area of a newly opened health post.

A midwife proudly standing in the waiting area of a newly opened health post.

Each midwife sorts and stores the medical supplies including donated scrubs, bandages, and antiseptic which are hard to come by in rural villages.

Medical volunteers with Andando distribute the new supplies as well as provide additional training.

Patients start arriving immediately with the midwife seeing more than a dozen cases daily, in addition to attending births. The day of a local midwife is long and exhausting. She will provide pre- and post-natal check-ups and non-emergency care such as dressing wounds or cuts.

Sometimes she is paid for her services in CFA (the local currency in Senegal). Other times she may be paid in chickens, eggs, or bags of millet. Caring for young and old alike, a local midwife is a pillar in her community.

It is amazing how much is able to be done with so little. And how gracious, welcoming, giving, and appreciative the people of Senegal are.
— Andando Medical Volunteer

Andando provides ongoing support to these dedicated women by helping them educate their communities in health and sanitation through volunteer-led workshops.

Women fill the courtyard near a health post, excited to learn how they can better improve the health of their families and communities.

Women fill the courtyard near a health post, excited to learn how they can better improve the health of their families and communities.

In the courtyard near a health post (pictured above) plastic chairs and wooden benches are filled with local women, most of them mothers or expectant mothers, excited to learn how they can better improve the health of their families. The speaker is an Oregon-based midwife and Andando supporter who is well received. Not solely due to her medical training, but because she shares a common bond – she too is a mother.

“It is amazing how much is able to be done with so little. And how gracious, welcoming, giving, and appreciative the people of Senegal are.”

“It is amazing how much is able to be done with so little. And how gracious, welcoming, giving, and appreciative the people of Senegal are.”

After an hour of engaged conversation the women leave with a better understanding of sanitation, basic anatomy, and how the very vegetables they grow can impact the health of their families in very real ways.

This ongoing involvement in the community and support for local midwives ensures the success of local health posts, providing essential healthcare for years to come.

New Health Posts Ready to Open!

Midwives who will staff and run the health post in Batara Wolof.

Midwives who will staff and run the health post in Batara Wolof.

Later this month our construction team in Keur Soce will be putting the finishing touches on two new health posts that will serve the communities of Batara Wolof and Keur Ngor. This will bring the total to eight health posts built by Andando and our partners in the past few years. In all, this program has dramatically increased healthcare access to over 25,000 people.

In just the past year and a half, we have seen over 800 births, 7,000 weight/malnutrition checks and education, and 8,000 vaccinations given.
Finishing the exterior of the Batara Wolof health post.

Finishing the exterior of the Batara Wolof health post.

Previously, people in these communities would often have to travel long distances, by foot or donkey cart, to seek care for even routine medical needs. Even worse, many women would have to make this trek while in labor to safely give birth at a medical facility. This led to alarming rate of births taking place in unsafe and unsanitary conditions, and common medical needs turning into emergency cases. These simple, but effective, facilities are staffed by trained nurses and midwives in order to deliver care where people need it most.

Outside the health post in Keur Ngor with the village Chief (left), Boubou, Andando Country Director (center) and Camara, Keur Soce Program Manager (right).

Outside the health post in Keur Ngor with the village Chief (left), Boubou, Andando Country Director (center) and Camara, Keur Soce Program Manager (right).

At each health post, there is an office and consultation room; a labor and delivery room with electricity and running water; and a recovery/monitoring room for new moms and their babies, each with their own bathrooms. Andando also provides each post with a basic stock of medical equipment and supplies to get started, which the state then replenishes moving forward.

Installing plumbing and sinks at Keur Ngor health post.

Installing plumbing and sinks at Keur Ngor health post.

These facilities have led to a dramatic increase in safe births, the hosting of vaccination clinics, child-wellness visits, and family planning consultations. Medical staff are also able to give routine first-aid when needed, as well as referrals to other larger or regional health centers.

Interior of the Batara Wolof health post as of September 13, 2018.

Interior of the Batara Wolof health post as of September 13, 2018.

In just the past year and a half, we have seen over 800 births, 7,000 weight/malnutrition checks and education, and 8,000 vaccinations given. For a relatively small investment we can deliver amazing results to the people of the Keur Soce area and keep them on a productive path moving forward. This vital program has an immediate impact on these populations and we are proud to see its growth in helping more and more people achieve a healthy life.

Trip to Senegal

Several of us gathered in Senegal over Christmas and New years and in to the second week of January. We weren't all there together all the time but we were all together some of the time.... Scotty and Crystal were there first arriving Christmas day. They had a great reunion with old friends. You may recall that Scotty and Crystal spent a year in Senegal helping Andando with miscellaneous projects. Then on the 30th Lewis and Ruby arrived from Swaziland. They also had previously spent time working for Andando in Senegal. I joined them later that day. Then on the 30th Ken, Mary and Kevin arrived to complete our group. We worked on a variety of projects while there and also spent a lot of time catching up with old friends.  Our first couple of days were spent doing a kids camp for over 60 kids. The kids came and spent the day. Our theme was Christmas, and we played games, read stories, did crafts, watched movies, and ate lots of good food.

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Our next few days were spent in the Keur Soce area, visiting several projects, including the construction of a health post in Thiawandou. We are excited about what a huge difference this building will make in the life of this community. More about this soon in its own post.  We also visited some new wells, and water projects.

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Another part of our trip was spent checking out some micro loans. We are consistently pleased and encouraged by the ingenuity and hard work of our loan recipients.

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A good trip!