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bad bloggers

We are officially bad bloggers around here....but that's because we've been busy.
We went to Africa in January- three countries in ten days . Check our website and click on news for a few glimpses of that trip. www.andando.org
And we're leaving again tomorrow! Lots of good things happening. and we will try to do better when we return.
For now, please look at this blog and see what these two great folk have been doing on behalf of Andando in Senegal. www.lewisandruby.blogspot.com

AND stay tuned for a brand spanking new website within the next month or so!

summer in Senegal

On our July visit to Senegal, we were so pleased to see how green the country side is. Farming in Senegal is a gamble , always depending on the rains and so far the rains have been sufficient. We were able to visit some of the Andando fields, including the one pictured above. The farmer, Modou Sakho, has planted his peanuts and was hoeing with his two sons the day we visited. He told us the plants were doing well and he was optimistic about a good harvest, providing the rains continue.
Andando has made loans to about 50 farmers like Modou around the Keur Soce area. It is our hope that by helping them to help themselves, they can build a better future for their families.

The story of the lost votes

The Chase Community Giving Facebook Campaign is over.
It was an amazing month for us at Andando as many worked to rally the vote and so many of you responded.
1613 individuals voted for Andando.
Chase took away 658 of these votes citing voting irregularity. We ended the campaign in 233rd place with 955 votes.

We have had communication with Chase concerning this 'voting irregularity' and although the responses have been quite vague, we understand that they deleted many of our African votes because it appeared to them that someone was setting up profiles for the sole purpose of voting for Andando.
The truth of the matter is very different.
In Liberia, Andando is involved in a women's empowerment program. These women heard about the Chase Community Giving program and wanted to participate and support Andando.
They saw this as a way to be involved in helping themselves. These women are all desperately poor and of course have no computers etc. But because they were determined, they rounded up four or five computers, borrowed a generator, (no electricity there), bought gas to power the generator and started voting. They encouraged family members to vote and excitement built as they saw the vote count rise. Then on Sunday night, about 24 hours before the end of the campaign, they saw the votes disappear.
For us this was disheartening and discouraging. For the Africans it was heartbreaking.

Olivia, one of the women who voted- "...We feel like this was a slap in the face. We have gone to great lengths to support our charity by purchasing gas for our generator to power our obsolete computers just to be a part of this campaign. Women queued up in numbers and rallied their family members as a way of saying thank you for their support...."

We have explained to Chase how these ladies voted and are convinced that they have done nothing wrong. We will continue to try to dialog with Chase and at least try to make sure that this never happens again.

But, this is not the end of the story........
On Monday night, after the voting closed, Andando received a call from someone who had voted and had been following the story of the lost votes. This person said " We cannot let things end this way. These people have all worked so hard and have been pushed aside. They must know that hard work is rewarded and that hope follows tragedy. I am giving $20,000 to Andando to make this right."
We were overcome, there were a lot of tears and so much joy! We called our contact in Liberia and told him what had happened. He was speechless (unusual for him!) at first and then just began praising God- " He is our Sole Provider...depend only on Him...to God be the Glory.."
The women have been told, there is much rejoicing today in Liberia, and after work on Friday, there will be a party!!
To God be the Glory indeed.

Once again we are so grateful and humbled by all your support. We had votes from the U.S., Senegal, Liberia, Canada, the U.K., Chile, Australia and Paraguay. We wish we could thank all of you personally but we don't have contact info for many. If you know of people who voted who may not read this, please share it with them.
We hope you will all continue to follow the story of Andando. It looks like there are many chapters yet to be written!

chasing the vote

Andando is currently in the running for a share of a $5 million giveaway by Chase Community Giving on Facebook. If we get into the top 200 charities we will win $20,000!!!

That translates to about 200 micro loans, about 400 farmer loans or 6-7 wells!

All we need is YOUR VOTE!

The voting takes place through Facebook, so you must have a Facebook profile to be able to vote.

We've made it easier for you by providing a link from our website to our Chase Community giving Page.
Here's how to vote;

Go to www.andando.org. Near the bottom left hand corner of the page, you will see a box for Chase Community Giving. Click on this box.

When you get to the Chase Community giving Page, click on the green box that says' Get started to Vote'.

A box will pop up asking you to 'like' Chase. Once you have done this, click close to close the box. (Note: you have not yet voted.)

The green box will now say 'Vote Now'. Click on the box to vote.

Another box will pop up for you to tell your friends. Tell as many people as you can!

Voting ends July 12, so do it now and spread the word!!!

baskets

Maybe you didn't know about our special baskets that we sell to help support our child feeding program in Sierra Leone. (See our website for details http://www.andando.org/)

Each basket costs $25 and they come in two styles, the traditonal round bolga or the oval market basket.

The purchase of one of these baskets will feed a child in Sierra Leone for six months!

In the last two years we have sold hundreds of these baskets at fairs and festivals. We will be selling them all summer long at the fairs in the previous post as well as a few other places.

We can also mail you one. Just email us your color preferences- they come in a wide variety from solid to partially striped, to totally striped blues, reds, greens, purples. Add $5 for shipping.

Or if you live nearby, we can arrange to bring some to you! Email us and let us know what you'd like. theandandofoundation@gmail.com

Get yourself a new basket for summer markets and picnics and feed a child for six months at the same time!

summertime

The season of spring/summer festivals is approaching and with it comes the chance for Andando to be out and about , sharing our stories with people and selling some cool stuff from our wonderful African artisans.

Our first festival is this weekend! And it looks like the weather might cooperate!
We will be in the lovely little town of Scio, Oregon at the 75th annual Lamb and Wool Fair. May 14-16 www.lambfair.org

On Saturday June 19 , 9-2 p.m. we will be at the Day of the African Child in Portland. This event takes place adjacent to the Portland Farmers Market www.harambeecentre.org

The following weekend you can find us at the WorldBeat Festival in Salem, June 26 and 27. This is a super fun event celebrating cultures from around the world.
www.worldbeatfestival.org

We will participate in other festivals through July and August and will keep you posted.

well, well, well








We recently returned from a trip to Senegal. During that trip we distributed forty five new micro loans... but we're saving that story for it's own post..
First we want to tell you about the water/well project.
Andando has had an onging project in the village of Keur Soce with a church partner, Doxology in Corvallis, Oregon. Over the past few years Doxology has worked with the school in Keur Soce on various projects including bringing school supplies, building a basket ball court- even bringing 600 pairs of shoes for the village kids.
While building relationships there through these activities, Dox became aware of the need for access to water in some of the village neigborhoods and the need for several wells in the village and in outlying villages.
Along with Andando, they began to work with the village leaders and as a result there are now two neighborhoods in Keur Soce that have a community tap where there was none before, and a new deep water well that will supply water for decades to come. This well will also supply water to a one hectare garden right next to it. By this time next year, this garden should be supplying produce for the whole village.
Another well has been dug in a nearby village, Diam Diao. This village had been depending on an older well that had many cracks and the ground around it was being degraded by the many animals that would come to the well each day.
We have been able to dig a brand new well in this village that will be used exclusively for people. The older well is being repaired and will be used for cattle. The well diggers will also run a pipe from the well to a new large drinking trough so that more animals can be watered at once.
Thanks to this great partnership -and to many individual donors, several thousand people now have access to clean, sweet water -and several hundred cattle too!

mosquito nets

One of the biggest killers of children in Senegal, and in all of Africa, is malaria. When treated bed nets are used, the incidence of malaria decreases dramatically.

Andando wanted to help make nets available to the communities we work in , so last year one of the gifts you could purchase from our Christmas Catalog was a mosquito net. This proved to be a popular gift and we raised enough funds for several hundred nets.

We really wanted to make sure the nets were going to be used effectively so we wanted to also supply training and follow up .
With this in mind we have entered into a partnership with the Against Malaria Initiative and the US Peace Corps in Senegal. Against Malaria has access to nets at a far cheaper price than we can get and the Peace Corps is distributing the nets in Senegal. They go in small teams to villages, do a training and a few weeks later go back and do a follow up to make sure the nets are being used correctly.

Your gifts continue to make a real difference in the lives of people in West Africa and through this new partnership, we are able to make your gifts stretch even farther AND ensure excellent training and follow up!

andando means walking together

The name of our foundation comes from the Wolof word for walking together. Wolof is the main language of Senegal, the country where the dream for Andando was born, out of a desire to walk together more closely with people there and in other places around the world

In keeping with the name, two intrepid hikers have committed the summer to 'walk together' the entire length of the United States from Mexico to Canada .They began on April 30 and are now about 600 miles in on their 2650 mile journey. Follow along with them on the journey through the link to their blog on the right.These guys are amazing!

They are also doing this walk to raise funds for Andando. They are seeking sponsors who will support them by the mile-a penny a mile is $26.50 per person, $53.00 for both or any amount you would care to donate. You can donate through paypal by going to www.andando.org or you can send checks to Andando PO Box 542, Jefferson, OR.97352

summer fun!

We want to let you know about a couple of upcoming events that Andando will be participating- both on the same day!
One is The Day of the African Child on June 27 from 10 -5 at the World Forestry Center in Portland. There will be lots of organizations there involved with African children in some way. We will be there with Saah Joseph sharing about our feeding program in Sierra Leone and our micro lending in Senegal. We'll also be selling our kids' dresses, baby wraps, bags, and baskets.
Did you know when you purchase one of our baskets, you feed a child in Sierra Leone for one MONTH?

We will also be at the WorldBeat Festival in Salem that same weekend. That event runs all day Saturday and Sunday. It has an gloabl theme with countries and cultures fromm all over the world represented. It's in a beautiful setting in Riverfront Park by the Willamette river. On Sunday there are dragon boat races on the river!

Hope to see you at one or both events.

an evening with Saah Joseph

This Thursday evening , May 14th, we are looking forward to a special time with the volunteer coordinator of our Buedu Feeding program. Saah Joseph from Liberia(see photo in previous post) will share about the program the kids and also some of his own fascinating story of years as a refugee in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The event starts at 6.30 p.m.

There will be a silent auction with some great prizes, including a fishing trip and an airplane ride! In addition, the Andando store will be open featuring new products from our artisans.

If you have not yet received an invitation, and would like to attend, please email us at theandandofoundation@gmail.com and we'll send you directions.

Where the Money goes

A young girl taking home food to share!

Just a few of our 900 kids - a lot of mouths to feed!

You can never have too much rice.

Our friend Saah Joseph

In January Andando made a trip to Africa to our sponsored feeding program. It's in Buedu, Sierra Leone and it's not an easy place to get to. It is located in a remote corner of Sierra Leone near where the Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone borders come together. On previous trips we had traveled through Sierra Leone to get there.- on very bad, almost impassable roads. This time we thought we’d try a different route going through Liberia. Well it turns out the roads were only slightly better. It took about 15 hours to get to Buedu from Monrovia, about half on dirt roads. Fortunately it was the dry season . During the rainy season, May to September, this road would be impassable.
We were greeted in Buedu by what seemed like a million children and definitely more than the 600 we thought we were feeding! We estimated it’s closer to 900 kids in the program, but the folks there are doing an amazing job. They are feeding these kids five days a week, cooking on open fire. Two hard working women (volunteer positions) do most of the cooking. We had some great discussions about the program and ways to improve it. Since our last visit to Buedu, many people have started farming again since peace has returned to the region, so there is more food available locally.

We discussed the availability of local rice. In the past we had to ship rice there which added to the cost. We've changed that. Now the feeding program is going to start using local rice, which is more nutritious because it is not processed. This will also help the local economy. Another way we are able to help the local economy is by buying bread once a week from a local baker and using bread instead of rice. We were also able to bring school supplies and medicine for the kids.

It was a really encouraging and worthwhile trip. Thanks so much to our amazing partner there, Saah Joseph. Several years ago Saah shared this need with us and he has been faithful to continue working with Andando, again as a volunteer. Without his commitment and vision the feeding program would not be possible.

On the same trip we made a quick stop in Senegal to visit with our micro loan partner there, Diegane Ndiaye (another amazing Andando volunteer). Once again, without our in-country partner, our program just would not work. Diegane has administered our micro loan program for a year now and we have seen an almost 100% return on our loans thanks to his diligence and faithfulness. He is now in the midst of making this years’ round of loans with the the previous years money being recycled again into the community - and the new money from your generous gifts being added to it.

You can be a part in bringing hope and dignity to these wonderful people in Senegal and Sierra Leone. Join us if you can, and thanks to those of you who already have!

Christmas for Africa

We did a "Christmas catalog" for the first time during December and it was a wonderful success. To everyone who contributed to Andando during the Christmas season through our gift catalog - Thank you ! Over 150 gifts were given and $6,000 raised!

And already most of these gifts have found their way to Africa. We have already begun the new distribution of Micro loans and and farmer loans in Senegal and we have sent funds for the next six months of our feeding program in Buedu. Not only that, we've supplied 600 kids in Sierra Leone with school and medical supplies. Later in the spring we plan on working on our mosquito net distribution in Senegal, in time for the rainy season there.
Thanks again to all of you who participated.

It's A Busy Time of Year

Quiz time - What's the difference between Bazarr and Bizarre?

Okay, so here's a sample sentence that may give you an illustration: I went to a semi temporary market with lots of stalls selling a variety of very unusual and offbeat articles that were way out of the mainstream. I went to a bizarre bazarr. So who got the answer right? Will you make it as a contestant on Jeopardy?
This time of year, we have been taking advantage of opportunities to sell wonderful Andando articles at one Bazarr after another. These are pictures of some of the activity. Also, the shop has been pretty busy.

And the Christmas Catalog has been generating a lot of buzz. Like people are noticing that it's pretty cool and worthwhile, and feeling like they want to be a part of it. Ain't life grand?

The Christmas Catalog

Andando has published a Christmas Catalog - here's how it works - you can buy a present for someone and give it to someone else. In other words, you buy something of a humanitarian nature to help those underprivileged overseas, and give in on behalf of your friend or recipient.
For example, you want to give your Aunt Ethyl a gift for Christmas, but she already has everything she needs, and you don't want to give her another trinket, so you purchase a feeding sponsorship for a village in Africa, and you send it in her name and she is thrilled to be a part of this effort and proud that her name is associated with such a fine endeavor!