From the Director - Feb 2026

One of my favorite parts of this work is sharing success stories from projects we only just introduced to you. Development is often slow and tedious, but right now, Andando is building a level of momentum that is as encouraging as it is noteworthy.

We saw a wonderful reflection of this recently when Andando WON the .ORG Impact Award for Hunger and Poverty. It was a proud moment for our team, and the video produced for the event really captures the heart of our mission.

Andando WON the .ORG Impact Award for Hunger and Poverty. It was a proud moment for our team, and the video produced for the event really captures the heart of our mission.

In Keur Socé, momentum continues with the completion of our newest aquaculture integrations in the Keur Ngor and Saré Diouma women’s gardens. The joy and pride these women showed while stocking their first fish was incredible. Watching them master this new skill set with such focus is exactly why we keep investing in our partners.

The women of Saré Diouma stocked their new aquaculture basins in late 2025 and are preparing for their first harvest this spring. This is our 9th garden to feature integrated fish farming with more planned for 2026!

That same pride is palpable up north in Senobowal, where the new woodlot and women’s garden are up and running. The community is seizing this opportunity with gusto and has already planted more than 1,500 trees. Even more impressive, the garden is already yielding its first harvests after just two months, with lots more to come!

From dust to greens: Senobowal’s garden is already flourishing, providing the community with its first harvests of radishes and lettuce. In just a few short months this space will become a veritable oasis in the desert.

Finally, our partners in Guédé Village High School and Ndiédieng Primary School are hitting the ground running this school year with their newly completed classrooms and bathrooms! For years, students here squeezed into temporary shelters that were sweltering and crowded. Their beautiful, fully furnished new classes have reduced class sizes and created a positive learning environment for all.

Students at the Ndiédieng primary school in their new, fully furnished classrooms. These permanent buildings replace the temporary outdoor shelters the community used previously.

It’s thanks to supporters like YOU that we can keep up this level of momentum and impact year after year.

“Jéréjëf!” – Thank You!

- Garrison Harward, Executive Director
Garrison@Andando.org

Answering the call of the Diéri: Andando’s newest frontier

Community leaders in Kawé , located in the Diére, meet with Andando staff to discuss the future of their primary school.

Andando has always grown by listening. For years, our work in northern Senegal thrived in the Walo, the floodplains along the Senegal River. But after every success there, local leaders would pull us aside with the same request: “This is wonderful, but can you take it to the Diéri? Almost no one is helping there.”

Without local access to clean water, families in the Diéri are often forced into multi-day journeys just to meet their basic needs.

Families in the Diéri are often forced into multi-day journeys just to meet their basic needs. Here, one family uses a donkey-pulled water cart to fill up with water in Senobowal and make the long journey home.

The Diéri is the vast, arid pastoral zone south of the river, home to indigenous Peulh herders who have raised livestock in balance with this land for centuries. Today, that balance is fracturing. When rain fails or a water point breaks, families are forced into crisis migrations. Children are pulled from school, and access to medical care for pregnant women, children, and treatable illnesses becomes all but impossible as families move farther away. 

With a new borehole well, the existing water tower can meet the needs of Senobowal and the surrounding 10 villages that rely it for their basic needs.

We saw this reality firsthand in Senobowal where we were initially called to build only a health clinic.  The community quickly revealed other urgent needs though, leading to our most comprehensive "whole village" intervention to date. 

In the coming months, we’ll be sharing more about how the clinic, solar borehole well, women’s garden, woodlot, and school support are transforming life there for the better.

A lifeline for the region: Senobowal’s solar borehole serves 5,000 people and 30,000 livestock across 10 villages.

Now, other Diéri communities are asking for that same chance. The scale of the need and the difficulty of this work is immense, but so too is the potential. These families are the frontline stewards of this region, quite literally holding back the advance of the Sahara.

In the vast Diéri, schools are few and far between. In Kawé, we are prioritizing classroom renovations and proper sanitation to keep students in school year-round.

The women of Peté Olé are ready to start a cooperative garden to feed their families, they are simply waiting for a reliable water source.

For this landscape to survive, its people must be able to thrive. By building these systems of stability, we are ensuring that the stewards of the Diéri can stay to protect it for generations to come. To the best of our ability, Andando is answering that call, one village at a time.

Together we made a significant impact in 2025!

As we close the books on another year, we want to reflect on what we have accomplished together with our partner communities in 2025. One thing we have learned through this work is that, together, we can make a substantial difference in a very short amount of time.

Members of the Haffé Women’s Cooperative showcasing some of the vegetables grown in the garden.

A prime example is the women’s garden in Haffé. It was launched at the beginning of 2025, and in less than nine months, the cooperative reached its savings goal and grew over 20,000 pounds of produce!  For 220 women there, and more than 1,000 family members, life changed for the better this year with more food on the table, more income, more stability, and more confidence about what the future can hold. And that is just one small example of the impact you helped create.

Here are a few more highlights your support helped make possible this year:

• 41 women’s gardens and 1 school garden supported, including new gardens in Haffé and Senobowal

• Over 33,000 trees planted, bringing Andando’s total to more than 95,000 trees established in gardens, schools, health clinics, and farms

• Aquaculture added to 4 gardens, improving nutrition and income for over 600 families

• 4 new classrooms built, two at Ndiédieng Primary School and two at Guédé Village High School, with bathrooms and clean running water at each

• 190 microloans disbursed in Keur Socé, paired with trees and Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration training

• 1 new health clinic added in Ndiaguene, extending vital services to over 1,000 people, plus renovations at our Paymar clinic after a brutal rainy season damaged their roof

• The Senobowal borehole completed, bringing reliable, clean water to over 5,000 Indigenous pastoralists and helping them remain rooted on their ancestral lands with dignity

We are incredibly grateful for your support of Andando and our partner communities. Together in 2025, we reached more than 55,000 people, and the benefits of that support will continue for years, and in many cases decades, to come.

Monthly donors help make this possible. You can too! Start (or increase) a monthly donation today (click here for details).

Happy New Year: Your Impact in Action - New Projects are Underway!

Happy New Year from all of us at Andando, and thank you.

Because of generous donors like you, we raised $6,677 toward our $10,000 year-end match, which means $13,354 is going straight into new projects in rural Senegal.

I wanted to write to you personally before I leave for Senegal in a little over a week. This trip feels different, in the best way. The honest truth is that we are never fully certain how much we will raise each year, or how many communities we will be able to support. We plan carefully, we keep costs lean, and we do everything we can to build steady support, but there is always an element of uncertainty.

So, it is both a relief, and incredibly exciting, to be heading to Senegal with new support from our year-end campaign, and our tremendously successful Fall Gala, knowing we can start new projects that will literally change lives.

That is one of the things I am proudest of about Andando. When resources show up, we get to work immediately. We mobilize our team, coordinate with local stakeholders, and get your support to those who need it, right now. 

In the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing updates from the field as our team begins the next round of projects. For now, please know how grateful I am for your support, and for the community behind us that makes this work possible.

With sincere appreciation!

Garrison Harward
Executive Director

P.S. With additional funds, we can say yes to even more communities in 2026. It's not too late to join us - donate today!

Meet Bocar, Tree Project Coordinator for Podor

Our team on the ground in Senegal works with determination and passion to put your support in action and build thriving, resilient communities. We are thrilled to introduce you to Bocar Diop, our Podor Tree Project Coordinator. (Click here to see others in this series.)

Bocar joined the Andando team as a Garden Technician in October 2020. As our tree program expanded, he transitioned into coordinating our replanting efforts in the norther region of Podor.

Born and raised in the northern region of Podor, Bocar grew up helping on his family’s farm and has seen firsthand the benefits of integrating trees in agriculture and community centers.

He is the eldest in his family with seven younger brothers and sisters. When he was very young, a flood came through his village and swept away his home. The entire family relocated to Donaye Teredji, which is also home to Andando’s Podor Headquarters.

Living and working in the communities we serve allows staff to build trust and mutual respect so they can respond thoughtfully and effectively to evolving community needs.

As a child, Bocar loved learning and started attending school early, at the age of 5. After high school, he attended University Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar and studied Science, Economics, and Business. After graduating, he joined Andando as a Garden Technician in October 2020. As our tree program expanded, Bocar transitioned into coordinating replanting efforts.

By supporting local tree planting efforts, Bocar is helping communities take the lead on transforming the Sahel and combating climate change in the northern Podor region.

Bocar has recently been working with a farmer who was cultivating his 25 acre farm, but because of the lack of trees to protect his crops, the wind would push down on the plants until they broke, and the dust encloses them so they don’t germinate well.

Bocar had this to say about the changes he’s seen:

“Since joining the tree program, the farmer’s harvests are safe and sound, and his income has increased considerably.

This is my vision for the program, to reforest the Diéri, to eradicate the current situation in northern Senegal.”

— Bocar

Salimata and Bocar on their wedding day, July 4, 2025.

To date, we have planted nearly 100,000 trees, and we aren’t stopping there!

Bocar married his wife, Salimata, in July (2025) and they live together in Donaye Teredji. When he’s not working, you may find him helping with his family’s farms, going for runs to stay active, or spending time with fellow Andando staff and community members to exchange ideas about the area’s development.

Your support enables Bocar to help his fellow citizens. Thank you for investing in their future! Click here to meet other staff.

Giving Thanks: "Just waking up and seeing the garden is soothing."

As we move into a season of giving thanks, we celebrate the successes and accomplishments of our partners in Senegal: students are focusing on their studies, healthcare workers are stepping in for their communities, and our women’s cooperative gardens are feeding entire villages!

Dickel Sow, the Secretary General of the Mbantou Croissement Women’s Garden.

Recently Dickel Sow, the Secretary General of the Mbantou Croissement Women’s Garden, shared with us the transformation she is seeing in her village:

"I’m going to talk about something that I appreciate, that I really have to say. Because I witnessed it myself, it's not something I heard about. I saw it with my own eyes. So welcome, Andando! We are honored by your presence; it's a pleasure. Because you inspire us to grow.

Because when you plant a garden in a village, it's bound to grow. That way, everyone can enjoy it. The same goes for a health clinic; it also promotes development. As for fish farming, we had only heard about it. And finally, it happened."

Releasing young fingerlings into the Mbantou Croissement Garden fish basin.

A big thumbs up from the women of Mbantou Croissement!

"Especially since we live in a dry area. The locals didn't believe that fish farming would be possible in this area. But thank God, everything went well. What's more, Andando is very helpful; they do all this thanks to God. They could have shown their achievements on the radio or on TV, but they didn't.

That's one of the things we love about Andando. They don't show off, and they keep their promises."

Dickel Sow (right), along with other members from the Mbantou Croissement Garden, showing off a few of the fish recently harvested.

"They gave it their all because they believe in development and prosperity. With our work in the garden, we consume the produce, give it away, and also sell it.

Whereas before, we had to go elsewhere to find vegetables. What's more, the products are organic, without fertilizers. Apart from rice and oil, we have everything we need in the garden. And that has a big impact on us."

Fish grown in the garden provide sustainable protein while also fertilizing the other garden crops.

"We have everything we need in the garden." Carrots, onions, peppers and limes - all grown from in garden - are used to prepare a meal called Yassa!

"Just waking up and seeing the garden is soothing."

"Every morning, we women gather in the garden. If one of us is missing, we notice. And that's what matters most. It's all thanks to Andando. Here we are today, giving thanks to God. God granted our wishes, and we are happy now."

On behalf of all of our partner communities and our Staff and Board we wish you a joyful and restful Thanksgiving season. Jaama rek (peace to you) and your loved ones!

Joy is overflowing as the women from Mbantou Croissement celebrate a recent harvest by dancing.

Video: Mbantou Croissement First Fish Harvest

In case you missed it, the women of Mbantou Croissement celebrated their FIRST fish harvest in April! By integrating aquaculture into the gardens, they are seeing an increase in yield of nutrient-dense food with the added benefit of high-quality fish - all with a ZERO net increase in water usage! Special thank you to Tomberg Family Philanthropies for funding the expansion of aquaculture to new gardens.

Andando Named 2025 .ORG Impact Award Winner in the Hunger and Poverty category!

BREAKING NEWS!

Garrison and Crystal representing Andando at the .ORG Impact Awards Ceremony, held in Washington, DC, on October 7, 2025.

We’re thrilled to announce that Andando has been named the winner of the 2025 .ORG Impact Award in the Hunger and Poverty category!

Selected from nearly 3,000 nominees across more than 120 countries, Andando was one of just 35 finalists worldwide! This honor is an incredible testament to the hard work and dedication of the communities we serve, our amazing teams in Senegal and the U.S., and you, our donors and supporters!

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“The winners of the .ORG Impact Awards are the very best of the .ORG Community and work tirelessly to create positive change every day."

-Jon Nevett, President and CEO of Public Interest Registry

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Thank you to Public Interest Registry for this recognition and for producing a beautiful video that really captures the heart of our mission. Please watch the video below.

From the Director - Sept 2025

Andando is now a two-time finalist, after being nominated in the Community Building category in 2023. This year we are a finalist in the Hunger and Poverty category. Wish us luck at the awards ceremony on October 7! (Pictured: Crystal and Garrison at the 2023 .ORG Impact Awards.)

Let’s start with some wonderful news. In case you haven’t heard, Andando has been named a finalist for the 2025 .ORG Impact Awards! Out of nearly 3,000 organizations worldwide, we are one of just 35 selected. This recognition is a powerful reminder that the work happening in small villages across Senegal is resonating far beyond their borders. What we are building together is world-class and deserves recognition.

This honor comes as we step into a new season of growth. With the support of Tomberg Family Philanthropies, we are breaking ground this month on new aquaculture basins in the Keur Ngor and Sare Diouma women’s gardens. These cooperatives only recently reached their savings goal, and it’s thrilling to be able to support their momentum by adding fish farming as the next step in their journey toward resilience.

Early construction on the new aquaculture basins in Sare Diouma and Keur Ngor.

Much progress has been made on the new aquaculture basins in Sare Diouma and Keur Ngor, with completion expected in just six weeks.

Further north, in Senobowal, the recent completion of the deep borehole well is unlocking a wave of possibilities. Women and children can remain home rather than migrating with cattle, which means kids can stay in school. We’re now able to move forward with a women’s garden there as well, along with a village woodlot and massive reforestation initiative. Thousands of trees will provide food, shade, and restored soil, helping this remote community on the edge of the Sahara to confront the worsening effects of climate change.

Before: Students at Ndiedieng Primary School sat four to a desk but with their new classrooms on the way this will soon be a thing of the past!

After: The new classrooms in Ndiédieng, along with bathrooms and water taps, are well on their way to being completed before school starts. These new additions will ease overcrowding and give every student a safe, supportive place to learn.

And in education, two major projects are nearly complete. The new classrooms at Ndiédieng Primary School and Guédé Village High School are on track to open before the school year begins, creating safe and inspiring spaces for students to learn and thrive.

None of this would have been possible without your support. Together we are saying yes to communities who are working tirelessly to build a better future for their children and the world around them.

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Join us for Stories from Senegal - 11th Annual Dinner & Gala Fundraiser

Enjoy live music & a true taste of Senegal with a dinner designed with Senegalese celebrity chef, Pierre Thiam!

Can’t make it in-person? That’s OK! You can still participate ONLINE!

Beyond the Harvest: Women Are Building Lasting Prosperity

A woman from Wouro Madiw displays the dried moringa powder and peas she now sells at the market.

It’s easy to see the physical transformation a garden brings. Dusty, barren fields quickly become verdant oases overflowing with vegetables and fruit trees. What’s harder to see from afar are the quieter revolutions taking place inside participating villages. Beyond the fences, these gardens are reshaping local economies, creating prosperity that reaches far beyond the harvest.

This year, that transformation has reached a new high. Together, Andando’s partner women’s gardens have built collective savings of $60,953! That’s group savings in addition to the individual profits earned by garden members. In rural Senegal, where access to capital is scarce, this is extraordinary! In the hands of women who have long been excluded from financial decision-making, it is unprecedented.

The women of Wouro Madiw have surpassed their goal, saving more than twice the target amount, with an impressive $4,280 now in their account.

These reserves mean the gardens can manage their own year-to-year operations and repairs without waiting for outside assistance. They also open the door to new opportunities. Some cooperatives are now transforming their harvests into dried or preserved products that command higher prices. Others have launched microfinance associations, lending from their savings so members can start businesses or cover urgent expenses. What began as a source of food security has become a platform for growing women’s leadership, innovation, and resilience in each community.

The president of the Keur Pathe Malick cooperative signs the 50/50 cost sharing agreement after reaching the savings goal.

When Ndiawara’s pump failed last year, the cooperative’s savings allowed them to replace it immediately and keep the garden running.

In the harsh environment of the Sahel, setbacks are inevitable.

What’s different now is that these women are prepared. With savings in hand and strong cooperatives to lead the way, they are shifting the future of their villages, making these gardens, and women’s leadership, a permanent part of each community.

Sare Diouma’s cooperative reached their savings goal earlier this year, making them eligible to expand their garden with aquaculture basins.

Loans, Trees, and the Power to Stay

This summer Andando distributed our annual allotment of nearly 200 microloans to farmers in the Keur Soce region. Year after year, this program quietly multiplies its impact, with the same funds reloaned repeatedly to help families make the most of Senegal’s short rainy season.

Take the Village Chief of Sama Toucouleur, Mr. Hamath Ka, for example:

With his loan, Mr. Ka purchased a seeder and plow, allowing him to plant on time instead of waiting to borrow equipment.

“Before joining this project, every year I would take my seeds and my horse, and I would go to the fields to wait for those who had finished plowing to lend us their equipment. Now people borrow these things from me.”

— Hamath Ka, Village Chief of Sama Toucouleur & Microloan Recipient

Having the right equipment means farmers can react quickly when the rains arrive, ensuring stronger harvests. Yet changing rainfall patterns make farming in the Sahel increasingly unpredictable.

Mr. Ka explains: “The harvest depends on the rain because sometimes it can be abundant, other times not. But with trees, it’s much more profitable.”

Across the region, farmers are planting trees alongside their field crops to naturally improve yields.

Andando’s programs are shaped by the voices of our partners, which is why we have expanded tree production over the past two years to respond to these needs.

This year’s microloan recipients received training in restoring their land by planting and protecting native trees.

A farmer from Haffé, another loan recipient, tends his personal nursery of more than 1,000 trees started with Andando’s support.

Today, every microloan recipient also receives trees and training in Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration, helping to build long-term financial and ecological resilience, which reduces the pressure to migrate abroad. Mr. Ka is a passionate advocate for building a future for his children right here in Senegal.

Mr. Ka dreams of the day when he can fill his fields with trees so they will be as green year-round as the Sama Toucouleur Women’s Garden.

“If we protect our fields together with trees, we won’t need to go to Europe to find wealth because we already have it here. The wealth is here, the land is here. All we need is access to water and to protect our fields, and everything will be fine. That’s why I would like help to have a field full of trees, so my family and I can work together.”

— Hamath Ka, Village Chief of Sama Toucouleur & Microloan Recipient

Bathroom Rennovation at Guede Village High School

Just a few of the students and teachers at Guede Village High School who are benefiting from recent bathroom renovations.

726 students at Guede Village High School are enjoying brand new bathrooms thanks to a renovation project funded by Altrusa International of Albany, Oregon, Altrusa International of Pendleton, Oregon, Altrusa International Foundation, Inc., and other Andando Donors!

School administrators alerted us to the need to repair two dilapidated bathroom facilities that were non-functioning, which contributed to high absenteeism among students, especially young girls.

Before: The bathrooms were non-functioning, but fortunately, they had solid construction so they could be renovated.

After completely renovating the restrooms, replacing the roof, and applying a fresh coat of paint, students can now use restrooms at school rather than having to go home or elsewhere for their needs.

Before: Much of the interior of the bathrooms needed repair or replacement.

After renovations, a new roof, and a fresh coat of paint, the bathrooms are ready for students to use.

Thankfully, the bathrooms had solid construction so contractors could renovate the existing structure. They evaluated what could be repaired and what needed to be completely replaced. Any broken toilets, light fixtures, or plumbing was replaced. The existing roofs were removed and replaced with brand new metal roofs with an updated design, and both of the buildings got a fresh, bright coat of paint. Access to sanitary bathrooms has a huge impact on students' quality of life and can help increase student attendance and enrollment.

Racky, Student and Communication Officer for the school government

“Thank you for coming to our school and providing assistance, especially with the restrooms. We really needed that because students were leaving the school to go outside to use the bathroom. And it was really risky with the road that crosses the school, the coming and going. It was very risky.

We are truly grateful for your presence. Your hard work and dedication have made a significant impact on us. We are really happy and from the bottom of our hearts, we want our school to be the best of all schools.”

With improved learning facilities, students are happier, healthier, and better equipped for success. Already since the renovation of the bathrooms, student enrollment has increased from 632 to 726! Students and teachers are incredibly grateful for their new bathrooms.

Abdou, Student at Guede Village High School who dreams of becoming a lawyer

“We truly commend you for your support and commitment to ensuring that students learn and have a better future. We want to thank you for the support you've given for the toilets, and the commitment you showed, it warms our hearts for the future, it will make a difference. We are doing our best and thank you.”

Guédé Village High School is strategically located as it serves some of the poorest, most remote villages in the region. It is a vital community resource and bridge for students to overcome intergenerational cycles of poverty. The Ministry of Education has identified Guédé Village High School as a priority because of its role in the holistic development of the region. Renovating the bathrooms is just the first of many substantial infrastructure upgrades they hope to complete over the next two years, including building seven new classrooms, a computer lab, an aquaculture integrated STEM Teaching Garden, and physical education infrastructure and equipment.

Mr. Watt, Principal of Guede Village High School

“Senegal is part of the Global South, where there is underdevelopment and, although there is education, the rate is very low. It's true that efforts are being made, but it's not enough. When these partners come to help us, it positively impacts the quality of learning tools. So, we really thank all the partners who invest, and we call on them to do even more, because we are indeed going to start building more classrooms.”

You can support the students at Guede Village High School as they work hard to further their education and build a brighter future for themselves. Donate today!

From Barren to Bountiful in Just 6 Months!

Women from Haffé used to travel long distances to purchase vegetables to resell in their village.

Haffé is a small, remote village in Senegal’s Kaolack region, right in the heart of the “peanut basin.” For decades, peanuts have been the main cash crop here, but the relentless monocropping has left behind deforestation, depleted soils, and widespread poverty. It’s a tough place to start, but these are exactly the kinds of challenges where Andando’s community-led women’s permaculture gardens shine!

Back in February, over 200 women from Haffé planted their very first seedlings in their new four-acre Andando garden. For years they had tried to create a garden on their own, but without fencing or a solar pump system, the dream always slipped out of reach. The moment those barriers fell, it was as if the floodgates opened. Years of determination and vision burst forth, and the women dove in with extraordinary energy and ambition.

The garden site, originally a peanut field, had severely degraded soil and minimal tree cover.

The same field, just a few months later, is bursting with life and already beginning to heal.

And the results? Nothing short of incredible. By April, they were already harvesting lettuce and turnips. In May, they planted every single tree needed to create the full permaculture design (nearly 1,000 in total), building soil, protecting the land, and setting up the garden for long-term success. June brought green peppers, followed by tomatoes, eggplants, and hot peppers. Month after month, the harvests just kept coming.

By the end of July, this unstoppable group had harvested over 18,000 pounds of fresh organic produce and earned more than $8,600 in profits. Wow! Families now have vegetables on the table at every meal, women can pay school fees and buy medicine, and the village has the resources to overcome malnutrition.

We are so proud of these women. In just six months, they transformed barren land into a thriving, regenerative garden. And we’re proud of our staff too, who have refined garden establishment into such a science that we almost expect this kind of success now. Almost. It’s still thrilling every single time, and it makes us that much more excited to partner with the next community ready to take off.

Andando’s next women’s garden will take root in Senobowal, a village in northern Senegal on the edge of the Sahara Desert. Transforming this dry land into a thriving garden won’t be easy, but our team is ready for the challenge!

Watch the video below to see the progress that has already been made by getting water to families in Senobowal, and the next steps on the Women’s Garden that will feed the community.

Help us fund the garden construction my making a donation today, or signing up to be a monthly donor!

Andando Named Finalist in Prestigious 2025 .ORG Impact Awards

We’re honored to share that Andando has been named one of 35 finalists in the 7th annual .ORG Impact Awards, presented by Public Interest Registry (PIR). This year’s awards drew nearly 3,000 applications from over 120 countries, recognizing mission-driven individuals and organizations making a difference around the world.

Innovations like our aquaculture project are being recognized on the international stage!

Andando was selected as a finalist in the Hunger and Poverty category for our work helping rural Senegalese communities break the cycle of poverty through a whole-village approach. By integrating support in water, health, education, agroforestry, and financial independence, we walk alongside our partner communities to build lasting, locally led solutions.

Classrooms are nearly complete at Guédé Village
High School where enrollment is rising thanks in part to Andando’s layered interventions across the region.

As a finalist, we’ll receive a $2,500 donation and join other nonprofit leaders in Washington, D.C. this October for a celebration and awards ceremony hosted by artist and activist Common. Each category winner will receive $10,000, and one organization will be named .ORG of the Year and awarded $50,000.

“It’s an incredible honor to be recognized for a second time among such a diverse and inspiring group of changemakers from across the globe,” said Garrison Harward, Executive Director of Andando. “It validates not only the dedication of our Senegalese team but also the tremendous work that our partner communities are doing to transform their own lives.”

About the .ORG Impact Awards

Andando is now a 2x finalist after being nominated in the Community Building category in 2023 as well.

The .ORG Impact Awards celebrate outstanding individuals and organizations within the global .ORG community. The program is led by Public Interest Registry (PIR), the nonprofit that manages the .ORG top-level domain, home to more than 11 million registered websites around the world. Click here to read their press release.

Thank you to PIR and the .ORG Impact Awards team for recognizing our work—and congratulations to all the other incredible finalists!

Andando is a US-based nonprofit working alongside rural Senegalese communities to build lasting, locally led solutions to poverty. Learn more at www.andando.org.

The Rains Are Here, and So Are the Trees!

Across Senegal, the first rains have arrived, and with them, the country bursts into green. For our partner communities, this marks one of the most important times of the year, a short but critical window when farmers work hard to grow the food that will sustain their families through the dry season. This is also a moment of intense work and opportunity for one of our most powerful tools in the fight against poverty and climate change: tree planting.

A member of the Haffé women’s garden plants two citrus trees in her plot, helping to establish the food forest structure.

At the request of our partners, Andando has been steadily increasing tree production at our two regional nurseries over the past three years. The goal is twofold: to meet our partners’ growing demand for trees and to support the scale-up of programs like our women’s gardens. Take our newest garden in Haffé, for example. Normally it takes a garden several years to complete their tree plan, but thanks to reliable in-house tree production, they were already able to plant nearly 1,000 trees in just their first three months!

The women of Sama Toucouleur received trees to bolster and repair their live fence.

Our team has worked tirelessly to produce over 40,000 trees so far this year. And even though the planting season has only just begun, they’ve worked with our partners to get more than 7,000 in the ground already! Few things are more hopeful than opening our Andando WhatsApp threads and seeing photo after photo of newly planted trees. The season is bursting with life.

Three Years of Impact and Counting!

The successes we’re seeing this year are the result of years of diligent effort and consistent support from our donors and partners like Rick Steves’ Climate Smart Commitment, who have contributed $130,000 over the past three years. This support has been instrumental in getting us to where we are today.

Andando’s Podor tree nursery established in 2023 now produces over 25,000 trees annually, which are provided free of charge to local residents.

In 2023, this partnership helped us lay critical groundwork in the north. We established a fully equipped tree nursery in Podor, complete with a deep borehole well and a solar-powered water system, providing the infrastructure needed to support large-scale, climate-resilient reforestation in this harsh landscape on the edge of the Sahara Desert. We also conducted a full census of our existing trees across partner gardens, confirming the successful establishment of 27,646 trees to date.

A member of the Togane women’s garden waters newly planted native Acacia Mellifera trees.

In 2024, we expanded that foundation significantly. A total of 26,530 new trees were planted across women’s gardens, schools, farms, and clinics in both Podor and Keur Soce. In Keur Soce, we upgraded the tree nursery water system to increase capacity for year-round tree production and we also took part in Senegal’s National Tree Day, contributing trees, labor, and logistical support to help advance national reforestation efforts.

Now in 2025, our focus is on scale, sustainability, and expansion through NEW partnerships. Steady production in our regional nurseries is supporting a second garden this year in Senobowal, which put together with Haffé will provide more than 400 women and their families with reliable access to nutrition and income. A new Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) training initiative is equipping 200 farmers in Keur Soce to regenerate and steward their own land. And in both Podor and Keur Soce, we’re supporting community-led efforts to establish local nurseries, giving partner communities the tools and training to lead reforestation efforts themselves.

Our newly completed borehole well and solar pump system in Senobowal opens up a whole new world of possibilities for tree planting in the region.

Thanks to a new partnership with the G20 Global Land Initiative, we’re also expanding reforestation efforts into the Diery, the arid, pastoral lands of northern Senegal. If ever there was a front line of climate change, this is it. Starting with our dedicated partners in Senobowal, we hope to support remote communities across the region to reforest their lands and contribute to the Great Green Wall, helping to stop and reverse the spread of the Sahara Desert. We’re also now a newly recognized Environmental Partner of 1% for the Planet, which we’re hopeful will open the door to a broader community of potential supporters.

We’ve built a lot over the past three years, and we’re excited about what the future holds as Andando continues expanding its work. But for today, it’s time to stop talking about what’s next, and plant the rest of those 40,000 trees while the rains are still here!

In just over a year, the women of Wouro Kelle have built a thriving food forest, planting nearly 1,000 trees and harvesting over 20,000 lbs. of produce in one of Senegal’s harshest climates. This is an incredible example of what is possible through Andando’s women’s garden program.

Andando Awarded G20 Grant to Support Climate Resilience in Northern Senegal

We’re excited to share that Andando has been awarded a grant from the G20 Global Land Initiative, part of a new program hosted by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). This $10,000 grant will support our ongoing work in northern Senegal’s Podor region, where desertification and climate shocks are pushing traditional livelihoods to the edge.

Located near Senegal’s boarder with Mauritania, Podor is on the front lines of desertification.

This grant comes at a critical time. Northern Senegal is one of the country’s most arid zones, and pastoralist families there are facing mounting challenges: scarce drinking water, poor soil, shrinking grazing lands, and prolonged drought. Yet many of these same families hold generations of knowledge about how to care for and restore fragile dryland ecosystems.

The women of Senobowal are ready to get to work on their garden which has been a dream for years.

The G20 grant will contribute to our next women’s permaculture garden, help expand aquaculture systems in two existing sites, and support native tree production in our nurseries for use in schools, health clinics, and surrounding landscapes. These efforts reflect Andando’s holistic approach to both fighting climate change and supporting those most affected by it.

We’re honored to be one of just 39 grassroots organizations globally selected for this inaugural program, and proud to stand alongside partners who see climate justice as inseparable from human dignity.

One of the members of the Togane women’s garden shows off her plot. This garden has transformed the desert into an oasis of productivity in just a few short years.

This grant is more than just financial support, it affirms an approach that’s already producing results. Together with our partner communities, we’ve established 41 women’s cooperative gardens (including six with integrated fish production), planted over 60,000 trees, and built a growing network of local environmental stewards working to reforest their communities and restore surrounding farmland.

Learn more about our approach
Interested in getting involved? Reach out to us at info@andando.org

Andando Joins 1% for the Planet as an Environmental Partner

We’re proud to announce that Andando is now an official environmental partner of 1% for the Planet, a global movement connecting businesses with nonprofits working to protect people and the planet. Founded by Patagonia’s Yvon Chouinard and Blue Ribbon Flies’ Craig Mathews, 1% for the Planet includes more than 6,000 business members and thousands of vetted nonprofits around the world. Member businesses commit to donating 1% of their annual sales directly to environmental partners like Andando, creating bold partnerships that think big and act now.

At Andando, we work with rural communities in Senegal to create lasting solutions rooted in the understanding that social and environmental challenges are deeply connected and must be addressed together. Our work is led by a 26-member Senegalese team and shaped by over 15 years of experience partnering directly with rural communities. Across our programs, we help tens of thousands of people to build bridges out of poverty by restoring ecosystems, regenerating natural resources, and reinforcing Indigenous knowledge and land stewardship practices that have sustained these environments for generations.

Our women’s cooperative permaculture gardens produce hundreds of thousands of pounds of nutrient-dense, organic food each year while remaining carbon-negative. By eliminating synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and long-distance transport, these gardens reduce emissions, improve soil health, and build food sovereignty, all while creating sustainable income for the women who manage them.

Our aquaculture initiative extends this closed-loop model by integrating fish production into the garden ecosystem. Without increasing water use, women gain access to both protein and diversified income, while nutrient-rich fish water naturally fertilizes crops. The result is a sustainable system that turns the waste common in conventional aquaculture into a restorative nutrient loop that feeds the garden naturally.

Beyond the gardens, we’ve planted over 60,000 trees across partner communities and are scaling production through regional nurseries now capable of producing 50,000 additional seedlings each year. In northern Senegal, we work with Indigenous Fulani pastoralists whose centuries-old grazing practices are vital to preserving fragile dryland ecosystems. By improving access to water, education, and healthcare, we help ensure these communities can remain on their ancestral lands as stewards of the Sahel.

Andando is proud to be a UNCCD-accredited organization and a G20 Global Land Initiative partner. Joining 1% for the Planet expands our opportunity to connect with businesses that share our commitment to integrated community-led climate solutions.

Climate resilience doesn’t happen in isolation. It takes trusted relationships, local leadership, and steady investment. Through this new partnership with 1% for the Planet, we hope to find others ready to walk that path with us.

View our 1% for the Planet directory listing here
Interested in collaborating? Reach out to us at info@andando.org

Beyond the Classroom: STEM Teaching Garden - Two Years Later

Students get first-hand experience raising fish in Senegal’s only aquaculture program at the high school level.

As the school year winds down, Keur Soce High School’s STEM Garden is marking its two-year anniversary, and the impacts so far have been outstanding! Students are mastering valuable skills and further solidifying their understanding of life and earth science, physics, and math ― preparing them to start a career or continue on to University. In addition to providing practical education, the garden is helping to strengthen the school as a whole.

Students and faculty work together to prepare the harvest for market, helping to teach practical business skills as well as evaluating yields.

Schools in rural Senegal face significant funding challenges, and Keur Soce High School (KSHS) is no exception. Fortunately though, the produce and fish grown here are now providing revenue to help bolster the school’s budget and provide scholarships for students who are taking on garden leadership roles.

Building Future Leaders: For students going into agricultural careers, the aquaculture and agroforestry lessons they’ve learned will help them to succeed in the face of worsening effects of climate change in Senegal.

“Even though we’re children of farmers, the methods of our fathers and the methods they’re bringing here, there is a difference.”

— Lamine Diop, KSHS Student and Garden President

Lamine (center, Garden President) with other students showing another of their substantial harvests.

Some students are even taking the initiative to use their new skills to start their own personal enterprises. Take Barra, for example, who now has a thriving garden at home providing produce and extra income for his family.

Barra with his mother.

“I know I can succeed in this profession because I really love it… During Ramadan I harvested a lot. My mother took it to the market to sell and some others even came here to buy.”

— Barra Ndiaye, Junior at KSHS

Barra’s garden is just one example of the amazing achievements the students at KSHS are making, and it’s clear that the support they are receiving now is helping to set them on the path to becoming successful entrepreneurs and leaders in their communities.

Barra (right) with his siblings who also help in the family’s new garden.

Sustaining Progress: How Paymar Is Expanding Rural Healthcare

Renovations to the Paymar rural health clinic are now complete, well ahead of the rainy season! This project is a powerful example of how long-term partnerships can sustain and strengthen community-led development.

Since opening its doors in 2020, the Paymar Health Clinic has facilitated 173 healthy births, including some of these children featured here!

Andando built the Paymar clinic in 2020. Since then, it has become a vital resource for this remote village of over 1,000 people. From the start, the local health committee has taken full ownership. As Mr. El Hadji Badou Sorna, the committee president, told us:

“When we started activities here, we had a well-constructed clinic but not enough staff. With the initiative of the village, we raised funds to recruit a [registered nurse] to serve our community.”

— El Hadji Badou Sorna, Health Committee President

All smiles! Members of Paymar’s staff and health committee inside the community health clinic.

Thanks to the village’s leadership, the clinic now has a registered nurse (ICP), a midwife, and a pharmacist, enabling them to offer critical services that were never available in the area before.

Paymar’s modest pharmacy will soon be expanded, drastically improving access to medications and supplies in rural villages.

But after several particularly harsh rainy seasons, the original roof needed to be replaced. Rather than using their limited funds for repairs, the committee hoped to focus on expanding the clinic with a new maternity ward, waiting room, and pharmacy. Andando stepped in to help.

The Paymar Health Clinic complete with a new roof and fresh coat of paint. To the left, the community has already started on their expansion.

We provided a new, reinforced roof (now part of our standard clinic design), along with essential medical supplies and equipment. This timely support is helping sustain the momentum the village of Paymar has built to improve healthcare access for their community and six neighboring villages.

Mariama with her healthy baby born right here in Paymar’s Health Clinic.

And just in time. On the very day the new equipment arrived, a woman gave birth in the clinic to a healthy baby boy — a powerful reminder of the vital role these clinics play in Senegal’s rural healthcare system.

Water for Sénobowal: A Milestone Worth Celebrating

We’re thrilled to share some big news: the new deep borehole well in Sénobowal is complete!

Drilling is finished, the pipes are installed, and our pumping test confirms what we’d hoped, a strong, clean, and abundant water source ready to transform daily life for more than 5,000 people and over 30,000 livestock across Sénobowal and ten surrounding villages.

The new borehole in Senobowal is producing an abundant amount of clean water, which will transform daily life for the entire village and the surrounding ten villages that rely on them for water.

This project has been a long time coming, with many starts and stops over the past year. But the water crisis in Sénobowal didn’t begin last year. It has been building for decades.

Everyone (big and small) was eager to fill their containers once news spread that we had hit water.

Context: Why This Matters
Sénobowal is one of the oldest villages in the Diéri region of northern Senegal, a dry pastoral zone south of the Senegal River. The people here are Fulani herders (known locally as Peulh) who have sustained themselves for generations through seasonal livestock migration.

Historically, many Peulh families moved between the dry grasslands of the Diéri and the fertile floodplains of the Senegal River, called the Walo, depending on the season. But as farmland expanded and populations grew, many communities were forced to settle in one area. The people of Sénobowal chose to remain in the Diéri and continue their herding traditions. But to do so, they needed water.

Senobowal already had a substantial water tower that just needed upgrades to the well and pump system. With these upgrades, they now have a dependable water supply that will help them remain on their ancestral lands.

More than 100 years ago, the village dug a 60-meter well by hand, an incredible feat in and of itself, which served the community and passing herders for decades. But in recent years, climate change has shortened the rainy season and lowered the water table. The old well structure began to fail, and the water became unsafe. A mini borehole installed later helped for a time, but it was too small for the population’s needs. Despite a strong local water committee, which replaced broken pumps and even upgraded the system to solar on their own, they simply couldn’t keep up with the constant maintenance costs stemming from overheating pumps in an undersized well.

Andando staff talking with leaders of Senobowal in the shade of the newly constructed health clinic. By listening and partnering with the community, we can identify the best solutions to meet their needs - together!

We first got to know Sénobowal while partnering with the village to build a rural health clinic. It quickly became clear that without reliable water, the clinic could not provide the safe births and basic services the community deserved. Together with local leaders, we made emergency repairs to their troublesome mini borehole as a stopgap measure while we raised the funds to drill a brand-new, deep borehole well, wide enough to support a high-capacity solar pump that will be installed next month.

What’s Next: Help Us Launch the Women’s Garden!
With the well in place and water secured, the next step is a women’s cooperative garden that will provide food, income, and stability for 125 women and their families.

The women are organized. The land is ready. But the garden infrastructure, fencing, watering basins, tools, and seeds, still needs funding.  Once completed, this garden will not only help to bolster nutrition, and improve livelihoods, it will help this remote population to remain on their ancestral lands in the face of mounting challenges. 

Gardens can help keep kids in school. In other communities with a women’s cooperative garden, pastoral families have reported that having reliable food and income helps women and children remain in their villages - kids can stay in school and mothers can stay close to healthcare!

In recent years, the seasonal migration that used be brief and local has turned into an exhausting five-month journey, stretching hundreds of miles south in search of adequate pasture. Without enough food in the village, many women and children have had to join the migration, pulling kids out of school and placing huge strain on families.

As we saw in our partner village of Belel Kelle (click for article), a women’s garden can offer another path.

With reliable food and income from produce grown locally, women and children can remain in the village year-round. Kids can stay in school, mothers can stay close to healthcare, and with water now available just minutes from home, girls and women no longer need to spend hours each day hauling water, time they can now use to learn, grow food, or rest.  A thriving village with more year-round residents also means that we can begin working with the village to reforest their lands and fight back the ever-encroaching desert.

Our community helped bring water to Sénobowal, and the joy and relief were unmistakable, with smiles, laughter, and celebration as the first water flowed. Now, let’s take the next step, and help ensure the families of Sénobowal can grow, thrive, and stay rooted on their land for generations to come.

Want to help?

From the Director - May 2025

We have water! The borehole at Senobowal hit water at 152 meters and was cause for much celebration by the members of the community!

I’ve just returned from Senegal, and I am blown away by the incredible progress we’re seeing on the ground. Like many in our sector though, we’re facing a rapidly shifting funding landscape that threatens our ability to do this vital work. That’s why we’re working closely with our team in Senegal to share Andando’s impact, like these updates below, with a broader audience.

A big thumbs up from Maguette from the Haffé Garden! These women overcame many challenges to get to this point. We give them TWO thumbs up back!

Since our last newsletter:

• The borehole in Senobowal is complete. At 152 meters deep and long dreamed of by the village, this well will begin providing clean water to more than 5,000 people next month,

• Mbantou Croissement celebrated its first fish harvest with a homegrown meal made entirely from garden and local ingredients. Both of our new aquaculture gardens are seeing major improvements in vegetable yields as well, thanks to nutrients provided by the fish,

• Our newest partner garden in the village of Haffé is also in full production, with the first harvests already coming in. In Keur Soce,

• More than 200 farmers took part in a training to help bring trees back into their fields. Andando will be providing them with additional trees during our next microloan dispersal to help to jump-start their restoration efforts,

• Finally, construction is moving forward at our two new partner schools, which will benefit over 1,200 students this fall.

Students at Ndiedieng Primary School sit four to a desk but with their new classrooms on the way this will soon be a thing of the past! Classrooms along with bathrooms and water taps will be completed before the next school year.

This is just a sampling of the incredible progress happening through Andando. As we begin sharing more videos and personal stories, I humbly ask you to help amplify them and invite others to be part of this journey. Senegal is making real progress in the fight against poverty, but the need remains great, and this is a critical moment to increase not decrease international support. Thank you for supporting this work and for everything you do to help spread the word about Andando.

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