Wouro Kellé: Unlocking Abundance

Having water close at hand is a rarity in the Sahel, and in this way, Wouro Kellé is blessed. This village of more than 700 people sits on the banks of the Senegal River, in the fertile floodplain where irrigated rice production is possible, along with a wide range of other agricultural opportunities.

Women from the village wore traditional Pulaar attire to greet us during discussions about a new water system.

Andando first partnered with this community through a women’s garden, which has become phenomenally successful. But despite the abundance around them, the village still lacks something even more critical: safe drinking water.

Water in the garden comes directly from the Senegal River. This is fine for growing vegetables, but it is far from potable.

Families from Wouro Kelle rely upon the river for their drinking water.

Few families have the money to purchase bottled water, and when the floods cut off access, even that costly option disappears, leaving the people here no choice but to drink directly from the river.

Wouro Kellé’s former water filtration system, which proved to be inadequate and unable to be maintained in such a rural setting.

An earlier effort tried to solve this issue with a sophisticated filtration system, but its output was limited from the start, and it ultimately couldn’t be maintained. This past fall, the village was left once again in an all-too-familiar situation, as Oumou Aw explains:

Oumou Aw explained the impacts of unsafe water on her community while showing us her plot in the women’s cooperative garden.

“Since the time of our ancestors up to now we are drinking from the river. When we drink the water, it gives us diarrhea. At the beginning of every rainy season, we suffer from diarrhea. This affects every household, and after the rainy season, the water is full of germs and bacteria.”

— Oumou Aw, member of the Wouro Kelle Women's Cooperative Garden

With the need so urgent, we were thrilled to find a new partner in Seaboard Overseas and Trading Group, who stepped forward to help us pursue a lasting solution for Wouro Kellé.

Andando recently brought in technicians from the regional capital to conduct a groundwater survey ahead of drilling a new well.

Together, this month, we will break ground on a new borehole well and solar pump system, bringing clean water to all 700 residents, as well as the village’s school and health clinic. We can’t wait to share the possibilities that arise for such a resilient and ambitious community.

Aquaculture in the Sahel: How Women are Leading the Expansion of Fish Farming in Senegal

Women’s Cooperative Gardens are leading the expansion of fish farming in Senegal. By integrating fish farming into established gardens, communities increase food security and diversity without using additional water.

In rural Senegal, where water is limited and conditions are harsh, it would be easy to assume that fish farming would be a risky venture requiring major investment. What Andando has seen instead is that women in small rural cooperatives are not only succeeding where others might expect failure, they are mastering this skill and helping lead the expansion of aquaculture across the Sahel.

“Especially since we live in a dry area. The locals didn’t believe that fish farming would be possible here. But Mash’Allah, everything went well. ”

— Dickel Sow

But how can fish farming in such arid regions be possible on any meaningful scale? The answer lies in working within limits so the same water does double duty. Solar pumps pass daily irrigation water first through basins of tilapia, producing fish for food and sale, and adding nutrients to the water which then naturally fertilizes crops.

Dickel Sow (right) and other members of the Mbantou Croissement women’s garden with their first fish.

The impact of Andando’s most recent aquaculture integrations in the Mbantou Croissement and Mboyo Walo women’s gardens has been immediate and visible. As Dickel Sow explained,

“If we didn’t have this fish pond, we would have gone elsewhere to buy fish. But now we raise fish ourselves, and we also eat and sell. And all our friends and family often come to buy them.”

— Dickel Sow, Mbantou Croissement Garden Member

Aminata Elhadj Diagne (left) with other members of the fish farming committee of Mboyo Walo.

Greater access to fish and increased yields are also having a transformative impact on nutrition in these villages:

“We used to have up to 35 children suffering from malnutrition... But now it is a part of our past, here in Mboyo.”

— Aminata Elhadj Diagne, Member of the Mboyo Walo Fish Farming Committee

Oumou Ndiaye of Mboyo Walo, showing her garden plot, which is more productive than ever this year.

These women are proving once again that sustainable food security solutions can grow from the ground up, with local leaders forging the way.

This is What Impact Looks Like: Annual Report 2024-25

Dear Friends,

The first year of a garden’s development is nothing short of miraculous. What began here in Haffé as a barren, degraded peanut field has, in just one season, burst forth with life and possibility.

Before and After at Haffé Garden after just one season of garden activities. What was a barren peanut field is now a vibrant, thriving garden.

Andando’s impact here is clearly visible, and though the outward signs may differ, the story is the same across every program. Our partners are driving change in their communities, in their families, and in their own lives.

Click here to enjoy our annual report, which captures some of what that change has looked like over the past year. Behind every page is the commitment of rural communities in Senegal and the generosity of people like you who choose to walk alongside them. Thank you for making this work possible.

With gratitude,

Diégane Ndiaye
Operations Director

Garrison Harward
Executive Director

Want to see more stories of success and long-term impact? Sign up to receive updates from us, click here.

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).

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.

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 Ouro Madiaw 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 Ouro Madiaw 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.

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 Dieri, 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.

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.

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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Fish to Table: On the Edge of the Sahara

In only a few short months, the women’s cooperative garden of Mbantou Croissement is enjoying their FIRST fish harvest!

The Mbantou Croissement Garden was established in 2018 and has a storied history of firsts:

• Andando’s first garden in the northern Podor region of Senegal

• The first of our gardens in the region to reach 1 million CFA in savings (approx. $1,700 USD) and enter into our 50/50 cost sharing agreement

• One of the first two gardens in the Podor region to add aquaculture to their garden

• And finally the first of our new aquaculture gardens to harvest their fish!

Due to their continued success and dedication, and thanks to a generous grant from Tomberg Family Philanthropies, Mbantou Croissement installed an integrated aquaculture set-up in their garden in 2024.

Construction workers forming the basin walls for the Mbantou Croissement Garden fish tanks.

We learned a lot since our initial aquaculture pilot program in 2021! Using feedback from the women and our local horticultural technicians, we implemented a new basin design that facilitates a self-sustaining rotation of fish production and breeding.

The fish basin at Mbantou Croissement includes steps that make it easier for the women to monitor fish health as well as harvest mature fish and transfer juvenile fish.

While the women waited for the basins to be completed, they participated in hands-on training at the Andando Keur Soce Training Center. This included both technical lessons on water quality testing, and feeding schedules over the course of production, as well practical hands-on field visits to our existing aquaculture gardens where they could practice harvesting, sorting, and transferring fish.

Aquaculture training at Andando’s Keur Soce Training Center.

After completing their training and receiving all the equipment and supplies they needed, the women of Mbantou Croissement were ready, and eager to get started.

The women of Mbantou Croissement proudly showing their equipment and supplies. They are ready to start fish farming!

In November, they received their starter set of fish fingerlings from Senegal’s Aquaculture Authority. Equipped with the knowledge, skills, resources, and support they needed for success, the women courageously took on the new challenge of growing fish in northern Senegal, on the edge of the Sahara Desert.

Releasing tilapia fingerlings into the fish basins.

Just last week, they celebrated their FIRST fish harvest! Along with vegetables grown in the garden, they enjoyed a delicious meal of “yassa jënn” (rice and fish with onion sauce and vegetables) using all locally sourced ingredients! This really is “Fish to Table.”

A successful first fish harvest! The women clean the fish to make a delicious meal featuring vegetables from their garden.

Why is this important?
Aquaculture is a fantastic addition to our agroforestry model. Each of our pilot gardens have reported a dramatic increase in their harvest yields and profits - and all of this with a ZERO net increase in water use! That means they are growing more nutritionally dense crops, yielding higher volumes, benefiting from fresh quality fish, and increasing their household revenue without changing their water consumption!

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There are MANY ways you can support more projects like this in Senegal.

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Clean Water Access for Indigenous Communities in Senegal!

UPDATE: April 2025

The Village Chief of Senobowal shares about the water crisis his people are facing. Senobowal is centrally located and provides water for more than 40 smaller villages surrounding it. The existing water system is not able to keep up with the demand, and as a result people have to wait in line to fill up their water cart before returning back to their village.

Senobowal already has a substantial water tower and we are upgrading the well and pump system so they will have a dependable water supply!! This is just Phase 1. Phase 2 is to install a women's cooperative garden, but we need your help.

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Original: July 17, 2024 (View on GoFundMe)

Andando invites you to join us in transforming the lives of the people of Senobowal, along with 40 surrounding remote villages in northern Senegal, West Africa by funding a critical water infrastructure project and establishing a women’s cooperative garden. This project will provide vital lasting solutions to water scarcity, food insecurity, and economic hardship, for over 5,000 people in the region, creating a brighter future for generations to come.

The Problem: Why Senobowal Families Need Your Help
Senobowal’s location as a pastoral center and remote water source has made it a critical regional resource for more than 150 years. All told over 5,000 people and 30,000 livestock rely on Senobowal as their primary water resource.

Unfortunately families here have struggled with severe water shortages for years. Their primary water source, an ancient hand-dug well, is no longer potable, and the only other water source, a "mini borehole" intended for a hand pump, cannot meet the village's needs.

For nearly a year residents of Senobowal had to rely on water brought in by donkey cart from a well six miles away.

Without a reliable water supply, the villagers face significant hardships, especially during the harsh dry season. Year after year residents have tried to resolve the problem themselves by purchasing electric pumps run with diesel generators, but their small existing borehole was never intended to accommodate this level of infrastructure, so they have been plagued with insufficient water, and costly breakdowns. The most recent breakdown in 2023 left the village without water for 11 months forcing villagers to travel long distances to collect water from unsanitary open wells in other villages.

Aida, Midwife at Senobowal

“Here we are in a dry area, a very dry area. We do not have enough water. It’s very dry. We are not close to the river, we are not close to anything. We are depending on the rainy season.”

— Aida, Midwife at Seno Bowal

Andando first partnered with Senobowal in 2023 to build a vital remote community health center and maternity ward. Infant and maternal mortality are devastatingly high in remote regions and ensuring access to clean water at this isolated facility is crucial for supporting the health and well-being of dozens of villages.

he new health post constructed in 2023 includes clean running water. But with the recent water troubles, healthcare professionals have to make do with limited resources.

Without immediate intervention, the villagers of Senobowal and the surrounding communities face worsening water scarcity, further economic hardship, and potential displacement from their ancestral lands.

The Solution: A NEW Borehole Well, Solar Pump System, and Cooperative Garden
The good news is the problem can be solved! We urgently seek your support to drill a new, properly sized deep borehole well and install a powerful sustainable solar pump system and women’s cooperative garden.

Thanks to previous investments the village already has a substantial water tower and by upgrading their well and pump system to an appropriate scale we will ensure a stable, long-term water supply for Senobowal and the 10 surrounding communities who depend on them for water.

Senobowal's water tower which has the potential to provide water for the surrounding villages once hooked up to an appropriately sized pump.

The new system will provide sufficient water for daily use, livestock, the health facility, and agricultural activities-- transforming life in the village!

Your Impact Will:

• Improve water access for over 5,000 people and 30,000 livestock
  Increase food security and improved household income for 125 families

• Reduce barriers for children to attend school

• Actively combat climate change through the planting of hundreds of native trees and regenerative permaculture techniques

• Preserve the local culture and build community resilience

Empowering Women and Keeping Kids in School Through Sustainable Gardening
Access to reliable water is just the beginning. We will also establish a women’s cooperative garden which is vital to supporting the health and well-being of the whole village.

Why does a garden matter? Families in this region rely upon their livestock for their livelihood. Traditionally the men will travel with their herds to forage for feed while the women and children remain at home. But in recent years, due to harsh conditions, entire families are forced to travel with the livestock for 6 or even 8 months out of the year! Ultimately, this means children are unable to attend school.

This photo taken from an existing Andando garden demonstrates the potential capacity to grow fresh fruits and vegetables with access to water.

The women of Senobowal came together to request a garden because they want the means to remain at home so that their children don’t have to endure the difficult journey and can attend school. Andando's agriculture program has a proven track record of success with 40 women's cooperative gardens already thriving in other parts of Senegal. These gardens not only provide food security but also offer economic opportunities to women like those in Senobowal who have few alternatives.

Each garden is designed to be self-sustaining, economically and ecologically, after an initial setup period, thanks to comprehensive training and support. The Senobowal garden will follow this model, helping 125 women gain the skills and resources needed to become successful market gardeners. This initiative will improve household incomes, provide tons of nutritious food, and empower the women of Senobowal to build the life they want for their children.

he planting of food-producing and live-fencing trees provides soil-regenerating benefits and ensures that infrastructure will last for generations.

Facing Climate Change Head-On
Andando's gardens are not just about food; they are front-line fighters in the battle against climate change. Using regenerative permaculture techniques, these gardens improve soil fertility, sequester carbon, and rejuvenate local ecosystems. Hundreds of native trees are planted, which are crucial for recharging aquifers and mitigating groundwater loss.

Senobowal's remote location, near Senegal's norther boarder with Mauritania, puts residents here on the front lines of climate change and the devastating encroachment of the Sahara Desert.

Your contribution will make a lasting environmental impact in the Sahel, one of the world's most vulnerable regions to climate change and essential to fighting desertification.

Preserving Culture and Community Resilience
The survival of Seno Bowal is essential not just for its residents, but for the preservation of the Pulaar people's rich cultural heritage. This region of the world is on the front lines of climate change and indigenous populations are vital for maintaining the ecology of the region. The Pulaar people have sustainably managed these lands for hundreds of years. With their traditional knowledge and sustainable land management practices they are essential partners in our shared fight against climate change.

The Pulaar people have a rich and vibrant cultural heritage. By investing in water and agriculture, they will be able to stay on their ancestral lands and continue to fight desertification.

Ensuring access to water, food security, economic opportunities, and a dignified quality of life, will help maintain their presence on their ancestral lands, providing immeasurable environmental and cultural benefits to this region and the world at large.

Our Approach and Plan
Andando approaches every project as equal partners with each community. What we provide in terms of infrastructure and investment is matched and exceeded by the sustained effort put forward by our partners over many years.

This project came about at the request of Senobowal after more than a year of discussions, and investigations in the village, involving all stakeholders, including village leaders, women’s groups, surrounding villages, and the regional hydrological authority.

The total cost of the project is as follows:

• Drilling a new borehole well: $20,800

• Solar pump system and plumbing: $10,700

• Garden infrastructure (Watering basins, fencing, latrine, startup equipment): $13,000

• Technical and material support for the first two years (daily support from a locally trained garden technician, seeds, native trees): $6,000

Total Cost: $50,500

As of the launching of this campaign, Andando has secured $23,135 of dedicated funding for this project, so we only need to raise $27,365 in order to say yes to the people of Senobowal and help them secure a brighter future for themselves and their families.

Your Immediate Action Will Make a Difference
Your donation will directly fund the drilling of a new borehole well, the installation of the solar pump system, and the establishment of the women’s garden. Every dollar brings us closer to our goal, providing a sustainable future for Seno Bowal and more than 5,000 people.

Join us in this urgent mission to transform lives, protect the environment, and preserve vital cultural heritage. Your support will create a ripple effect of positive change, impacting generations to come- because every family deserves the opportunity to build a brighter future filled with hope, opportunity, and abundance.

About Andando:
Andando is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit with decades of experience working in rural Senegal. The word Andando in the local Wolof language means walking together, and this has always been at the heart of our methodology.

For over 15 years, Andando has led programs in water, sanitation, agriculture, education, health, and microfinance in two rural regions of Senegal: Kaolack and Podor. Learn more about our agriculture initiative along with our other community-driven programs at www.andando.org

Donate today and make a life-saving difference!

Planting Hope: A Climate-Resilient Future for Senegal —and the World

For our partners in rural Senegal, climate change is not an abstract threat—it is their daily reality. The heat is more intense, the rains more unpredictable, and the land more vulnerable than ever before. And yet, in the face of these challenges, communities are leading the charge to plant trees as a proactive step toward long-term resilience.

Trees are invaluable community assets against the harshest effects of climate change. They sequester carbon, regenerate degraded soil, provide shade, protect crops, and make communities more livable. Andando’s partners understand this deeply and it is their desire to restore lands and secure a brighter future which is fueling our push to plant more trees than ever before.

One of the most significant achievements this year was the opening of a new tree nursery in Senegal’s northern Podor region—a direct response to the growing demand for trees. This is the only nursery of its kind in the area, providing trees free of charge for reforestation, community beautification, and the continued expansion of Andando’s women’s garden initiative.

Tens of thousands of seedlings are propagated in our two regional tree nurseries and then distributed throughout the region.

Podor sits on the frontlines of desertification, with extreme heat and dry, sandy soil that make tree propagation a challenge. Yet, despite these conditions, community members see the need and potential for tree planting in the area and worked with Andando to make this production facility a reality. With support from Rick Steves’ Climate Smart Commitment and in collaboration with local leadership, Andando drilled a deep borehole well, installed a solar pump system, and built essential infrastructure, including fencing and shade structures. This vital new facility is already proving invaluable—not just for trees but for local residents who now rely on it for clean drinking water during municipal shortages.

A member of the Togane Garden planting a live-fence seedling which will help to create a permanent barrier against livestock and harsh winds.

With fully operational tree nurseries, now in both of our regions, Andando began working this year with our partners to plant tens of thousands of trees in women’s gardens, schools, health clinics, and partner villages, as well as providing trees to hundreds of individuals and farmers, helping to improve livelihoods and quality of life. In schools and health centers, these trees provide shade and create a cooler, more comfortable environment for students and patients. In villages, they beautify homes and public spaces. And on farms and in women’s gardens, they increase yields, secure soil, and form critical live fences and windbreaks that protect crops from livestock and an increasingly unpredictable climate.

Trees planted in gardens, schools, health centers, and public spaces not only create a cooler environment, they also pull C02 from the atmosphere.

This movement isn’t just about restoring landscapes in Senegal though, it is part of a much larger global fight against climate change. Each tree planted serves as a frontline defense, pulling CO₂ from the atmosphere and storing it safely in the ground. Our partners are making meaningful contributions to the global fight against climate change, and perhaps even more importantly, they are doing so on their own terms, ensuring that their lands are restored in ways that not only serve the environment but their family’s needs as well.

We are honored to stand with our partners in this effort and are grateful for the ongoing support that will allow us to expand tree planting and reforestation efforts to even more communities next year. Together, we are creating a more resilient future for Senegal—and the world.

How a School Garden is Transforming STEM Learning in Keur Soce

The construction of Keur Soce High School stands as one of Andando’s greatest achievements. Before this school existed, students faced a difficult choice: move to a distant city to continue their education or see their academic journey end prematurely. Today, nearly 1,000 students per year have the opportunity to continue learning close to home, contributing to Senegal’s national goal of “Access for All” in education.

Madame Marone teaching Geography and French to the freshman and sophomore classes at the new Keur Soce High School.

But access is only the first step, the quality of education is equally important. This year, Keur Soce High School’s faculty, in partnership with Andando, took a bold step forward by establishing a STEM teaching garden, designed to give students hands-on learning experiences that deepen their understanding of science, business, and leadership.

Keur Soce Schools Leadership along with Andando field staff determining the best location for the STEM teaching garden (January 2023).

Early construction on the integrated aquaculture basins, part of the STEM Teaching Garden at Keur Soce High School (May 2023).

A perennial challenge for schools around the world is finding practical, real-world teaching resources that connect classroom lessons to the environments where students live and learn. It turns out that a garden is the perfect teaching tool; it allows students to observe natural sciences in action, apply accounting and business principles, and develop leadership skills through managing production and collaborating with classmates. With this vision in mind, Andando secured funding from the International Foundation to make Keur Soce High School Garden a reality.

“Before, students had to rely on lectures and textbooks alone to understand science concepts. Now, they step into the garden and see the process firsthand. They watch as a seed germinates, observe how the soil interacts with roots, and connect theory to reality in a way that makes learning stick.”

— Mr Toure, Math and Science Teacher at Keur Soce High School

Recognizing the challenge of managing a new pilot project, we assigned one of our most skilled horticultural technicians, Seynabou Ndao, to oversee the project. Seynabou holds a degree in Physics and Chemistry from Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar and is not only an expert in the field but also a role model for students, especially young women, who may not have considered agriculture as a path to success.

“At first, many students thought agriculture was something for people without other options. But now, they see it differently. They’ve learned how scientific it is, how much potential it holds for business, and how they can build careers in it.”

— Seynabou, Andando Garden Technician

This happy student gives the STEM teaching garden a big thumbs up!

Both faculty and Andando staff wanted to make this garden a cutting-edge resource for students, so we decided to go beyond just a basic school garden and integrate aquaculture production into the design. Fish farming is a growing industry in Senegal, offering significant economic potential for those with the technical skills to succeed. Adding fish production was no easy task, but the effort has paid off—today, Keur Soce High School stands as the only high school in Senegal with an aquaculture training program, giving students a unique advantage and a pathway to opportunity.

Students receive hands-on training to learn the challenging skill of raising fish in the desert. Not only do these lessons cement topics such as science and biology into their learning, but they also provide practical skills, giving these students a unique advantage and pathway to career opportunities.

The new University of Sine Saloum El Hadj Ibrahima Niasse in the regional capital specializes in agriculture, and we are confident that students from Keur Soce will now be better prepared for admission and future careers in this growing field.

Surrounded by sand and dust, the Keur Soce High School STEM Teaching Garden is a lush oasis, full of life. In addition to being a vital teaching resource, the garden also serves as a source of revenue for the school.

From seed to harvest, students learn the life cycle of plants while also benefiting from the nutritious produce they grow in the garden. This student is proudly showing one of many cabbages harvested this day in the teaching garden.

Launching a new school garden with almost 1,000 students participating was a monumental undertaking, but by the end of the first year the results are already incredible. Students and faculty now regularly hold a local farmers market which sells fresh organic produce and fish grown right there on campus. In a demonstration of the incredible productivity of the garden, the school recently hosted a lunch using only ingredients grown and harvested in their own garden.

Farm-to-table: this delicious traditional Senegalese meal features produce and fish grown in the Keur Soce High School STEM Teaching Garden.

Sharing the bounty: students, teachers, and Andando field staff celebrate the first of many successful harvests with a shared meal using only ingredients grown in the school garden.

Farm-to-table at a high school? That would be impressive anywhere in the world—but in a rural Senegalese school where students and faculty face so many challenges, it’s extraordinary.

Profits from sales are being set aside for a committee of faculty, parents, and students to decide how best to reinvest the funds to improve the school while ensuring the garden’s sustainability. However, the school has already made its first investment: a new scholarship program. Students who demonstrate exceptional leadership in the garden will have their school fees fully covered the next year; a powerful reward that recognizes their hard work and invests in their future.

Some of the nearly 1,000 students participating in the STEM Teaching Garden at Keur Soce High School.

With this incredible first year completed, Keur Soce High School Garden is now a permanent fixture of the school, and it will only grow stronger and more productive in the years ahead. Andando is now refining this model with the hope of expanding to other schools in the future, bringing hands-on education and economic opportunities to even more students. We are so proud of everyone involved in this project and what they have achieved for themselves and the educational possibilities in Senegal.

From the Director - February 2025

People often ask us about Andando’s “magic formula”—how do we continue to succeed where so many development projects struggle? I wish I could say it’s pure talent, but in truth, more often it’s diligence. We are constantly listening, learning, and adapting.

The new aquaculture fish farming basins are complete in our Mboyo Walo partner garden. The women here are quickly mastering this difficult new skill.

Take our women’s gardens, for example. To ensure their long-term sustainability, we’ve recently focused on improving financial literacy and savings. Last year alone, these gardens collectively added nearly $8,500 to their savings accounts, bringing the total balance to an impressive $41,000. And that’s on top of individual profits! The addition of fish farming has helped contribute to these results, and we’re thrilled to report that our two newest aquaculture pilot gardens are thriving, with their first harvest just a few months away!

The new pharmacist at the Paymar rural health clinic proudly displaying their full stock of medications and supplies, ready to serve members of their community.

Another example of diligence is our partner health clinic in Paymar, where the community has pooled resources to hire a new nurse and pharmacist to expand services; however, their efforts are hindered by a damaged roof. By continuing to monitor past projects and listen to partners, we can now help to resolve this issue with a new roof and possible expansion of the facility as well.

The leaders of the Haffé women’s garden sitting on the newly constructed watering basin. Soon they will transform this degraded landscape into a verdant oasis to support their families.

Lastly, I’d like to introduce you to our newest garden partners in the village of Haffé, near Keur Socé. This community has faced immense challenges establishing their garden, from flooding that delayed the project to a well that partially collapsed right when production was set to begin. However, through close collaboration with the women, village leaders, and local government, we were able to assist them in overcoming each hurdle, leaving the group of 220 women more determined and empowered than ever to start their garden.

Your diligent support of Andando allows us to continue to do this work the right way and create lasting change.