As part of our partnership with The Vibrant Village Foundation, we are installing two solar pumps for use in the market gardens in Keur Soce, Senegal. These will be fully self-sustaining units that will provide ample water to the gardens and the women who run them.Partnering with an experienced Senegalese company, these pumps will allow the growing of vegetables all year, dramatically increasing output in this arid region. This will not only provide these women with improved nutrition and diet for them and their families, but also allow them to grow enough produce to sell the surplus for a much needed profit. This program will directly benefit 150 women and their households and provide a boon for the local economy. This is Mandou Ba, our recently hired Garden Manager. He has extensive experience working in permaculture in Senegal and will be providing assistance to the ladies of the cooperatives. He has also been assisting in the construction of the solar pumps and will provide basic maintenance and assistance.

Here we see the well and solar pump in the background, and the seedlings and their covered beds in the foreground. These seedlings are quickly growing and will be transplanted by the end of the month when the pump is up and running.

Many of the women and community members worked hard to shore up the fence and secure the garden and the new installations.

Making plans for the future of the gardens. You can also see here the clearing that was done by the women to prepare the soil for planting, as well as the healthy and mature cashew trees throughout the garden.

This is an example of a finished solar pump, next to a well. Our two installations will be similar to this and provide ample water all year around. Stay tuned for more news as we get closer to completion.