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.

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.

Celebrating Andando's 40th Garden!

·Women from the Wouro Kelle gather under the shade of the single tree in plot to dance and celebrate the start of the garden. Even out here smart phones are at the ready to record the festivities.

The village of Wouro Kelle in Podor is located in the vast flood plain of the Senegal River, known locally as the Walo. With rich soils and abundant water this land is ideal for rice cultivation, but unfortunately the same yearly floods that the village relies on for farming also causes it to be isolated for much of the year.  A little more than 700 people live here with the closest market town being about 10 miles away. Though the people of Wouro Kelle work hard to provide for their families, circumstances are stacked against them and there is simply not enough access to fresh fruits and vegetables to provide adequate nutrition, especially for young children.

This barren plot will soon be a lush permaculture garden providing a permanent source of nutrition and income for the whole village.

Photos show the barren roads leading to Wouro Kelle, scouting the site with local officials, and the village preparing the land for the installation of the garden.

Gardening is not new to the village, but it is seasonal.  As flood waters recede the heavy clay soil holds enough water to grow a single crop of sweet potatoes and pumpkins on the banks of the river before the hot season arrives and dries out the land.  Without access to irrigation or fences to keep out free-range livestock it’s nearly impossible to continue gardening activities year-round.  This is where Andando comes in. After months of meetings, planning, and construction Wouro Kelle is now joining Andando as our 40th women’s garden! Garden President Fatimata Sekk had this to say to our generous donors:

“We thank the lord we thank everyone who helped to create this condition. Where you come from is far, if you were not determined you would not reach here. We have wanted to have a garden for a long, long time… Now we are so determined to have it succeed. Everyone let’s stand up and lets work… We pray for our garden to be among the best in this area. We are so happy, there is no limit for our happiness.”

— Fatimata Sekk, Wouro Kelle Garden President

Garden President Fatimata Sekk verifies that all infrastructure is completed and functioning properly.  This garden draws water from the river, which turns brown with silt after it rains.

We are so happy as well to be partnering with such a deserving community and look forward to seeing the transformations that their work will bring to their families and community in the coming years.

With the fence, basins, and solar pump system complete the women of Wouro Kelle are ready to start their first ever dry season gardening campaign.

Update from the Field

I have just returned from Senegal and there is far too much good news to wait for the next newsletter!  We were fortunate to have good weather during the trip, not a guarantee in the rainy season, so we were able to see most of the new projects that we’re working on and how they’re coming together.  This is just a quick overview so stay tuned for more in-depth information soon on all of these amazing projects!

Garrison and Gorgui standing with our new deep borehole well in the desert.

In the Keur Soce area work is nearly complete on our first ever school garden at Keur Soce High School.  The fence, basins, and storehouse are done, leaving only the water connection to our nearby Thiako garden whose members are generously contributing their water to the school.  We are so excited that this will be the first high school in all of Senegal with an integrated aquaculture training program!  Work should be completed here by the end of the month, and we will share more pictures when classes start in October and garden activities begin.

The completed garden storehouse stands in front of the beautiful Keur Soce High School classrooms.

A fish basin inside Keur Soce High School Garden with Mandaw, Garden Program Manager.

Watering basins will be connected to the aquaculture system so that nutrient rich fish water can be used to water crops in the garden.

Renovations begin at Mbadhiou Peulh Primary School.

Also in Keur Soce we got to see the beginning of renovations of three classrooms at Mbadhiou Peulh Primary School.  The local municipal government is constructing two new classrooms here this year but didn’t have the means to upgrade the existing classroom building which has a leaking roof and cracked walls. So at the request of the village Andando stepped in to renovate the current classrooms so that all students will have a safe and proper learning environment for years to come.  We will also be adding a new block of latrines hare as well this fall!

Students from Mbadhiou Peulh Primary School in one of the classrooms that is now being renovated.

Adjacent to the existing classrooms is a temporary classroom where some students have to study in difficult conditions.

Due to the collaboration between the community and Andando all students will now study in proper safe and secure classrooms.

Madame Sekk, the head nurse of the regional hospital, facilitates a community meetings in the village of Bida in preparation to start construction on a new health post there.

In Podor we finished the selection process for our next health post which will be built in the rural community of Mbida.  This village is dedicated to community health with several healthcare workers already operating a seasonal clinic here out of temporary structures which must be rebuilt each year.  We are proud to be working with such dedicated partners and can’t wait to see the impact that a proper health post will have on their ability to care for their community. We will share more about the incredible story of this village when we start construction here in November.

A boy from Togane stands with the papaya tree he helped plant this spring.

We are also nearly finished with construction on our new tree nursery and agroforestry center in Podor.  Our borehole well drilling was a complete success, and we now have a high output water source with a solar well pump system which will enable us to produce a minimum of 50,000 beneficial native trees here each year.  With these tree we will be able to speed up the implementation of new gardens and provide trees to all of our schools, health posts, and partner communities to bolster their food security, improve quality of life, and help them to restore the ecology of their lands. 

Photo Descriptions: 1) Clean fresh water flows from our new well in the Podor Tree Nursery. 2) Fruit tree seedlings in the Keur Soce Tree Nursery, which has started over 15,000 trees this year! 3) Podor Tree Nursery complete with basins, storehouse, water reservoir, solar panels, and restrooms. 4) A woman from Togane stands proudly with her Moringa trees. This is the first time that this village has ever had access to this miraculous and nutritious tree.

The children of Wouro Kelle verifying the water system. This garden draws water from the local river which turns brown from runoff during the rainy season.

Last but certainly not least we visited the community of Wouro Kelle to see the completion of Andando’s 40th garden!!  We are privileged to have this dedicated and deserving community join Andando at such a wonderful milestone and we can’t wait to share their story with you. Stay tuned for the next newsletter where we will profile Wouro Kelle and tell you more about the impact that this garden will have there. We would never have gotten to this point, or be able to reach such remote villages as this, without the steadfast support of our dedicated community of donors and volunteers over the past 15 years. Our hats off to you!

The women of Wourou Kelle celebrate the completion of their new garden.

It’s hard to believe but it’s already “Auction Season” for Andando, and if any of these projects resonated with you, please consider contributing in some way to help make the auction a success! We always have many more projects up for consideration than we can accomplish each year, and the success of the auction is the deciding factor on much of our yearly programing.  Whether you can help by volunteering, donating auction items, spreading the word to new potential donors, or attending and bidding on some of our amazing auction items, we appreciate your support so that we can continue this vital work in Senegal. 

Please consider contributing through our annual auction fundraiser. Whether you can help by volunteering, donating auction items, spreading the word to new potential donors, or attending and bidding on some of our amazing auction items, we appreciate your support so that we can continue this vital work in Senegal.  More info at www.andando.org/events.