Micro Loan Success!

Djigo

We recently reported our most recent round of farmer loans going out into the Keur Soce community. Here are some success stories of women and men who have been involved in the program. It is a fantastic program that can really benefit families across the community and we are excited about where this is going. Special thanks to our intern - Miriam - for these great borrower stories. Faour Djigo

Faour Djigo comes from a long line of farmers. She learned how to farm when she was younger from helping her family in fields, and now she teaches the children in her family. Especially in rural areas, like Fass Tocouleur where Faour lives, farming may be a family’s primary source of income, so everyone, including women and children, help out in the fields.

With a loan from Andando, Faour has been able to increase her own plot in her family’s field. She is a peanut farmer and now, with her loan, can buy additional seeds to plant on more area. Faour earns a small profit from the extra harvest she is able to sell after she saves part for her family’s consumption. But Faour told me that life can be difficult, so she makes sure to put money aside just in case. Faour saves half of her profits to be used in case of emergencies, like if a family member falls ill or her peanut crop fails. The other half she uses to buy ducks or goats that she breeds and sells for additional profit. Faour is now on her third loan with Andando, and she always feels prepared to deal with life’s uncertainties.

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Adam Ndaw

Adam (pronounced ah-dah-m) Ndaw, one of Faour Djigo’s daughters, lives in the village of Fass Toucouleur, not far from Keur Soce. Though Fass Toucouleur and Keur Soce are only separated by a few kilometers, they are composed of different ethnic groups who speak different languages. Fass Toucouleur is predominantly Fula and Pulaar-speaking, while Keur Soce is predominantly Wolof and Wolof-speaking. Though Adam is of the Fula ethnic group and speaks Pulaar as her mother tongue, she also speaks Wolof as it is invaluable should she travel to a neighboring village.

Adam is married, though her husband lives in Spain for work and she lives in Senegal with his family. This is an unfortunate reality for many women in Senegal, whose husbands must travel far for work and leave their wives and family behind. Adam and her two twin sons live with her husband’s family to help out with the housework and upkeep of the family.

Adam earns money from her small business selling soaps. She sells powdered soap and bar soap from her home. After her first loan of 25,000CFA (about $50) with Andando, which she used to purchase more soap, Adam used her profits to buy chicks that she raised for her family’s consumption as well as to sell in the village. Adam’s chicken business gives her family additional income from the sales as well as additional nutrients for their diet; in many rural villages in the area, meals consist of mainly millet with little other added ingredients to provide nutrition, as other additives like fruits and vegetables are relatively expensive when cooking for large Senegalese families. Adam has recently received her third loan with Andando, and both her soap and chicken businesses are thriving.

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Ibou Codou Ndiaye

On Tuesday, the market day in Keur Soce, I met with Ibou Codou Ndiaye among the hustle and bustle of buying, selling, and bargaining. Ibou is a peanut and millet farmer and also raises livestock, like donkeys that can help cultivate in the fields or pull carts to transport goods. Ibou is currently on his third loan of 60,000CFA (about $120) with Andando, which he used to purchase peanut seeds for his fields. Before working with Andando, Ibou often did not have enough money to buy enough seed. Now, he doesn’t worry about providing for his family with the income he earns from farming.

Ibou has even started to innovate his farming techniques to maintain a steadier profit throughout the year. With his most recent loan, Ibou purchased two different types of peanut seeds. One type of seed will germinate in two months, and the other in three or four months. A diversified harvest means steady peanut sales and a steady income for Ibou, his two wives, and eight children.

With his increased profits, Ibou has been able to purchase a small cow that helps him cultivate in the fields, which drastically cuts down on the manual labor that he and his children must carry out while farming. In addition, Ibou must no longer pay to borrow a cow to assist with cultivation. Ibou plans on using the profits from this harvest to purchase goats or sheep to breed in preparation for Tabaski, the Senegalese name for the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha that will take place in October. Senegalese generally celebrate Tabaski by killing and eating sheep and goats, so Ibou is preparing early for the business that is sure to come.

Introducing Refilwe!

We are very pleased to introduce Refilwe Moahi, our new Program Manager Intern based in Keur Soce, Senegal. Refilwe is from Botswana, and has been studying the last several years in the US, most recently at Brandeis University where she is working toward a Masters’ Degree in Sustainable International Development.

Refilwe has a passion for and commitment to Africa’s sustainable development and social progress for women and youth in Southern and West Africa. Having studied the political and social climate of Senegal, as well as having lived all over the world and speaking many languages, Refilwe hit the ground running and has been a vital part of our operations in Keur Soce over the last month.

We are excited to have a full-time intern monitoring and evaluating our programs in Keur Soce and Refilwe has dramatically increased our ability to be efficient and effective in the work we are doing. With her background in Sustainable Development, we will be using her experience to implement initiatives to further sustain our programs in as we move forward.

Refilwe will be in Keur Soce through the summer before she heads back to the US to finish her studies. She was able to come on board through our partnership with Vibrant Village, and we are excited about the possibilities for this kind of cooperation in the future.

Introducing Penda Diop

Penda Diop struggled through primary school. Her father died when she was very young and left her mother as a poor housewife with a heavy load to bear. Her mother then passed away when she was in grade 3. She found herself alone, but was able to continue her studies through the generosity of a caretaker in the community.

She proved herself a very willing and clever student and passed the entrance exam to further her education at junior high school. However, the nearest school was many miles down the road and she would have to find somewhere to stay in the new community. Having no financial resources to pay the school fees and no family to stay with, she had to drop out of school.

Penda now must fend for herself and has gotten a very low-paying job as a maid in a nearby city. She has almost no hope of going back to school and very limited opportunity to get a better job and improve her situation. Consider helping kids like Penda by donating here.

There are many students like Penda in the town of Mbouma who have the capability and willingness to succeed in school if given the chance. If Penda and her friends had a school in their town, she would not have had to drop out and leave the village. There are many children like Penda who can have hope for a better future if we are able to help them build the school they deserve. Learn more and participate in her story visiting our fundraising site on Global Giving. Thank You!

Less Than a Week Left!

It has been an exciting couple of weeks for all of us here as we raise funds to build a school in the community of Mbouma, Senegal. We are getting close and there is just a week left to reach our goal. Consider walking with us and this community on the way to a better future. Click here to learn more! On our recent trip, we met with the leaders of the community of Mbouma and the principal of the junior high school – it was a compelling experience and illustrated just how badly a school is needed in this area. Andando is partnering with the local population to build a school in the village of Mbouma, where 250 motivated primary school students have no junior high school. Some students travel over 10km to go to school in another town, but only if they can afford transportation or lodging. Most are not so lucky, particularly the young girls, forcing them to drop out. Currently, some classes are held in this agricultural warehouse (pictured above). While it is a roof over their head, it is an open building with sheets between classes, resulting in a very loud and poor learning environment. Further, this building will be needed by the community in 2-3 months when it is harvest season, making it no longer available to the school. Other classes in are held in makeshift huts made from millet stalks (above), which have now burned down FIVE TIMES! These classes are also extremely hot, dusty, and wind-blown, providing a poor alternative to the traditional classroom. In the most recent fire, part of the adjacent primary school was damaged, leaving them with even fewer prospects of a proper place to meet. Above, you can see school administrators standing in the spot of a recently-burned makeshift classroom, with the damage to the primary school visible behind them. But there is hope as this community has rallied around its students and staff to try to continue to provide them with options for education and a better future, and you can help!

Please consider giving to the students and community of Mbouma. Just click the link to learn more about the project and check out the progress we have already made. Thank You!

Help Us Build A School In Senegal

We are excited to announce we are participating in GlobalGiving's Open Challenge during the month of June! With your help we will raise $12,000 to give the children of Mbouma hope for a better future. Click here to donate. Andando is partnering with the local population to build a school In the village of Mbouma, where 250 motivated primary school students have no junior high school. Some students travel over 10km to go to school in another town, but only if they can afford transportation or lodging. Most are not so lucky, particularly the young girls, forcing them to drop out. Currently, classes in Mbouma are held in makeshift huts made from millet stalks, which has twice burned down.How will this project solve this problem? 

The parents and students of Mbouma need a permanent structure that will provide a more comfortable, safe learning environment. Unfortunately, they simply cannot afford the building materials. Village elders have petitioned the government for a junior high school and have been deeded land by the community. The government sent teachers, but it is left up to the community members to build classrooms. Help us give this motivated community the school they need.Potential Long Term Impact 

In constructing a permanent school building with two classrooms, and the potential for more classroom space and a latrine in the future you will help provide students with a cleaner, healthier place to learn. The building of the school establishes it as a permanent, necessary part of village life for future generations of students. Our goal is not to simply put up a building, but to help put this rural community on a path to a more secure future.

Click here to donate and read more about the project.

Senegalese Garden Party

The recently completed solar pump installations at the two market gardens in Keur Soce was cause for great celebration.

On our last visit, the ladies organized a great party complete with locally produced juice, delicious homemade snacks, drummers, story tellers, and many, many speeches from local and regional representatives.

Thanks to our partnership with Vibrant Village, the 150+ women who work in these gardens can now grow three seasons of crops instead of one. This means improved health and income for them and their families, directly impacting around 1,000 individuals, and many more indirectly through their market sales.

Madame Diagne is in charge of one of the market gardens and is head of the women’s cooperative made up of 85 ladies.

Now that the water is pumping, there is ample water to irrigate the one hectare plot she is the lead on. She has convinced the ladies that instead of expanding immediately, they will go through a one year cycle to determine whether or not to expand.

“We have organized ourselves into groups of about 10, with one woman responsible for a bed,” she tells us. They determine collectively what to plant. If they use for own use, they must ‘buy’ it from their group at a reduced price with everything going into a collective pot. Madame Diagne has taught them to be extra frugal at this point as there is no guaranteed income. However, they already have one steady customer in town, a small basic motel for 30 kilos of produce a week! Diagne says, “We are excited to have customers and now want to develop relationships with more and keep it steady.”

They will have three harvests per year instead of one and they hope this can translate into the ability to constantly be supplying customers. For the rainy season they are planning lower maintenance crops such as bissap, okra as they will be busy in the millet and peanut fields providing for their families. During the other two harvests they will plant higher cash crops to make money.

Diagne says, “We have already learned things like storing some water overnight in barrels because if we come early to the garden, there is sometimes not enough water as the sun has not been up long enough to fill the tank.” Overall there is always a surplus of water. They allow women to take water for home use but only in the late morning after watering, because then the sun has enough time to replenish the tank for the evening watering.

By working closely with the Garden Manager, Mandou Ba (picutred above), the women are starting to bring their own soil amendments, manure, peanut shells, etc. Some of these practices will take time as change does not come easy and the Senegalese (like anyone else!) are skeptical of new agricultural practices at first. Some of the crops being grown include, lettuce, carrots, onions, tomatoes, okra, corn, peppers, eggplant, radish, yams, potatoes, and cabbage. Diagne tells us that she already has plans to collectively purchase a scale to weigh their produce before it’s sold and keep better track of what is going in and out.

Overall, the garden has exploded with life and is a constant flurry of activity. We are confident that with strong leaders like Madame Diagne these market gardens will continue to grow and be a huge success.

We would also like to acknowledge the wonderful, professional, timely work done by FlexNRJ, a Dakar based solar company led by Pathe Diagne (no relation to Madame Diagne above). We are impressed by their work and professionalism and hope we can collaborate again in the future.

Keur Soce Primary School Upgrades

As part of our ongoing partnership with the Keur Soce primary school, we recently completed the rehabilitation of all the desks in the school.They look absolutely amazing! Before, there were 3-4 kids to each small desk, making for distracted kids and uncomfortable learning conditions.

Now the kids all have a place to sit and are not in danger of getting cuts/slivers or worse from using broken desks. The entire job was completed on site while the kids were on spring break. Wish we could have been there to see their faces when they got back!

The desk project was done in partnership with Legacy International who run a vocational training school in a nearby town, giving young men the tools and training they need to learn woodworking and welding.

We have now rehabbed all the classroom floors, painted the entire school, installed secure windows, instituted a very popular breakfast program and started a school garden.  

Next up, small classroom libraries - and a playground!

The Water is Flowing!

The solar pumps in the market gardens are now finished and the water is flowing. With months and months of preparation and weeks of work, the pumps are complete and planting has commenced! We are very excited about the immediate transformation we have seen in just a few days. Several months ago, preparation began as our Garden Manager and the market garden ladies began clearing the land getting it ready for planting. Several weeks ago, in anticipation of the nearing completion, seedlings were started in the garden in specially prepared beds and carefully tended. About a week ago, water was on its way and the panting started! The ladies, who are all working together, have done amazing things in such a short amount of time. It is truly inspirational and we are so excited for this next step. This is the completed structure. The solar panels on top create energy to power the pump that is down in the well (to the right), which pumps the water into the holding tank. From the tank, the water is gravity-fed to any of the taps and reservoirs distributed around the garden. Under the tank is a lockable room that houses the electrical work, as well as acting as a storage shed to safely store the garden supplies. A mother taking the time to show her children how the system works and what it takes to make the vegetables grow.

Some of the prep work that was done ahead of time in the difficult soil conditions. Transplanting the first seedlings.

More seedlings going in.

The ladies working together.

Keeping them watered and watching them grow!

Training Center is Nearing Completion

We have now been working in the Keur Soce area for 5 years, and we decided to really put down some roots! Through our partnership with the Vibrant Village Foundation, we are nearing completion on our training center on land that was given to us by the village. We will utilize this space to conduct classes with local and regional Senegalese partners. In addition, we will establish a demonstration garden as well as featuring other creative and sustainable living solutions for the often challenging rural setting. We can also use this space to stay over as we continue to implement programs in and around Keur Soce. There's even a space for you when you come and visit! The front approach, porch, and front door. The roof is reinforced to allow additional gathering space and also allow guests to sleep on the roof under mosquito nets - a common practice in Senegal when the rooftop breeze at night is very pleasant!The front gate looking into the Training Center View of the two-room structure with plenty of windows to keep it cool in the hot Keur Soce sun. Looking at the compound from the roof. You can see the main road heading to Kaolack in the background. Also note the initial plants we have started, as we hope to get some good vegetation going before we move in to spruce up the place! This growing season, we hope to develop a solid beginning on a demonstration garden to introduce new agricultural techniques to the area. Another view from the roof, looking back towards Keur Soce and the primary school. In this section of the compound, we will construct a rudimentary 'classroom' and shade structure for conducting classes and hosting events. A view from the back of the compound. We built the structure right into the wall of the center to conserve space and materials. Keep checking back with us for more updates and the initiation of classes and training events.

Construction of the Solar Pumps Has Begun

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.

December in Senegal

We have been running around Senegal for the last week lining up several projects for the next few months. Hitting the ground running, we journeyed to the town of Keur Soce where most of our future projects are taking place. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we toured several surrounding villages where we have just finished wells and have plans for several more. Along with some of these wells, we are installing solar pumps that will aid people in drawing water, making it easier to water their garden plots that surround these wells. This will make it easier to grow vegetables all year around and have far better nutritive options on their plates and cleaner drinking water. We made arrangements to renovate a community building in one village and turn it into a rural health post where mothers can deliver babies and minor medical treatment can be provided. We met multiple times with the elementary school teachers and administrators to discuss our projects there. At Keur Soce Elementary we are initiating a nutrition program to jump start the students in the morning with a daily breakfast as many of them receive nothing. In addition to the school building repairs we have just completed, we are also rehabilitating desks and chairs that are in pieces and starting a small classroom library for each class. These investments will be protected by security measures we are putting in place.

Stay tuned for more updates as we return to the States this week!

Trip to Senegal

Several of us gathered in Senegal over Christmas and New years and in to the second week of January. We weren't all there together all the time but we were all together some of the time.... Scotty and Crystal were there first arriving Christmas day. They had a great reunion with old friends. You may recall that Scotty and Crystal spent a year in Senegal helping Andando with miscellaneous projects. Then on the 30th Lewis and Ruby arrived from Swaziland. They also had previously spent time working for Andando in Senegal. I joined them later that day. Then on the 30th Ken, Mary and Kevin arrived to complete our group. We worked on a variety of projects while there and also spent a lot of time catching up with old friends.  Our first couple of days were spent doing a kids camp for over 60 kids. The kids came and spent the day. Our theme was Christmas, and we played games, read stories, did crafts, watched movies, and ate lots of good food.

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Our next few days were spent in the Keur Soce area, visiting several projects, including the construction of a health post in Thiawandou. We are excited about what a huge difference this building will make in the life of this community. More about this soon in its own post.  We also visited some new wells, and water projects.

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Another part of our trip was spent checking out some micro loans. We are consistently pleased and encouraged by the ingenuity and hard work of our loan recipients.

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A good trip!

Micro loans in Swaziland

Our first round  of micro loans in Swaziland was initiated on April 1. On October 1 the loans were repaid and we wanted to share just one of the loan recipients stories with you. Thanks to Ruby for this report.

Khanyisile Simelane was an inspiration from the start. Her affability was contagious and proved to be one of her best business assets.

Khanyisile Jele

She received her loan to start a small business out of her home on April 1. Almost immediately she suffered a setback  when the freezer she was using broke down. She learned one of the first rules of business- flexibility. Rural life is demanding and highly unpredicatable and she quickly realised she would need a business partner to share the responsibility of running her small store. This proved to be her best decision.

A partnership was built with her neighbor and they were off and running. The store was moved to a more central location to maximize traffic and the product mix was improved to reflect needs in the community. They have been diversifying and improving their selection weekly and are already a social hub. Her friendly nature has transformed their small enterprise into the perfect gathering place for community members and her shared business responsibilities has proved highly sustainable.

Her 6 month loan was repaid 100% and on time and the business has not skipped a beat. This small business has allowed her a feeling of stability, a few small luxuries and most importantly, pride in what she has accomplished.

The Hungry Season

In Senegal, and in much of Africa, every year there is a season that we do not experience. It is the time in between when last year's food supply runs low and there are still several months to wait for the next harvest. The Hungry Season. In many rural villages, families are reduced to one meal a day, some not even that. This hardship  goes largely unnoticed because it is not a widespread famine like the kind you see on the evening news. It is just a slow, gnawing, debilitating hunger that robs people of their energy and strength at  the hottest time of year, and makes young children especially susceptible to disease and vitamin deficiency that will affect their development for the rest of their lives.

In the areas of Senegal where we work,  this is a fact of life this year. Last year's harvest was not great and farmers did not receive a good price for their crops, resulting in almost empty storehouses and no ready cash for emergencies.

 We consulted with our local partners about what  Andando could do to help. Teachers at local village schols were consulted and they identified around sixty families that were particularly needy.  Each of these families received 50 kg of rice which will help see them through until harvest time. Fortunately the rains have been plentiful and this year's harvest looks more promising.  In another area we work in, the local church is coordinating a food distribution for us.

The lack of food security in Senegal is an ongoing problem. We at Andando hope we can be a small part of the solution. We are working at creating an environment in rural villages where people have enhanced abilty to grow their own food, through micro lending, water security and education.  There are no quick solutions, but village by village we hope to make a small difference along the way.

Ronkh Health Post

Back in January 2012, Andando visited a recently completed water project in the remote town of Ronkh in Northern Senegal. This project was facilitited by Peace Corps Volunteer, Sarah Kopper. Sarah shared with us the need for rehabilitation of the local health post. This health post is supposed to serve over 5000 people but because of it's poor condition- broken latrines, septic tank exposed, parts of the roof needing to be replaced etc, people were forced to travel far for care. We asked Sarah to provide us with a proposal, which she quickly supplied us with.  Along with 20% contribtion from the community, work began in April and was recently completed.  The result is a facility that is sanitary and very usable.

The new health committee has conducted  a survey of the community and has organized several public cleanups in the area.  Sarah is confident that the newly rehabbed health post will serve the community of Ronkh well for years to come.

The town's doctor sees over 250 patients a month and delivers around 100 babies a year at this facility.

Thanks to Sarah for her good work in implementing this project!

Worldbeat!

This coming weekend, June 30 and July 1, we will participate in the 15th annual Worldbeat Festival at Riverfront Park in Salem. if you live within 100 miles you should come-it is a lot of fun!

There will be music, dancing, food, from all around the world.  And on Sunday thrilling dragon boat races on the river!

Come visit us, we'll be in the African village with lots of new merchandise from our Senegal artisans.

www.worldbeatfestival.org

Swaziland!

We recently opened a new project in a new country- Swaziland! First a quick geography lesson. Swaziland is a tiny kingdom surrounded by South Africa on three sides and bordered by Mozambique on the other. It is ruled by king Mswati lll, is one of the poorest African countries and has the highest incidence of HIV/AIDS on the continent. 75% of the population depends on subsistence farming and 60 % live on less than $1.25 a day.

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Andando is starting small in this small country with fifteen micro loans in one targeted community- Nhulweni. In many ways this is a typical small community in Swaziland, rural, no electricity or running water. But there are some hard working folks here who are eager to improve their lives and their community. We hope that this small beginning will grow into bringing long lasting sustainable change to more people and communities in this beautiful little corner of Africa.

Here are a couple examples of the loans-

Majahonkhe Bhembe borrowed $120 to buy pipe to access irrigation for his garden and will also use the water access for his chicken project where he is raising broilers for sale.

Majahonkhe Bhembe

Khanyisile Jele also borrowed about $120 to start a small store from her house to sell chickens, fruits and vegetables.

Khanyisile Jele

These loans are for a six months duration and are interest free. When they are repaid, they recycle into new loans in the community.

If you are interested in donating to our micro loan fund, click on the donate button and follow directions. We make loans from $30- $400 depending on the project.

Micro Loan multiplication

We have been doing micro loans in Senegal for more than four years now.  Over time we have shared some of these stories on this blog, on facebook and on our website.  Just yesterday we put up a short video on facebook from one of our loan recipients. We have had great success with this program. Out of about five hundred loans, fewer than ten have not been repaid. Some of the loans were for a small business start up, some were for farmers and some were for projects.

Just recently we heard from one of our loan recipients with absolutely the most gratifying story yet.  Djibi had received a loan from us several years back and repaid in a timely manner. He has since built a solid tailoring business and is very diligent about budgeting and saving his money.

Djibi has observed the Andando loan program in action and has learned much from it. So much so, that he recently informed us that he is starting his own microloan program based on the Andando model, back home in his own village.  He has saved money over time and believes he is now in a position to help others , thanks to the help he received from Andando! 

With his own savings, Djibi has made his first four loans and is hoping to do more. We are humbled and gratified by Djibi's generous spirit and his desire to pass along the blessing he received. 

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Continued success to you Djibi!

A Young Wonder

The story begins about a year ago when a young girl (11 years old!) heard about a need in a far away place. Rheanna heard about a school in a remote village in Sierra Leone where the children had none of the resources she enjoyed in her small, Oregon town. She learned that schools in Sierra Leone ask that their children have uniforms, although most of the families attending this school could not even afford to feed their children every day.

Rheanna decided she wanted to help and told us she was going to make or supply uniforms for every child in the school Andando supports in Buedu. That would be 460 uniforms...but she got to work and started sewing! She recruited her friends, her church, her local high school class. Along the way, as people heard about her efforts, they gave money and she also did some fundraisers, selling purses she had made and doing concessions at a wrestling tournament among other things. Civic clubs and city council pitched in too.

By the end of last year, she had completed this monumental task!  Then she started fundraising for her and her mom to be able to go to Sierra Leone to deliver the uniforms in person. Once again friends and family pitched in and last month was the culmination of Rheanna's dream, to meet the kids that she held in her heart for a year and to give them all a school uniform.  What a great day!

Rheanna tells her story to the parents and teachers who were gathered. This had been a "secret" project, so everyone got really excited!

The students came in all shapes and sizes but Rheanna had it all covered!

In addition to the uniforms, Rheanna was also able to buy sandals, copybooks, pencils and textbooks, thanks to the many generous donors who encouraged our young wonder along the way.

Thank you Rheanna, for your hard work, your commitment and for your great attitude when dealing with some slightly challenging African Experiences...you are amazing!!

Mt Barclay

Andando has been helping to support a school near Monrovia, Liberia for several years. Last month we had the opportunity to visit and also to bring a donation for some much needed textbooks- a big thank you to Plan for the Children Humanitarian Aid for this donation.

The school has a feeding program-each day the students get rice and sauce.

The teachers do a great job with very few resources, so they were extremely thankful for Plan's donation for the textbooks, all of which are part of the official West Africa curriculum.

Sometimes you have to find your textbooks on the street....

Mt Barclay has many other needs and in the near future we hope to add windows and doors to three of the unfinished building where classes are held. We'd also like to get desks for the lower grades- currently the students are sitting on the floor.

If you'd like to give to Mt Barclay, click on the donate button on our website. There are several ways to give.