Provide Clean Water in Senegal!

We  are incredibly excited to launch our 2nd partnership with CREATE! in Senegal to provide access to clean, abundant, and affordable water to 2,500 people. This project will include installing water basins, elevated reservoirs, solar panels, and gravity-fed irrigation systems in each community’s garden site. The improvement of clean water along with agricultural training will enable cooperative members to grow vegetables for economic empowerment and improved health.

Why Senegal?

Climate change in Senegal is changing the rainy season to be shorter and unreliable. This inhibits traditional agricultural practices and results in low crop yields. Without farming as a way to support a family, many people have left rural areas and undertaken dangerous migration routes to Europe in search of work. With a reliable water source, people will be able to remain in their communities and make a living again with agriculture.

ODW + CREATE!

With this grant, our partner CREATE! will be able to empower women and men in three communities to grow vegetables throughout the year. Existing wells will be rehabilitated and irrigation systems will be established with solar-powered pumps to enable watering year round. Training in sustainable agriculture from CREATE! field technicians will also ensure that cooperative members have the skills they need to grow fresh, nutritious vegetables to improve the health of their families throughout the year.

This project will enable community members to become self-sufficient through sustainable agriculture.

Faye’s Story

Faye, 55, lives happily in Gagnick Mack with her children and grandchildren. She says,

“I may be old, but I never wanted to stay home without an occupation. Now, I work in the garden every day.”

Aissatou is very appreciative of her new training in year-round sustainable vegetable cultivation.

“Before CREATE!, we didn’t believe that we would ever be able to grow vegetables in our village. We now eat fresh vegetables every day.”

Aissatou is proud that her grandchildren now have a better life.

“Their elders,” she said, “never had this chance when they were young.”

Aissatou has also noticed an improvement in her health since she began eating fresh vegetables daily and drinking clean water from her community’s rehabilitated well. She says,

“I feel healthier and I no longer have knee pain.”

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