summer in Senegal

On our July visit to Senegal, we were so pleased to see how green the country side is. Farming in Senegal is a gamble , always depending on the rains and so far the rains have been sufficient. We were able to visit some of the Andando fields, including the one pictured above. The farmer, Modou Sakho, has planted his peanuts and was hoeing with his two sons the day we visited. He told us the plants were doing well and he was optimistic about a good harvest, providing the rains continue.

Andando has made loans to about 50 farmers like Modou around the Keur Soce area. It is our hope that by helping them to help themselves, they can build a better future for their families.

The story of the lost votes

The Chase Community Giving Facebook Campaign is over.
It was an amazing month for us at Andando as many worked to rally the vote and so many of you responded.
1613 individuals voted for Andando.
Chase took away 658 of these votes citing voting irregularity. We ended the campaign in 233rd place with 955 votes.

We have had communication with Chase concerning this 'voting irregularity' and although the responses have been quite vague, we understand that they deleted many of our African votes because it appeared to them that someone was setting up profiles for the sole purpose of voting for Andando.
The truth of the matter is very different.
In Liberia, Andando is involved in a women's empowerment program. These women heard about the Chase Community Giving program and wanted to participate and support Andando.
They saw this as a way to be involved in helping themselves. These women are all desperately poor and of course have no computers etc. But because they were determined, they rounded up four or five computers, borrowed a generator, (no electricity there), bought gas to power the generator and started voting. They encouraged family members to vote and excitement built as they saw the vote count rise. Then on Sunday night, about 24 hours before the end of the campaign, they saw the votes disappear.
For us this was disheartening and discouraging. For the Africans it was heartbreaking.

Olivia, one of the women who voted- "...We feel like this was a slap in the face. We have gone to great lengths to support our charity by purchasing gas for our generator to power our obsolete computers just to be a part of this campaign. Women queued up in numbers and rallied their family members as a way of saying thank you for their support...."

We have explained to Chase how these ladies voted and are convinced that they have done nothing wrong. We will continue to try to dialog with Chase and at least try to make sure that this never happens again.

But, this is not the end of the story........
On Monday night, after the voting closed, Andando received a call from someone who had voted and had been following the story of the lost votes. This person said " We cannot let things end this way. These people have all worked so hard and have been pushed aside. They must know that hard work is rewarded and that hope follows tragedy. I am giving $20,000 to Andando to make this right."
We were overcome, there were a lot of tears and so much joy! We called our contact in Liberia and told him what had happened. He was speechless (unusual for him!) at first and then just began praising God- " He is our Sole Provider...depend only on Him...to God be the Glory.."
The women have been told, there is much rejoicing today in Liberia, and after work on Friday, there will be a party!!
To God be the Glory indeed.

Once again we are so grateful and humbled by all your support. We had votes from the U.S., Senegal, Liberia, Canada, the U.K., Chile, Australia and Paraguay. We wish we could thank all of you personally but we don't have contact info for many. If you know of people who voted who may not read this, please share it with them.
We hope you will all continue to follow the story of Andando. It looks like there are many chapters yet to be written!

chasing the vote

Andando is currently in the running for a share of a $5 million giveaway by Chase Community Giving on Facebook. If we get into the top 200 charities we will win $20,000!!!

That translates to about 200 micro loans, about 400 farmer loans or 6-7 wells!

All we need is YOUR VOTE!


The voting takes place through Facebook, so you must have a Facebook profile to be able to vote.

We've made it easier for you by providing a link from our website to our Chase Community giving Page.
Here's how to vote;

Go to www.andando.org. Near the bottom left hand corner of the page, you will see a box for Chase Community Giving. Click on this box.

When you get to the Chase Community giving Page, click on the green box that says' Get started to Vote'.

A box will pop up asking you to 'like' Chase. Once you have done this, click close to close the box. (Note: you have not yet voted.)

The green box will now say 'Vote Now'. Click on the box to vote.

Another box will pop up for you to tell your friends. Tell as many people as you can!

Voting ends July 12, so do it now and spread the word!!!

worldbeat!

This coming weekend come see us at the WorldBeat festival at Riverfront Park in downtown Salem. Saturday 10-10 and Sunday 10-6.
There are booths and workshops, food, music and dancing from all around the world. You'll find us in the Africa village.
On Sunday come and enjoy the dragon boat races!
www.worldbeatfestival.org

100 fields

Farming in Senegal is a risky business-and one that many Senegalese depend on for survival.

As we became involved in the lives of villages through our micro lending program, we learned about another segment of village life that was vital -and very precarious. Subsistence farming is a fact of life for many Senegalese and as in many other areas, farming is a struggle. Most farmers have to borrow at exorbitant rates if they want to buy seed and fertilizer and often end up in a cycle of debt from one year to the next.

We discussed this situation with friends, farmers and colleagues in Senegal and came up with our Seed Loan project. The farmer gets a loan of seed and fertilizer according to the size of his field and repays this loan after he has sold his harvest, either in seed and money, or in money, and with no interest.

We are now in our third season of seed loans and have achieved remarkable success with 100% loan repayment. Senegal has had good rainy seasons for the last two years which has helped the farmers tremendously. Another advantage that Andando has is our wonderful Senegalese partner, Diegane Ndiaye. Diegane works diligently with our loan recipients. Thank you Diegane for your hard work and commitment to these projects!

This year we are hoping for good steady rains again as we launch our biggest expansion of the Seed Loan Project so far. The community of Keur Soce and some smaller surrounding villages are the recipients of this year's seed project. With help from generous donors, Andando has been able to help over 40 farmers with seed and fertilizer.

Planting is happening right now in Senegal and this year there will be about 100 Andando fields! Thank you for your support of this great project. You have been instrumental in restoring dignity and hope to our farmers and their families.

( Photos above are from the recent seed loan distribution ceremony in Keur Soce.)

baskets

Maybe you didn't know about our special baskets that we sell to help support our child feeding program in Sierra Leone. (See our website for details http://www.andando.org/)

Each basket costs $25 and they come in two styles, the traditonal round bolga or the oval market basket.

The purchase of one of these baskets will feed a child in Sierra Leone for six months!

In the last two years we have sold hundreds of these baskets at fairs and festivals. We will be selling them all summer long at the fairs in the previous post as well as a few other places.

We can also mail you one. Just email us your color preferences- they come in a wide variety from solid to partially striped, to totally striped blues, reds, greens, purples. Add $5 for shipping.

Or if you live nearby, we can arrange to bring some to you! Email us and let us know what you'd like. theandandofoundation@gmail.com

Get yourself a new basket for summer markets and picnics and feed a child for six months at the same time!

summertime

The season of spring/summer festivals is approaching and with it comes the chance for Andando to be out and about , sharing our stories with people and selling some cool stuff from our wonderful African artisans.

Our first festival is this weekend! And it looks like the weather might cooperate!
We will be in the lovely little town of Scio, Oregon at the 75th annual Lamb and Wool Fair. May 14-16 www.lambfair.org

On Saturday June 19 , 9-2 p.m. we will be at the Day of the African Child in Portland. This event takes place adjacent to the Portland Farmers Market www.harambeecentre.org

The following weekend you can find us at the WorldBeat Festival in Salem, June 26 and 27. This is a super fun event celebrating cultures from around the world.
www.worldbeatfestival.org

We will participate in other festivals through July and August and will keep you posted.

a village in Senegal

Life in a rural village in Senegal is challenging. There never seems to be enough food, enough water, even enough time, especially for women. Women have millet to grind, water to fetch, babies to nurse, and always many mouths to feed. The majority of the men are small farmers and that is always a risky business in an area where the rains come intermittently and sometimes not all. As a result of all these conditions, many of the men of the village are forced to go to larger towns looking for work, usually with little success. Some of these men will end up with new wives and children to support in the town, making a bad problem worse.

Since it's beginning , Andando has been looking at ways to improve life in the local village, ways to give people a hope and a future right where they are. That is why we have focussed on micro lending and farmer loans as ways to encourage people to stay in their villages and build stronger famiies in the process.

Keur Soce is a village where Andando has been working for about three years. We began work there with a church partner, Doxology. On our first visit we met with the local chief and had some great discussions about the needs of the village which resulted in some aid to the school. the drilling of two wells, installation of two neighborhood taps and help with starting a huge market garden. As the relationship has grown, Andando has targeted Keur Soce for the newest round of micro loans and in March we distributed 45 loans in Keur Soce. These loans average about $100 and are for projects such as a small shop, a hairdresser even a small restaurant.

Dibe Diouf is one of the loan recipients. In order to supplement their meager income from farming, Dibe used to go out in to the bush to find wild fruit which she would then take to sell in the nearest town. This was sometimes difficult and dangerous. She did not know when she might encounter wild animals and snakes. With her micro loan, Dibe has opened a small shop where she sells sugar,rice and oil, things that people used to have to travel further to buy. Dibe's family will all benefit from this new venture.

Andando is currently raising funds to help the farmers of Keur Soce get 'seed' loans for this years' planting. The farmers will be able to get enough good quality seed for planting their fields. After they have sold their harvest, they pay back their loan with no interest. This method opens up a door of hope for farmers who were previously 'enslaved' by high interest loans which they had little hope of ever repaying.

These two projects are infusing the village of Keur Soce with hope! At Andando we too are hopeful as we walk together with friends there and look to a brighter future for the people of this village.

well, well, well

We recently returned from a trip to Senegal. During that trip we distributed forty five new micro loans... but we're saving that story for it's own post..
First we want to tell you about the water/well project.
Andando has had an onging project in the village of Keur Soce with a church partner, Doxology in Corvallis, Oregon. Over the past few years Doxology has worked with the school in Keur Soce on various projects including bringing school supplies, building a basket ball court- even bringing 600 pairs of shoes for the village kids.
While building relationships there through these activities, Dox became aware of the need for access to water in some of the village neigborhoods and the need for several wells in the village and in outlying villages.
Along with Andando, they began to work with the village leaders and as a result there are now two neighborhoods in Keur Soce that have a community tap where there was none before, and a new deep water well that will supply water for decades to come. This well will also supply water to a one hectare garden right next to it. By this time next year, this garden should be supplying produce for the whole village.
Another well has been dug in a nearby village, Diam Diao. This village had been depending on an older well that had many cracks and the ground around it was being degraded by the many animals that would come to the well each day.
We have been able to dig a brand new well in this village that will be used exclusively for people. The older well is being repaired and will be used for cattle. The well diggers will also run a pipe from the well to a new large drinking trough so that more animals can be watered at once.
Thanks to this great partnership -and to many individual donors, several thousand people now have access to clean, sweet water -and several hundred cattle too!