Having access to clean water has been transformative for all of CREATE!’s partner villages, enabling women to grow crops year-round in their community gardens, as seen above, in Ngoné’s village of Fass Kane.
Ngoné Mar has seen her village’s transformation from the very beginning of their partnership with CREATE!, and for her, access to water in has been the biggest game changer. In rural Senegal, there is a commercial water system that sells water to people in rural villages, but often it’s very expensive. “Since the well rehabilitation, I can now get water freely in the village,” says Ngoné.
Ngoné, 52, of Fass Kane, has been a part of CREATE!’s programs in her village for the last 7 years. Fass Kane is one of a growing number of communities that has “graduated” from CREATE!’s programs, meaning that the village is now sustaining all of their projects on their own, thanks to the enthusiastic leadership and participation of members like Ngoné.
“With the cooperative garden site in our community, each woman is able to grow vegetables,” Ngoné explains. “After harvesting, we sell them on the market and are able to get money to support our families.”
As a long-time participant in CREATE! training programs, she has seen many changes in Fass Kane, and expresses appreciation for the improvements to her family’s health and well-being. “The availability of vegetables has really enriched my family’s meals,” she says. “Now we have a site where we grow vegetables for selling and feeding our children.” She also uses an improved cookstove, raises and sells chickens through the community poultry cooperative, and participates in the VSLA group. “What I like best about CREATE! is the water sector, though, because I no longer have to buy water like before,” Ngoné says. “We encounter very few limitations now, because there is bountiful water in the village. With water, we can do anything.”