Last week, reporters from Guinguineo Community Radio visited CREATE!’s cooperative garden site in Darou Diadji to record a broadcast about our partnership with the village. The interview was part of a weekly broadcast focusing on agriculture in Guinguineo Department.
The reporter interviewed CREATE! Country Director Omar Ndiaye Seck about our successful programs in the community.
Guinguineo Community Radio’s reporter was very impressed by the Darou Diadji cooperative’s achievements, saying “I never thought that that dry-season agricultural cultivation could be possible in this part of Senegal.” During the interview, CREATE! Country Director Omar Ndiaye Seck and field technicians Ousmane Diallo and Amadou Diouf answered questions about how CREATE!’s programs started in Darou Diadji, our philosophy of community-based sustainable development, and the details of our partnership with beneficiaries in the village. Ousmane and Diouf also answered technical questions about our agricultural techniques and strategies.
The Darou Diadji cooperative president discussed the impacts of CREATE!’s programs in their community and how everyone in the village had benefitted through Darou Diadji’s partnership with CREATE!
In addition to broadcasting on Guinguineo Community Radio, the station will also send a copy of the interview to the Senegalese Ministry of Agriculture. This interview will build local visibility and knowledge about how CREATE! programs benefit vulnerable rural populations. Seck ended the interview by encouraging other villages to build community self-sufficiency by rehabilitating their abandoned wells and cultivating vegetables during the long dry season. He said, “Don’t wait for help from CREATE! or from the government – you can take responsibility for the future sustainability of your community.”
The radio station plans to conduct additional interviews in CREATE!’s partner communities of Walo and Gagnick Mack.
The Darou Diadji garden cooperative group donated a portion of their site to village school so that students can practice growing eggplants and other vegetables. This is a great way for the students to participate in CREATE!’s programs and to build goodwill between the community, the garden cooperative group, and CREATE!