We are thrilled to announce that One Day’s Wages has once again chosen CREATE! as the recipient of a matching grant to increase water access in Senegal. But we need YOUR help to raise 50% of the grant ($29,480) by October 31. If we do, One Day’s Wages will match us the other 50%.
To support our cause, donations must be made through One Day’s Wages campaign page here for CREATE! or by checks made out to One Day’s Wages with CREATE! in the memo line.
Checks can be mailed to:
CREATE!
132 East Broadway, Suite 416
Eugene, OR 97401.
One Day’s Wages is a grassroots organization whose mission is to alleviate extreme poverty around the globe. With your donation, CREATE! and One Day’s Wages will provide clean water and community gardens for the 3,000 residents in the Fatick Region of Senegal.
CREATE! partnered with the village of Mboss in 2017. One year later, the community is thriving! This is the kind of change we are looking forward to seeing in our three new partner communities. Your donation will help them achieve this kind of success!
A Glance at Water Access in Senegal
Recently, CREATE! reached out to partner with three new villages in the Fatick Region of Senegal. The Fatick Region lies north of the Gambia and is no stranger to drought and harsh living conditions. Traditionally, 75% of households in the Fatick Region depend solely on the four month rainy season to irrigate crops. While 80% of households rely on produce to earn income. Because the rainfall was less than average in 2017, the number of people facing food insecurity dramatically increased. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), UNICEF, and World Food Program (WFP) have calculated that in 2018 there will be about 548,000 food insecure people in rural Senegal.
Water is the source of life here, and the foundation for economic success in rural villages. Water means lush gardens that produce vegetables. Vegetables lead to food security and a reliable source of income for families. Therefore, our partnership with One Day’s Wages and your help is crucial this fall. Our mission is to provide 3,000 people in rural Senegal with abundant, affordable, clean water and a year-round supply of fresh, locally grown vegetables! To become a part of the solution, click here.
“Philanthropists should find innovations that release the energies of people. Individuals don’t want to be taken care of –they need to be given a chance to fulfill their own potential.”
– Jacqueline Novogratz, Author of The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich & Poor in an Interconnected World.
Success Starts with Sufficient Water Access
Meet Seynabou Niang, the vice president of the garden cooperative in her village of Diender. CREATE! partnered with Diender in 2010, since then they have graduated from CREATE!‘s 5-year program and have been thriving ever since. When CREATE! first partnered with her village, the land was a barren desert. Endless blue sky stretched from horizon to horizon, and a few sparse trees provide limited shade against the sun. Because of the lack of water, the soil was parched, and crumbling like sand, unable to properly sustain crop life. Looking out into the landscape you would never know that it held potential, or that there was an abundance of clean water deep beneath the surface. Enough to support households and a community garden. Enough to support a village.
Like many women in rural Senegal, Seynabou didn’t have a formal occupation before she began working with CREATE!, so it was difficult to support her family. She would spend her days gathering large loads of firewood, followed by many hours of cooking the family meal over an open fire. Some days she might make the long trek to the market in Gossas on foot, by donkey cart, or on the back of a motorcycle to buy vegetables or other ingredients shipped in from abroad.
The Benefit of Year-Round Community Gardens
“I used to eat vegetables without knowing where they were grown,” says Seynabou. “But since I started working with CREATE! I can grow vegetables myself. Our children no longer suffer from malnutrition because they have the possibility to eat fresh vegetables every day.” The community garden that Seynabou works in is made possible by a solar powered water pumping system. Because of this system, Diender has consistent access to clean water for household and irrigation use. Therefore, Seynabou and other community members can cultivate vegetables year-round and improve their family’s health. Because of her year-round abundance of vegetables, she often has enough to sell at the market in Gossas. Seynabou invests her profits in her Voluntary Savings and Lending Association (VSLA) group and earns interest on her savings.
With the ability to grow her own food, save her own money, and save firewood and time by cooking on her improved cookstove that she built with training from CREATE!’s field technicians, Seynabou reports that she has seen her quality of life greatly improve. Over the past eight years, women in her community have been working to continue to increase their capacity for sustainability and self-sufficiency.
Like the village of Diender, all of our partner communities success begins with water access, as water is the key to life. Consider supporting CREATE!’s mission to provide people with sustainable resources to thrive in their communities. Donate here or share our campaign with friends and family!
CREATE! thanks you for your support!
