Happy 2018!
What a whirlwind this past year has been! While we look forward to all the wonderful things to come in the new year, we can’t help but look back on the last 12 months, and cherish all we have to be grateful for here at CREATE!.
First, we are thrilled to announce that this year’s Fall Fundraising Campaign went above and beyond our expectations, exceeding our original fundraising goal of $14,500! Thanks to all of you, we raised over $20,300 this year. We are blown away by your extraordinary show of generosity.
Over the past year in Senegal, our programs continued to grow in our partner communities. In 2017, we welcomed the villages of Mboss, Santhie, and Dahra as our newest partners, and have been humbled by their enthusiasm and commitment so far.
Community members in the village of Santhie celebrate their newly rehabilitated well and solar-powered pump.
We worked to refine our well rehabilitation process, collaborating with local well diggers and community volunteers to restore abandoned wells in our partner villages using a human-powered winch system. This has proved to be a cost-effective and efficient way to bring clean, affordable, and abundant water into communities that were previously paying a high price for water from Senegal’s commercial system. The rehabilitated wells allow villagers to maintain their community gardens year-round, as well as have access to water for personal consumption and sanitation.
Throughout 2017, we saw our graduated communities of Fass Kane, Fass Koffe, and Diender continue to run their programs independently, taking initiative to problem-solve, organize, and maintain their gardens, wells, poultry sheds, and VSLA groups. We are so proud to see how far they’ve come, and to see the inspiration they provide to other communities.
All of these accomplishments have been made possible by supporters like you. Our deepest gratitude goes out to the grants and partner foundations that have helped fund our programs, and the incredible generosity of individual donors who have contributed to CREATE!. Your contributions help to bring our global community closer together, spreading the wealth of opportunity and kindness around the world.
2018 is going to be an amazing year, and we cannot wait to share it all with you! Happy New Year!