Sunrise service.

Members of the Fass Kane community gather to pray at the site of the new well with its solar powered pump, adjacent to the community garden.

Early Friday morning the community of Fass Kane gathered at the site of the new well for a prayer service to  give thanks for the well, the solar pump, and the water that this will bring to the community garden.

Several religious leaders of the community were present along with many CREATE! group members.

The religious leader of Fass leads the group in prayer.

The service itself involved prayers and a reading of the  Koran.

As with many gatherings here, the men and women sat in separate groups.  The women had been up early to prepare a special feast of lamb and pasta, which everyone enjoyed together after the service.

I am grateful to have been able to participate, and also to have received permission from Kebe to share these photographs.

Seeing the light.

CREATE! Fass Koffe group members with their solar food dryer.

As exciting as it has been to see the solar powered water pumps at work, we aren't stopping there. 

Today we met with the women of Fass Koffe at the CREATE! Appropriate Technology Demonstration Center to begin a test of our solar food dryer.

CREATE! Field Coordinator Ibrahima Ndiaye explaining how the solar food dryer works.

Together we decided what kinds of fruits and vegetables to try, how to cut them and place them in the food dryer, where to place the food dryer and how to orient it towards the sun.

Then we loaded up the trays and shut the doors.

Pieces of mango, eggplant and pepper ready to be dried.

We'll wait a few days and then check the progress of the mangoes, eggplants and peppers inside.

Solar food dryer at work.

In the meantime, the women are thrilled.  They told me that while they appreciate all of the many ways in which CREATE! is helping them to improve their lives, what they appreciate most is the knowledge that they are gaining, and today was no exception.

"L'eau est bon!" Water is good!

Three young girls, headed home from the water tap.

We've spent the past six days working in Diender, a small village on the road between Gossas and Fatick in the CREATE! southern project zone.

As of tonight, the villagers of Diender have abundant water thanks to the solar powered water pump installed by CREATE!, a 5,000 liter storage tank, and a gravity fed network of twelve one thousand liter reservoirs that we helped them to build for their community garden.

Diender solar array and well.

Gravity fed water network with in ground basins in the community garden.  

In the coming weeks much of the water being pumped in Diender will be used for growing food in the garden, but for today, it was a nonstop celebration of the simple fact that everyone in the village--including the animals--can for the first time have as much water as they want, whenever they want it.

Notice the water flowing from the tap, as the solar powered pump hums away.

This donkey cart came back twice.

Throughout the afternoon we watched as a steady stream of people brought colorful containers--some of them brand new--and took home basin after basin of water.  But one of the best moments was when a young man downed a whole bucket of water, lay back on the sand, and said, "L'eau est bon!'  "Water is good!"

It is, indeed.

L'Eau C'est La Vie!

Water is life!  And for the villagers of Ouadior, in Senegal, water pumped from deep in the ground by means of a solar powered pump is now a reality.  The well is 127 feet deep, and the only way to get water out of it before today was by hand with a bucket at the end of a rope.

CREATE! Executive Director Barry Wheeler, second from right, discusses the new water tap with the Village Chief of Ouadiour.  Barry is in Senegal overseeing the installation of our solar water pumping systems and providing technical training to community members.

Barry Wheeler prepares to flip the switch for the first time to start the pump.

Solar panel at work.

Water flowing to the 5,000 liter storage tank.

On May 4, join CREATE! for a Solar Pumps for Senegal Fundraiser--Details Below

These women need a solar water pump.

Like village women all over Senegal,  they walk long distances every day to pull water one bucket at a time from wells that are as much as 150 feet deep.

CREATE! wants to change that, by installing solar pumps that will provide much needed water for these women and their families.

We're also working with local communities to expand and rehabilitate village wells and water networks; build low cost cisterns for in-ground water collection and storage; and establish cooperative community vegetable gardens and tree nurseries that make efficient use of available water.

Join us on Wednesday, May 4, from 6-8 pm at Tsunami Books, 2585 Willamette Street in Eugene, for an inspiring and informative evening to raise money for Solar Pumps for Senegal.

For more information, email us at create@createaction.org, call us at 541-335-9941.

If you're not able to join us you can still donate online by clicking the "Donate Now" button on our blog or website.

Thank you!