About Us

Marcie Todd
Marcie Todd is a 24 year old Urban Agricultural Peace Corps Volunteer serving in Kolda, Senegal. She completed her first project in April, with her site-mates, organizing a Regional Agricultural Fair with a specific focus on food transformation. She is now working on two projects, 52 Pumps in 52 Weeks and a Woman’s Group Cowpea Cooperative.

Before coming to Senegal Marcie graduated from the University of Redlands- Johnston Center for Integrative Studies in 2009 with an emphasis in Humanism and Community Development. She then moved to Chicago on a whim and landed an awesome job with the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. On the side, she and her amazingly quirky roomates held community art and literature events out of their Pilsen apartment. Marcie aspires to use all that she has learned by participating in and planning community events to act as a liaison between her Senegalese community and her many communities back home. She hopes this website will promote the precipitation of discussion and movement into all those that read it.

Garrison Harward
Garrison Harward is a Peace Corps Volunteer serving in the Fatick Region of Senegal.  Apart from this pump project he is working as an Agricultural Extension Agent bringing improved field crop varieties and farming techniques to his and surrounding villages.  Future projects Garrison would like to facilitate include connecting several women’s groups with neighboring hotels that would buy their local organic produce, demonstrating the benefits of live fencing and soil enhancing trees through the large scale implementation of over 10,000 beneficial trees, and helping to set up multiple farmer training sites through Peace Corps Senegal’s Master Farmer Program.

Before coming to Senegal Garrison studied Theatre at California State University, Chico and was fortunate to receive a grant to work with the acclaimed Theatre director and theorist Augusto Boal, whose techniques for using Theatre in third world countries earned him a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.  Garrison hopes he will be able to draw on this background to enhance his work in all areas of service by utilizing Theatre’s amazing ability to create meaningful discussions and find innovative solutions to complex community problems.

Lamine Diene

Lamine is the Fatick region producer. He is an amazing technician who is constantly improving the rope pump design to make it more durable and efficient.   He’s become an expert on these pumps and is now fully capable of installing and maintaining them on his own.  Anyone interested in purchasing a pump in the Kaolack or Fatick regions should contact him at 77.541.1235

Mamadou Barry

Mamadou Barry has a huge passion for Senegal and particularly Kolda. His interests include: farming okra, beans, and rice, in addition to setting up community/youth  programs to prevent the dreaded “brain drain.”

Mamadou is a sort of jack of all trades. He has started a kindergarten, a theater troop, a farm for youth, and a cowpea buying and selling business, all of which have been successful. He is ambitious, kind and we are lucky to be working with him.

Sow

Sow’s specialty is cement. He makes bricks galore- for houses, shade structures, and huts. He is a master with the trowel and incredible when it is time ad hoc.

Sow’s major passion is teaching his son the mason trade. The two are quite the pair, both standing about 5 ft tall with the same upright demeanor. Sow’s son just started out on his own and couldn’t make Sow any more proud.