Having just returned from an intensive four-week orientation program this past February, newly hired Development Manager, Daniel Hammond takes a few minutes to share his experience working in the Thiès, Senegal office. Above, Daniel (right) meets with school principal in Tambacounda, Senegal to discuss myAgro’s recent de-worming programs for school children in the region.
“First of all, I have to say that I was really impressed by everyone in the myAgro teams based in Thiès. The four weeks I spent meeting and working with the groups made me want to stay longer and hear more about their exciting work in the field. Although I knew the operations in Senegal were substantial, I had no idea the extent of the teamwork involved in making all of the good things happen.
I’d had some communication with the administrative and HR teams before I left the States, but having the opportunity to meet with the agriculture team, field operations teams, IT and data quality teams and finance teams really helped me understand the scope of the programs that myAgro is working on at the moment. Over the time I worked in the Senegal office I met with over 40 people in the myAgro office and now I feel like I’m beginning to get a handle on all their different efforts connect with our clients in the field.”
After one of his field visits to meet with clients, Daniel said, “I came to myAgro after 3 years with the International Rescue Committee working with people living in difficult conditions. One of the key things I look for is direct impact of programs on clients. So I was very excited when I got to work in the field observing myAgro’s vegetable package initiative that’s being distributed now throughout all regions we work in. It really stuck out to me because it’s an area where farmers are really seeing some major income increases. And it seems to give people more variety in the foods they eat, which in itself is a good thing. It’s definitely promoting a healthier diet over the staple grains that almost everyone eats usually.
I met one farmer, Colly Diouf, who was so happy with her myAgro vegetable package because of how big and full her garden was this year – even though the rains had been short. She was relieved to be able to grow more in spite of that and feed her family.”
Daniel returned to the states in March and will be in charge of managing myAgro’s institutional and corporate philanthropic partnerships as well as coordinating with U.S. based family foundations. Daniel will be based in myAgro’s new offices located in New York City.
