OUR STORY
How it started
In 2010, I traveled to Mali as part of a medical mission — leading art workshops for children and families receiving care. Before I left, the health professionals I'd worked alongside gave me a piece of advice: if you ever come back, start a hand washing initiative. It would do more for public health here than almost anything else.
So we did. We went into schools, organized sports tournaments, and used the energy and enthusiasm of kids and families to spread a simple message: wash your hands with soap. It was working.
Then we asked a question that changed everything: where is this water coming from?
The answer, almost every time, was the same. Local women and girls were carrying it from great distances — hours out of their day, energy out of their bodies — to supply our workshops. It was generous, and it was unsustainable.
Around the same time, a group of 42 women approached us. They tended a small garden together, but had no reliable water source, no fencing, and no shelter.
We asked them to design their dream garden. Then we helped them build it.
The results were undeniable. A new chapter of the Wash Project was born — and we haven't looked back. Every year since, we have partnered with one new community, helping them build a garden that transforms not just their harvest, but their village. Today, the Wash Project works directly with over 1,200 women and their families across rural Mali.
We're so happy you're here.
With gratitude,
Barclay Martin, Co-Founder
OUR MISSION
The Wash Project partners with women growers and their communities in rural Mali to build organic gardens and the regenerative infrastructure that makes them last — guided by a commitment to food sovereignty, ecological restoration, and the long-term health of the land.
THE FOUNDING PARTNERSHIP
The Women of Faso Dambe Garden
In 2020, a group of 42 women approached us. They tended a small patch of ground as a garden — with no reliable water, no fencing, and no shelter. They slept on the ground through the growing season to protect their crops from animals that roamed freely through their village at night.
In the very spot where this picture was taken, a powerful stream used to flow past throughout rainy season - often preventing the women from reaching their humble garden. Many told us stories of how they'd been knocked over by the force of the stream, losing their produce in the process. In this place, our first garden - and first rainwater harvesting bridge - were created.
THE WASH PROJECT TEAM
Meet our advocates, teachers, cultivators and connectors. None of this work would be possible without the commitment of our team in Mali.
Co-Founder, Project Coordinator
Tieblecoro Samake
Tieblecoro has served communities in southern Mali with the Wash Project since 2011. His commitment to the most vulnerable members of the community defines his leadership — and makes him the very heart of our movement.
Stove Project Team Lead, Gardener
Sata Camara
Sata brings firsthand knowledge of the challenges women face in daily cooking to her work installing cleaner, safer, more environmentally-friendly stoves for local families. She and her team have installed hundreds of stoves across partner villages.
Community Team Lead, Instructor
Jonathan Diarra
Jonathan, a gifted teacher, visits all of our projects to listen, to train and to encourage, ensuring that each partner garden has the support they need to succeed. Jonathan also documents much of our work through his photos and videos.
Gardener, Facilities Manager
Sanamba Samake
Sanamba supports the daily operations of The Wash Project headquarters and is central to the cultivation of our test garden and food forest on site. Sanamba is also involved with distributing crops from our test garden to vulnerable families in her community.
Co-Founder
Barclay Martin
Barclay first traveled to Mali in 2010 on a medical mission trip — and never quite left. His years working in international development continue to inform the Wash Project's approach to community-led partnership. He lives with his wife Ali & two boys in San Diego.
Garden Ambassadors
Our Garden Leaders
Each of our partner gardens nominates a leader to coordinate communication, trainings and daily operations of their gardens. They are our ambassadors on the front edge of everything we do. We are deeply grateful for the commitment of each of these women.