The Tandana Foundation Blog

Tandana’s Founding Director shares lessons learned in new book

The Tandana Foundation’s mission is to support the achievement of community goals and address global inequalities through caring intercultural relationships that embody mutual respect and responsibility.

But what does Tandana – the global nonprofit I launched 18 years ago – really do? Or, perhaps more importantly, how does the organization do what it does?

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Tandana book events showcase indigenous culture and language

In November, members of The Tandana Foundation engaged audiences at several multilingual book readings and conversations around Ohio. The events were centered around two storybooks based on indigenous folklore – Juanita, the Colorful Butterfly and The Hyena, the Hare and the Baobab – that Tandana recently helped to publish and are now available for purchase.

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The latest from Tandana scholarship recipients in Mali

The Tandana Foundation has supported dozens of aspiring health professionals and tailors in Mali to attend professional school through the Dr. Ash B. Varma M.D. Scholarship Program. The recipients have gone on to obtain degrees and certifications in fields most-needed in their rural communities.

Tandana makes a world of difference with a novel approach

The following story was written by University of Dayton students who attended the roundtable event featuring members of Tandana.

As a nonprofit, The Tandana Foundation isn’t putting all of its successes on structures built or money raised. Collaboration and relationships are what powers the organization, and that approach has paid off in Ecuador and Mali.

Hundreds of Miami University students engage with Tandana during campus events

On Nov. 13, more than 300 students of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, filled the large Heritage Room in the Shriver Center. These were students enrolled in classes offered by the department of Global and Intercultural Studies and they were gathered to attend a talk titled “Transforming Gender Norms: Opening Small Spaces for Big Change in Rural Mali and Ecuador”. But what followed was much more than a regular talk, it was a multi-perspectival panorama shedding light on the deep-rooted challenges faced by grassroots workers of The Tandana Foundation, and more importantly an inspiring account of the engaged methods, ethical negotiations, and big wins the foundation strives to accomplish everyday through small spaces of change.

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Discovering the heart and spirit of Tandana

Sometimes, the most life-changing opportunities come when you least expect them.

My most recent collaboration with The Tandana Foundation happened entirely by chance. In mid-October, Anna Taft, the Founding Director, reached out to me with an email asking if I might be available to work with them. Her trust and the opportunity she extended set in motion an experience that would touch my soul in profound and unexpected ways. My recent opportunity to work with The Tandana Foundation was one of those moments.

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Looking back on my year supporting Tandana volunteer groups in Ecuador

When I started this new year, there were sad and happy moments. An excellent colleague finished his contract and had to return home, but I met a new colleague that I would work with to support volunteer groups throughout the year.

Meet Omar Flores, Tandana’s Program Coordinator in Ecuador

My name is Omar Flores. I am originally from Nicaragua, although I consider myself a global citizen. My professional life has taken me to work in more than five countries and I have been able to work with people from all over the world on sustainable development projects. Travelling and working in Latin America, I found The Tandana Foundation in Ecuador and I have been part of their team, working as Program Coordinator since 2024.

Meet Hamidou Yalcouyé, coordinator of the displaced students program

Hamidou Yalcouyé, from the village of Amala, started out as a trainee and is now the coordinator of The Tandana Foundation’s displaced students program, a program set up to support the integration and success of vulnerable students in the educational system.

A scholarship student learns what it means to be a teacher

The following blog shares a letter written by Ivan Cachimuel, who received a scholarship from The Tandana Foundation to attend university. Read on to hear what Ivan studied last year, learned through his internship as a teacher, and why he’s thankful for the academic support from Tandana.

A message of hope from Hope: ‘Start your own tidal wave’

At The Tandana Foundation’s recent Legacy of Hope Celebration, Hope Taft, President Emerita of the Board of Trustees, shared an unforgettable speech about the power and great good that can come from having hope and serving others.

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Tandana’s family and friends celebrate the Legacy of Hope

On Nov. 8, around 450 people from all over the world attended The Tandana Foundation’s Legacy of Hope Celebration to honor the nearly two decades of service of Hope Taft to the organization and to mark her 80th birthday.

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Spreading awareness of the importance of sustainable forest management in Mali

Now 36 villages strong, the Olouguelemo Association continues to expand the reach of its environmental protection and restoration work throughout the Wadouba Township of Mali. They strive to protect the trees in their area, promote the assisted regeneration of trees in the fields, prevent erosion, and reforest, all practices which help both the environment and crop yields.

A few words of gratitude for support of community health initiatives

The Tandana Foundation partners with villages around the Bandiagara District of Mali on a number of health and wellbeing projects based on the desires of the communities. In recent years, Tandana has supported the construction of a new health center in Sal, provided scholarships for students to receive technical training as nurses and pharmacists, helped start a first aid station in an elementary school, and more recently began offering menstrual kits and training to women.

Hear from two women about their new abilities and enterprise activities in Mali

After starting with literacy, The Tandana Foundation has steadily expanded its capacity-building programming for women in rural Mali. Now, Tandana partners with villages across the Bandiagara District of Mali to empower women to read, write, calculate, work together in associations, and generate income.

Leaving a Legacy of Hope: The gift of a new water system in Natividad

Water is essential to life, but communities in many places of the world still long for clean, safe water. One of those communities is Natividad, Ecuador.

Leaving a Legacy of Hope: The gift of a new school in Kansongo

For a long time, the residents of Kansongo, Mali have dreamed of having a school for their children. On paper, the Malian government created a school for them, but without providing financial resources for the infrastructure. So, no school could be constructed.

From Friends to Ambassadors: Introducing a new opportunity to engage with and support Tandana

For those looking for more opportunities to engage with and support the organization, The Tandana Foundation is launching a new Ambassador Program to provide a way to do just that.

From empty hands to selling pancakes

Due to ongoing insecurity in parts of Mali, The Tandana Foundation launched a program for students of displaced families who are now living in Bandiagara. At first, the program focused on providing educational and food support to families so the students could attend school and settle into their new town. This year, Tandana expanded the program to also include training and resources for the parents to pursue income-generating activities so they could better support their families.

Triki Traka: It’s not your grandma’s tic tac toe!

I have been hearing more and more over the last few years – from coworkers from The Tandana Foundation and volunteers who have joined us on trips alike – about this fun game in Ecuador with similarities to Tic Tac Toe called Triki Traka. Now, I’ve been a part of Tandana for the past 12 years, and I couldn’t believe I didn’t know anything about this cultural activity that was becoming such a beloved, shared experience for so many of our volunteers. So, looking ahead at my upcoming trip to Ecuador to check-in with our staff, visit our Summer School, accompany a volunteer group, and join a rural medical clinic, I knew that I needed to find a way to learn how to play Triki Traka while I was there.

Tandana invites friends to host Language and Literacy fundraisers based on trilingual storybooks

In November, The Tandana Foundation will be releasing two books – the first-ever storybook in the African language of Tommoso and the second-edition of a beloved Kichwa storybook. Both books, which are being published by Tandana, are aimed at promoting literacy, aswell as maintaining and revitalizing the indigenous languages spoken by the organization’s community partners in Mali and Ecuador.

Leaving a Legacy of Hope: The gift of scholarships

As more communities request support, The Tandana Foundation has allocated over $700,000 since 2006 to its scholarship programs, which have already offered hundreds of students in Ecuador and Mali the opportunity to pursue their educational dreams.

Part 3: What a volunteer teacher group learned about the rich culture and natural beauty of highland Ecuador

A group of 11 teachers from the National Science Foundation’s Research in Science Global STEM program, recently traveled to Ecuador for a three-week volunteer and cultural immersion trip organized by The Tandana Foundation.

Part 2: What a volunteer teacher group learned about the rich culture and natural beauty of highland Ecuador

Part 1: What a volunteer teacher group learned about the rich culture and natural beauty of highland Ecuador

Tandana to hold celebration honoring Hope Taft’s legacy of service this November

The Tandana Foundation will honor the nearly two decades of service given by Hope Taft to the organization with a celebratory event on Nov. 8, in Columbus, Ohio.

Leaving a Legacy of Hope: The gift of grain banks in Mali

Food security remains an urgent concern in the Bandiagara District of Mali, and it is getting worse due to insecurity and the impacts of climate change hurting crop yields. Residents of villages around the region have explored a number of ways to address the crisis, including several important projects that The Tandana Foundation has supported, including establishing gardens, expanding stock ponds, and launching grain banks.

A day at a time: Fun journal entries by ARCC volunteers about their experiences with Tandana

Thirteen volunteers from ARCC Programs just spent a week in the community of Muenala, Ecuador as part of a trip that was organized by The Tandana Foundation.

Lessons from soccer: How team spirit can develop professional skills and lead to success

While growing up in Belgium and spending time in several parts of the world, soccer (“football”) has always had a special place in my heart. I see soccer as a universal language that transcends barriers thanks to its simplicity, passion, emotions and global appeal. The game’s basic rules tend to be easily understood in any part of the world.

A future businesswoman setting a strong example for her son

Tandana Foundation sponsor,

It is a great pleasure for me to address you, my sponsor, and send you a cordial greeting. In this letter, I also want to share a summary of the educational experience that I have had during my fourth semester at the university.

Tandana hosts virtual tour of completed Tangali school projects

So they could see the impact of their work, several volunteer groups who participated in trips organized by The Tandana Foundation were invited to take a virtual tour of the flourishing school garden in Tangali, Ecuador.

Charging ahead toward a career in electric vehicles

A very warm greeting,

It’s been almost a year since I wrote to you and I’m sending you a letter again to tell you how this semester went and to thank you for your support because thanks to you I’m achieving one more goal in my life.

Income-generating activities support parents in Tandana’s Displaced Students Program

This year, The Tandana Foundation expanded a program aimed to help students from internally displaced families in Mali to reach more students as well as to provide additional support to parents in generating income for their families.

Tandana reunions and new beginnings

Twenty years have passed since I first climbed up the bumpy roads into the colinas surrounding Otavalo with my Traveling School classmates and teachers, including Anna Taft, in whom ideas of what would become Tandana were beginning. Though it was many years past now, I still remember the community spirit of the minga in which we participated to improve the water purification system and the hospitality of Don Vicente in welcoming us to the community of Panecillo. I am certain that in those moments I had no thought that in 20 years, I would be in the same community with my husband and two children.

From expectations to goodbyes, all about Purcell Marian’s volunteer trip to Ecuador

When our small group of Purcell Marian high school students stepped off the plane at Quito Airport, none of us knew what to expect. We were all a little bit nervous – many of us had never left the US before – and everyone was worried about making a good impression. How would we communicate with our host families? Would we be what they were expecting? However, these small worries were overshadowed by the pure excitement we all had over meeting the community members.