American woman Nicole Dewing who built the Garden of Eden in West Africa

Author: Jun Xu, MD, Translator: BRI Youth Susanna Tan

Nicole went to Senegal as a Peace Corps volunteer where she dedicated her time to working with cities in how best to manage their waste systems. After her service as a volunteer, Nicole married Mamadou Sarr and they started an organic farm together.

Nicole, her Farm staff and volunteers

In the spring of 2018, I met Nicole Dewing. She went to Senegal in Africa from the United States in 2005. When she told me how she created an environmentally friendly model garden for growing organic vegetables, and when I saw how she personally turned a barren land into a paradise, I couldn’t help but to explore her life story.

Nicole was born in Manchester, New York, where there were oceans, beaches, and big houses. She was brought up in a financially comfortable family. When Nicole was 6 weeks old her family moved to the Netherlands. At the age of 5, they moved back to Wilton, Connecticut, a small town neighboring the famous Greenwich, Connecticut, which was 40 minutes away driving distance from New York City. Greenwich is the hometown for investors working in venture capital.

Nicole, right lower, and her siblings

When Nicole was 12 years old, she was baptized as a Christian in the American Congregational Church. She graduated high school with honors and studied U.S history and political science at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. She later received her master’s degree in environmental and adult education as well as a master’s degree in environmental law from Vermont Law School. In 1996, his father died of cancer, which was a deep shock for Nicole. After his death, Nicole began to question her life in the U.S.

After graduating from law school, Nicole worked as a lobbyist for the Vermont State Employees’ Association working to protect and improve labor rights in the State. At the State House where she lobbied, she met her first husband, Curt McCormack, in 2005, when Nicole was 40 years old, they decided to join the Peace Corps and go to Africa to serve for two years.

Nicole’s sister, Carolyn, driving the horse cart to town.

They were assigned to Senegal where they created with the mayor’s office of the seaside City of Joal a solid waste management system to serve a population of 43,000 people. This System separated the waste into 4 categories: compost, plastic, metal and other materials. It was a very successful project that the U.S. Peace Corps has used to replicate with its volunteers in other villages, towns and cities in West Africa.

After finishing her Peace Corps Service, Nicole was invited by the U.S. Peace Corps to serves as its associate deputy country director to manage the community economic development program in Senegal. Overseeing over 60 Peace Corps volunteers, she was able to promote her solid waste management program in other locations as well as grow its eco-tourism program. Unfortunately in 2010, Nicole became seriously ill and had to return to the U.S.

One side is the US, the other side is Africa

The United States Peace Corps headquarters based in Washington, D.C. asked Nicole to work as a Peace Corps Response recruiter responsible for arranging for returned volunteers to go back to West Africa and other countries This was an ideal job. In addition to continuing to help with development efforts, she could also live comfortably in Washington, DC. However, she longed to return to Senegal and continue to build upon her solid waste program and other projects. By this time, her husband had returned to Vermont and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

In 2011, Nicole was invited to attend the Clinton Foundation Conference in New York City to further explore funding for her work in Senegal. There she met the founder and CEO of Global Citizen Year – a program that provides a “bridge year” experience for high school students who want to explore and understand other cultures before continuing their higher education. The CEO asked her to manage its Senegal program. Nicole could not say no and once again returned to Senegal. As country director she was responsible for over 30 students and four staff to implement the cultural exchange program. She also worked for a U.S. State department funded program that sent young Senegalese between ages 15-17 to live with American families in the U.S. and attend high school for one year.

Nicole has helped many young people find their way in life through arranging life changing cultural exchange experiences in Senegal. As is the case of Michael a graduate of a prestigious high school in Maryland. He was admitted to a high-ranking university, but he had no plans for his life. His favorite pastime was playing computer games. In desperation, Mike’s parents found Nicole and said, “Please take Mike to Africa to experience life there.”

Nicole in Senegal when she was a Peace Corps volunteer

Mike lived for 8 months with a Senegalese family with no electricity or running water. He bathed in the river with his host family, ate meals around the bowl with his hands, went to the open-air market to buy lamb which were not refrigerated but hung in the sun for several hours after being killed, and sat in a simple classroom with local children to learn French. This experience helped Mike find meaning in his life. He told Nicole, “I know what I am going to do. I watched my younger host brother become very ill and I saw children and adults in who lack basic medical care and medicine. I want to become a doctor. I am willing to commit my life to help others have a better lives.”

By this time, Curt and Nicole had drifted apart and decided to separate. After the divorce, Nicole returned to Senegal alone. She continued managing cultural exchange programs funded by the U.S. government, as well as work with the U.S. Peace Corps to promote the solid waste management program.

Organic farm grows “imported” vegetables

Did that mean going back home again? At this time, a man came into Nicole’s life. He was Mamadou Sarr, a tall, handsome Senegalese. In the past few years, he had accompanied Nicole to various places in Senegal assisting with his superb negotiation skills.

The same vision brought them together. After marrying Mamadou, Nicole used her life savings to buy a 10-acre lot of land in the bush. With Mamadou’s help they built Taaru Askan Farm (www.taaruaskan.com ; https://www.facebook.com/taaruaskan ) to develop organic and regenerative farming and grow local vegetables and fruits without pesticides and fertilizers.

During the weekends they worked and lived at the Farm sleeping in a tent at night. Water irrigation was the key to success. They needed a well, and a professional company asked for $12,000. They couldn’t afford it so they had several wells dug by hand but could not reach water.

Nicole and her husband Mamadou

Nicole returned to the United States and successfully collected donations from relatives and friends. The drilling company drilled a Sweetwater well at a depth of 94 meters. Nicole thanked God for His grace – it is only possible to cultivate life with water.

They planted broccoli, curly kale, collard greens, Swiss Chard, and other fruits and vegetables that were common in Europe and the United States. In the past, the foreign workers from the US and Europe could only rely on imports to meet the demand.

They had learned from a friend who was a professor from the University of Arizona College of Agriculture that local farmers often mixed three or four pesticides together because the insects were resistant, and one pesticide wouldn’t be able to kill them. Moreover, they often harvested a day or two after spraying with pesticides, so many of the vegetables produced locally have a high amount of pesticide residues.

Under the guidance of experts, they insisted on not using any chemical fertilizers and pesticides, using traditional methods of mixing specific leaves with hot peppers or onions to make organic pesticides.

Customer checking out Taaru Askan produce.

Nicole’s vegetables were delivered to supermarkets in Senegal. Nicole had discovered that the suppliers was short to meet the demand from customers, there are more than 30,000 French and Americans citizens living in Dakar alone. Based on her initial success, Nicole started agricultural training courses, provided accommodation and meals and trained local farmers in planting techniques. She not only provided employment, but also protects the environment, bringing vitality to the local landscape.

Pass on the hope to more young people

Nicole Teaching at the Farm

Since 2017, a total of 70 young volunteers from Europe. Asia and the United States have come to Nicole’s farm to work for one month, six months or even longer. Many of these young people’s lives have been completely changed and some have found the courage to pursue their dreams that others have told them were unrealistic and not secure.

In August 2018, Katharina flew from Switzerland to Nicole’s farm for the first time. Every night she sat with the Farm staff around a long table in the courtyard, tasting fresh vegetables, mangoes, and freshly cooked fish and rice. The whole courtyard was filled with the faint fragrance of fruit trees. All the livestock there were raised range free. Every day she went to the cowshed to get fresh milk and to the chicken coop to collect fresh eggs. Katharina, who was deeply touched by her experience is determined to build an organic farm in West Africa with her boyfriend who was born in Gambia. She told me: “I feel like a stranger in Switzerland. It feels like home in Senegal.”

Katharina at Nicole’s Farm

Nicole’s actions have deeply inspired us. African Cries Out foundation has been working with Nicole since 2019. With the expansion of the farm, there was need for more dorms to train students. Our two parties immediately signed a cooperation agreement to jointly train Senegalese students, Africa Cries Out Foundation providing dorms and meals.

Africa Cries Out Visit to the Farm

Volunteers from Mamadou’s NGO CorpsAfrica trained at the base of Africa Cries Out.

I asked Nicole: “Why are you willing to dedicate your life to this place full of orange soil and garbage everywhere? If you go back to Connecticut, where there is your family and friends, you can find a job and live a life in peace and stability.”

Nicole Dewing and Dr. Jun Xu at Nicole’s Farm

She pondered for a moment and said: “It was the call of God that brought me here, and the people of Senegal provided the soil for me to grow and succeed here. In Africa, I can do much more to help others. If I go home my personal life may lose purpose and meaning. I am dedicated to Senegal. After we pass away, our wealth will still stay here to shine. Many people will benefit from the wealth we left behind. In thinking about this my life has meaning.”

Nicole went to Africa at the age of 40. She is fulfilling her own dreams without regrets, became a giving person in her adopted spiritual homeland. There is only one life, if you lose it, you won’t get it back again. She doesn’t want to waste it.

Her life has inspired me. In order to find the meaning of life, when I can act, I must fight without scruple, so that when I look back on the past, I can proudly say, I have persevered, I have struggled, I will never regret it.

Suddenly I felt a feeling of being bathed in the rising sun. The world became brand new, higher and wider, and I seemed to have a new life. I re-learned the meaning of life from Nicole like a newborn baby, and my gradually withered love is fresher and motivating me again.

She taught me to open my eyes and rediscover and understand life with a new vision and mentality. Within this is my heart, I will no longer grow old.

The meaning of life is not how much money you make, but how to realize your value to others? How to achieve the purpose of your coming into this world? True beauty is not a show of youth, but a beautiful heart with deep love. In life, there is always one pursuit, one hope, one thing that we are willing to live for, to dedicate ourselves to. This is the value of life. The true happiness lies in the pursuit of value. If a person can only ask for it, even if he hasthe wealth of the world, he enjoys eating, drinking, and having fun, but once his eyes are closed, it will fall into a white and barren land without any trace left in this world.

If we are all like Nicole, abandon the hustle and glorification of the world, instead live within the blossoms of life built by ourselves, accompany the world of nature every day, listen to the pulse of the earth and the sky, feeling at ease to bring happiness to other. We change the lives of others, loving others like ourselves, what a blessing this is!

Why not choose such a life? Nicole is my role model; she urged me to move forward. Perhaps I will dedicate the rest of my life to the African people. My dear readers, I hope that we will think and work hard together and present a bunch of loving flowers to everyone around us, weaving into a beautiful sky, to illuminate the sky of human nature and the pursuit of life. What is happiness? This is happiness.

The author Dr. Jun Xu and Nicole in Senegal