The idea takes root and grows.
In 2006, the lessons learned at Hospital Fann took root in a new setting: the Centre de Traitement Ambulatoire (CTA), the outpatient HIV clinic located on the same campus as Hospital Fann. Building on the success of the original garden, the CTA gave Steve a small grant to build a second garden. This next phase introduced something new: patient participation. The CTA Garden created opportunities for patients to build practical skills and to connect.
The CTA Garden revealed something important: the impact wasn’t just about food and nutrition.
What had started as a solution to one hospital’s problem began to feel like something much bigger: a model that was not only effective, but essential. The need was too great to keep it in one place.
Steve began to explore how to reach more communities facing similar challenges, with gardens based on the same principles: nutrition, community ownership, practical skills, locally-rooted solutions, and giving a safe space for those often stigmatized by their conditions.
As Steve shared his vision of adapting and expanding these approaches to other hospitals, clinics, and communities, Dr. Sow’s response was simple:
“If you have a good idea, the objective is not to keep it for yourself. The idea is to spread it so communities can benefit.”
Steve partnered with Sarah Koch, a fellow Peace Corps Volunteer, to create an organization, and in 2006, inspired by Dr. Sow’s vision, Development in Gardening (DIG) was born.
But this is only one chapter of the story.
As part of DIG’s 20th anniversary celebration, we will be sharing perspectives from others whose experiences, ideas, and partnerships helped shape the organization you know today.
Honoring Dr. Salif Sow
Today, Dr. Sow continues his work in infectious diseases at Hospital Fann as an infectious disease specialist and public health expert. He also serves as President of the Scientific Commission for Strategy and Foresight at the Senegal Academy of Science and Technology.
As DIG celebrates its 20th anniversary, it is impossible to tell the organization’s story without honoring Dr. Sow.
He listened when a patient told him that medicine alone was not enough. And he had vision enough to act.
That instinct, to hear what people are actually saying and take them seriously, is what started it all and, twenty years later, guides DIG still.
