$15 to save a life and fight desertification

Dear Friends of the Azawak,

Last week I called upon your generosity to help us raise $25,000 to build a borehole for the desperately thirsty children of Kijigari. I told you the story of Anaha, and her daily struggle against the deadly impact of desertification and drought.

Today, on World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, let Anaha's story become your personal story of compassion for the children of the Azawak. Anaha and her friends in Kijigari need YOUR gift to survive.

On this day, I request that you do two things:

1. Contribute at least $15 towards the Kijigari borehole and personally become a part of the global battle against desertification and drought. Click here to make your contribution.

If only 1,000 people were to give $15 (that's about eleven Euros for those of you in Europe), Amman Imman would already be $15,000 closer to its $25,000 goal! Of course, contributions of any size, even larger or smaller, get us one critical step closer to building this much needed borehole. Every dollar helps us change the lives of children who deserve a brighter future. Give your gift today.

2. Forward this message to each and every person you know and post our campaign on your websites, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

If you and every person you know contribute at least $15, we may actually exceed our $25,000 goal and the children of Kijigari will never again go a day without a glass of water to drink!

I am making my personal $15 gift of life today. Please join me and Amman Imman today by making your life-saving contribution for the children of the Azawak. Believe that YOU can make a difference. Anaha and her friends are counting on you to survive.

Thank you! Together, we will build a borehole in Kijigari!

Yours for the children of the Azawak,

Ariane

Ariane Alzhara Kirtley

Founder and Director

Amman Imman: Water is Life

A program of The Friendship Caravan

phone # USA: +1(203)887-4213

phone # France: +33684468198

phone # Niger: +22797329388

www.ammanimman.org
http://montessori-amman-imman-project.blogspot.com/

June 17: World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought

June 17: World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought

Help us build a borehole in Kijigari!

Desert and drought are all 8-year-old Anaha has ever known. Despite the 120 degree heat, she giggles and plays while pouring brackish liquid from a hole dug in a dried marsh - she is grateful for the mud that keeps her brothers and sisters alive. She doesn't worry about the month to follow, when the mud will have dried and nothing will be left to cook with or drink. Today she smiles.

You and I already know that desertification threatens the lives and livelihoods of our friends in the Azawak of West Africa, Anaha's home, where more than half a million people live on the brink of survival. On June 17, the United Nations calls the global community to observe "World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought".

In honor of this day and of Anaha, join us by contributing to Amman Imman's goal of raising $25,000 towards our work in the Azawak.

This $25,000 will make a critical difference in starting construction on our next borehole in Kijigari, Anaha's village. Less than two years ago, Amman Imman drilled its first borehole in the village of Tangarwashane. Now the children there drink pristine water, bathe, and have plenty of time to attend the newly built school. Their parents now go to adult learning classes and have begun reforesting the land near their borehole. These and other development projects have become possible thanks to the precious water it provides.

On this day, I request that YOU and EACH AND EVERY PERSON I know, do two things:

• Contribute $15 towards the Kijigari borehole today and personally become a part of the global battle against desertification and drought

If only 1,000 people were to give $15 dollars (that’s about eleven Euros for those of you in Europe), Amman Imman would already be 15,000 dollars closer to its 25,000 dollar goal! Of course, contributions of any size, big or small, get us one critical step closer to building this much needed borehole. Every dollar helps us change the lives of children who deserve a brighter future.

• Forward this message to EACH AND EVERY PERSON you know and post our campaign on your websites, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

If you and every person you know contributes only $15 or less, we may actually exceed our $25,000 goal and the children of Kijigari will never again go a day without a glass of water to drink!

We are depending on you. Without clean water, as many as one in five of the children in Anaha's village die of thirst and dehydration before the age of 5, and another third die of water-related disease. Simple things like a pimple or scraped knee can be life-threatening.

Support our work today and help us build a borehole for Anaha and the other children of the Azawak. They are extremely grateful for your continued support, and depend on your generosity for a future of hope.

Yours for the children of the Azawak,

Ariane Alzhara Kirtley
Founder and Director
Amman Imman: Water is Life

To find out more about Amman Imman and our programs please write us at: info@ammanimman.org

Partnerships and Progress in the Azawak

Dear Friends of the Azawak,

I am relieved to report that my dear husband Denis has finally returned from Niger after spending the last month working with our local team in Niger. Fassely and I had to return home early due to the unbearable heat and a dangerous meningitis outbreak. Denis remained behind to finish up all the last minute work for Amman Imman in the field.

Several positive developments took place over this past month in Niger, but before I move ahead, please take a moment to note a new section on our website, which shares inspiring stories of our work both in the United States and in Niger: www.waterishope.org/News_and_Events/stories_main.html.

Also, the Montessori schools are involved in several events at this time of year. You can read more about their “Walks for Water” and “Amman-a-thons,” here: A Walk for Water and Amman-a-thon.

Update on the Montessori Well of Love Borehole:
Our progress on the construction of the “Montessori Well of Love” borehole continues. Amman Imman’s whole cost structure and budget for borehole drilling is based on certain fixed prices – labor, materials, drilling and so forth. With spot uranium prices at a record high, world demand over the next 10 years along with the recent economic crisis have spotlighted uranium-rich Niger. Overnight we have witnessed one of the poorest countries in the world transforming to become the second largest uranium producer in the world. Because of this uranium boom plus new oil well drilling, contractors have their pockets bulging with new money. Prices for drilling have quadrupled since the Tangarwashane borehole was completed in 2007, and our small budget is simply no longer competitive with the huge multinationals who can literally throw money into the ground to reach the riches beneath.

Despite this news we remain resolute and committed to our goal of bringing clean and sustainable water to the poorest region of one of the poorest nations on earth. All along we have been working diligently at developing partnerships with powerful NGOs and other organizations that have entered collaborative arrangements with us. Furthermore, even though the money is speaking so forcefully, personal relationships do still count for a lot. A week before Denis left Niger, a good friend of ours that had stopped working for the largest drilling company in Niger – Foraco -- has recently been reappointed with a promotion. Our friend was very upset that we had not been offered a good price quote and intends to help us obtain an affordable price as soon as a drilling machine becomes available.

Since drilling has been put on standby, Denis refocused his energy on our very crucial field work. Most importantly, Denis held capacity building workshops with our local team in Abalak and continued follow-up work with the Tangarwashane Management Committee. Denis has also been successful in developing partnerships with non-governmental organizations that are either already working, or plan to work in the Azawak soon. These organizations include: International Relief and Development (IRD), Africare, the French Embassy, Jemed, and CARE International. And finally, Denis and our local team visited several more potential villages including Izelig, Tchinwagari, and Tassnala where we may work in the future.

The Amman Imman field team: Moumine -- local representative , Denis -- Niger Program Coordinator, Amamatou and Jalal -- field agents

Here are highlights of Denis and our local team’s current work in the field:

International Relief and Development (IRD) comes to Tangarwashane Bearing Trees
The international non-profit organization IRD began working in the Abalak region of the Azawak a few months ago. As soon as we heard of IRD’s presence in Abalak, Denis and I met with their local representatives to tell them about Tangarwashane. We pushed for them to consider working in the village to conduct revenue generating activities, as well as initiatives to protect the environment. We were thrilled to hear that they ended up choosing Tangarwashane as one of their intervention sites. We are currently working with IRD to choose future sites together, as partners.

IRD’s first project is to reforest the area around the borehole and to protect the land as more and more people and animals come to fetch water. It has already begun building a nursery to grow 500,000 trees, and has set up a management committee to ensure that the program succeeds. The NGO could not consider doing this work if there weren’t the borehole to provide the water for the nursery. Once this project is well established, IRD plans on rebuilding livestock herds and financing agricultural training.

It is only with this type of aid that communities throughout the Azawak can flourish. When bringing water to a community, one of Amman Imman’s core principles is to partner with other organizations that can bring other forms of help, including food, health, and education. These secondary projects are vital and life supporting and their success depends greatly on the boreholes we initially drill.

We are pleased to report that our effort has been highly effective. Since we built the Tangarwashane borehole, a functional school with 20 students has been created by the government; adult classes are being offered to men and women through a local NGO called At’cool; and now environmental measures are being established to protect the land surrounding the borehole. With IRD’s help, and the eventual presence of other organizations with which we are developing partnerships, I feel certain that little by little health, agriculture and livestock programs will come to Tangarwashane. Eventually aid will sprout and take root throughout the Azawak, thereby permitting this destitute region to flourish.

A Borehole to Last Forever…
Pristine water now flows in the Azawak village of Tangarwashane. When our Amman Imman team returned to the village this February, after more than a year away, we proudly drank the water and admired the borehole. I was able to speak with many nomads passing through, and upon witnessing their joy at finally having clean drinking water I beamed with happiness, for so many lives had been improved. The meters and counters on the faucets showed that many people were drinking from its fountain. Every report we had gotten from the department of hydraulics and our local team members had been true: the Tangarwashane Borehole is now a true blessing to many thousands of people and animals.

But for how long?

The life and duration of a borehole depends on how well it is financially and technically managed. After long discussions with Alhassan, Hakami, village leaders and members of the management committee including women such as Raichatou and Sadouan, we arrived at a crucial realization. The members of the Tangarwashane management committee need and want a good deal of follow up training. We are precisely positioned to give them this long-term support until they feel comfortable managing the borehole on their own.

Amamatou and Jalal training Tangarwashane Management Committee vice president, Yacoubou, and treasurer, Raichatou

how to maintain financial records

To begin fulfilling our promise, we hired three people locally to provide training and assistance twice a month in Tangarwashane and our future sites. We created our own version of a management school, which also provides special support to women to help them increase their voice and role within the committee and community in general. Eventually, the committee will become independent and will no longer require our support. This process may take anywhere from months to years to achieve. But our village communities and Amman Imman are a team united in a common goal: that water will flow for generations and generations, and that communities will grow and thrive. Amman Imman is there to make sure that this happens.

Amman Imman field agent, Amamatou, speaks to women in a camp near Tangarwashane about the borehole, as well as hygiene and sanitation

The fruit of our labor is already evident. Only one month after reinstating “training classes” for the management committee, it raised $400 from selling the water to both the local community and nomads using the borehole. Raichatou, the treasurer, traveled to Tahoua last week with her husband in order to open up a bank account where the committee will keep the money earned for the maintenance of the borehole. The local representative from the department of hydraulics, Abdoulkarim, has agreed to sign off whenever money is taken out in order to ensure that the money is spent exclusively for borehole maintenance and repair.

May water flow EVERYWHERE in the Azawak:

During Denis’ last visit in the field, he and our local team – Moumine, Jalal, and Amamatou --visited many villages. Of particular interest was the village of Tchinwagari where a borehole was recently built by UNICEF thanks to a proposal Amman Imman submitted to them in 2007. The villagers were very grateful for our help getting the borehole, but they wanted more. Since UNICEF no longer operates in the region, they were now turning to us for help. Their management committee had only received one day of training from the Tchintabaradene department of hydraulics, and they felt uncomfortable managing their borehole properly both technically and financially.

Moumine, Denis, Amamatou, and Jalal in frount of the Tchinwagari water tower

Since our goal is for potable water to flow throughout the Azawak, and whatever we do to support this is part of our prime directive, we decided to honor their request. The local Amman Imman Management Team will conduct bimonthly visits to Tchinwagari to conduct follow-up training and assistance with their borehole management committee members. Our female employee, Amamatou, will also be educating the women of the village on hygiene and sanitation. Additionally, she will be doing the crucial work of fighting for these women to gain a voice within their borehole’s management committee. In fact, our team conducted their first training session this weekend, and as a result, three women were appointed to the management committee.

Thank you for your continued support for Amman Imman and the people of the Azawak. And I send out a very special thank you to Denis, Moumine, Jalal, and Amamatou for their hard work in the field!

Together, we are making a difference!

Yours for the Children of the Azawak,

Ariane

International Relief and Development (IRD) comes to Tangarwashane

The international non-profit organization, IRD recently began working in the Abalak region of the Azawak. The organization has chosen Tangarwashane as one of the villages where it will intervene. Its first project is to reforest the area around the borehole and protect the land as more and more people and animals come to use the borehole. It has already begun planting 500,000 trees, and has set up a management committee to ensure that the program succeeds.

One of our goals when bringing water is to inspire other organizations to provide other desperately needed help. Since we built the Tangarwashane borehole, a functional school has been built, adult classes are being held for men and women, and now environmental measures are being established. I feel certain that little by little health, agriculture, and livestock programs will also come to Tangarwashane, and eventually aid will sprout and spread throughout the Azawak thereby helping communities to flourish in all the land.

Amman Imman Team visits Tangarwashane and chooses new site at Kijigari

Dearest Friends of the Azawak,

I hope that this email finds you well! Our Amman Imman team recently returned to Niamey from a rewarding couple of weeks in the Azawak. Debbie has already gone home to the United States, and Denis, Laurel and I are developing partnerships with organizations. We are also keeping busy negotiating with contractors.

Among the many things that we accomplished in the field, the following are of foremost importance:

• Conducted follow up study on the Tangarwashane borehole;
• Set up a new local Amman Imman team to run on site activities;
• Chose our site for the Montessori Well of Love, as well as sites for future construction;
• Worked on developing partnerships with organizations working locally;
• Re-established our ongoing partnership with local authorities, including the prefecture, the mayor, and the department of hydraulics;
• Created partnerships with local schools and Montessori schools.

Since there is so much to talk about, I am going to keep this email focused on Tangarwashane, our future construction site named Kijigari, and on our new local Amman Imman team.

Tangarwashane:

What a beautiful site: a great looming water tower, nomads and villagers waiting to retrieve water from the faucets, and herds of cows, sheep, and camels drinking from the troughs. Over the hill, beyond the water tower, stood a little hut filled with 20 eager boys and girls learning French, and one devoted teacher. We dropped off a chalk board and adult learning booklets for the new adult classes that are soon to begin.

What a joyous moment it was to enter the school and see the Tangarwashane children – the same children I have known and watched grow up over the past four years -- clean and healthy, and most important of all, learning! Before the borehole existed, these children never had time to go to school because they were too busy looking for water. I never dreamt that I would someday be able to have a conversation in French with them. They are so smart and ready to learn everything brought to them.

And thanks to our newly hired female field agent, Assaidat, we had a very open and honest conversation with the women. They are so excited to have the borehole, and to no longer have to walk all day searching for water. But they told me, « Ariane, we now have so much time on our hands, we don’t know what to do. We have no skills, but we want to have our own income. Our husbands sometimes leave for months at time, at which point we have to beg for food and other things to keep our family alive ». They want to learn how to sew, and to raise their own livestock, as well as own a village store. The men have built a wall around the water tower, and are planning on growing gardens in the walled off area. This may open up an opportunity for the women to have their own gardens. The women, also, want to get even more involved in the management of the borehole well. I promised to bring these women people who can help. We are going to now work with and seek out NGOs to bring Tangarwashane other forms of assistance. The population is now ready to develop Tangawashane into a prosperous community.

Kijigari, the next site for the Montessori Well of Love:

Kijigari, a large rural village surrounding a sweeping marsh, regroups over 4,000 inhabitants living directly within its boundaries, and many more than 25,000 in the surrounding communities. Kijigari was originally inhabited by refugees. For this reason, it is different from most villages one might encounter in the Azawak because it has received a good deal of assistance from international NGOs. It has had an operational school for over 20 years, and has a little village clinic held by a government nurse, and a large market where people come from afar to sell their goods once a week. As long as there is water in the marsh wells, the women run a village store, a sewing cooperative, and grow their own gardens.

For most of the year, however, Kijigari has no water. As soon as the marsh wells dry up, all activities end. Instead, families abandon the village in search for water. During the height of the dry season, Kijigari becomes a ghost town.

Everyone from the prefect to the mayor and the hydraulics department, as well as people from neighboring camps and villages, said that Kijigari should be our priority. As I got to know the village, I agreed, for several reasons:

• The need for water is huge. With more than 25,000 people and triple the amount of livestock that will directly benefit from a permanent water source, we will be providing the basis for life to a tremendous population.
• The population has proven themselves to be organized, capable, and willing to manage a borehole. The women have already been named the future borehole’s primary caretakers.
• Montessori schools worldwide partner with the school in Kijigari. We have already completed a friendship bracelet exchange with their school and a Montessori school in America.

Local Amman Imman Team:

Our newly appointed local team is composed of two men, one female field agent, and a representative in Abalak. This team will conduct follow-up studies on borehole sites and will help to develop our relationship with local authorities and potential partner NGOs. They are an invaluable resource.

I will keep you posted as our negotiations progress. I hope to send an email soon with the good news that we are preparing to drill. However, if we cannot bring the drilling cost down enough, then we will have to leave Niger sooner than planned in order to resume fundraising efforts with the hope of bringing water to the people of Kijigari in the very near future.

Yours in hope for the children of the Azawak,

Ariane

Sand and Stories

Please treat yourself to Laurel's blog with personal stories of her experience in Niger: http://www.laurelinniger.blogspot.com/

Her evocative and explicit writing captures the spirit of our adventures in the Azawak and brings forth the essential importance of Amman Imman's work in bringing water to the region.

Sift through the sand and stories and dip into an experience of Niger.

Amman Imman Team in Niger and traveling to Azawak

Dear Friends of the Azawak,

I write you on this hot and dusty evening in Niamey to tell you that Amman Imman's international team arrived safely in Niamey, Niger and will be traveling to the Azawak in a few days to prepare for the future drilling of "The Montessori Well of Love" Borehole.

My husband and son, Denis and Fassely, and I arrived in Niamey on February 7^th, accompanied by Amman Imman's communications coordinator and long-time representative, Laurel Lundstrom. Debbie Kahn, education coordinator and head of the Amman Imman-Montessori partnership, arrived on the 18th.

We received a very warm welcome from all our friends here in Niamey, and thanks to my dear friends and mentors, Aichatou and Ali Bety, we have a very nice house with ceiling fans and plenty of crawling space for Fassely. The fans are great for warding off heat (it's already well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit here),with an abundance of flies, and mosquitoes. Fassely, with his big blue eyes, blond hair and toothy grin, has already charmed men, women and children alike. He's also helped us negotiate good prices from fruits and veggies in the market all the way to our work permits. If only his smile could help us obtain a really nice price for drilling our next borehole.

If we are able to negotiate a fair price for the drilling, construction should commence at the beginning of next month. Laurel and Debbie left for the field on Sunday. Fassely, Denis and I departed for the field on Wednesday the 25th, after we obtained our work permits from the Ministry of the Interior.

While we are in the field, we will have much to accomplish. Our primary goal is to determine the drilling location for our "Montessori Well of Love". We have several possible sites in mind, and the final choice will depend on several factors, including the depth of the water table and the desire and ability of the population to manage a borehole. To make this choice we will be accompanied by a specialist from the regional department of hydraulics, as well as a local guide and translator.

During the period that we will be in the field, we also plan on conducting a follow up visit and evaluation of our "Janet Cornelius" borehole in Tangarwashane. Up until now, I was not personally able to conduct a follow up visit, and I am impatient to witness first-hand the huge impact that our borehole has had on people's lives. We will be traveling with technicians to conduct a diagnosis of how well the equipment has been maintained. Not only will they help with necessary reparations, but they will also determine if additional technical training for the management committee is necessary. The regional expert from the department of hydraulics will help determine how well the management committee has operated and will conduct follow up training.

Debbie and Laurel, who have been working tirelessly for the Azawak since 2006, will finally be able to witness the conditions of the Azawak. This will not only be personally rewarding for Debbie and Laurel, but it will also prove very beneficial to the project. Their first hand experience in the region will greatly increase our organizational capacity.

Debbie will be working to connect the children in the Azawak with Montessori school children in the USA through a friendship bracelet exchange. Children in the USA have made bracelets for their brothers and sisters in the Azawak. Debbie has brought the material to make 200 bracelets with the children in the Azawak, to give back to the children in the USA. We hope that this will be a beautiful opportunity to create a greater level of connection and love between our beloved children in the Azawak that desperately need water, with the compassionate children in America that have been tirelessly working to bring water to their friends over the past three years.

I will send you personal updates as much as possible as our work and adventure progresses. You can also view regular messages that we will be sending through the web at twitter.com.

Yours in gratitude, for the children of the Azawak.

Ariane