Amman Imman Profile

Amman Imman : Water is Life Bringing Water and Hope to the Azawak of West Africa IN A WORLD WITHOUT WATER, A DAILY STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL

The Azawak. A vast plain on the edge of the Sahara, mostly in Niger, West Africa and extending into Mali. The size of Florida, the Azawak is home to 500,000 mostly nomadic inhabitants and their animals. In this region, where there is no infrastructure to provide resources, the lives of the people are punctuated by the daily search for water. During the 3 month rainy season, the people retrieve their water from muddy marshes and shallow wells, shared with animals. The water they drink is as dark as hot chocolate and contaminated with human and animal waste. During the 9 month dry season when the shallow wells and marshes dry up, there are only a few usable wells available in this large region. With men and boys traveling long distances to find water for their animals, and women home with small children, the job of finding water for the family usually falls to young girls, who travel as much as 35 miles a day to and from the nearest well, only to bring a small amount of water back to their families. Nomads depend on their animals, but without water, their herds are dwindling. With the dwindling of the herds, comes the dwindling of a culture. Animals are dying, people are dying. There is water in the Azawak deep under the ground in sustainable aquifers. Borehole wells are needed to reach the clean water that is there. Due to depth of the water table, as well as the lack of roads and other infrastructure, constructing borehole wells is costly. Yet research has proven that this type of structure is the best solution to save and improve the lives of the people living in this region. PERSONAL COMMITMENT INSPIRES PARTNERSHIP FOR CHANGE Fulbright scholar Ariane Kirtley discovered the plight of the people of the Azawak when she traveled there in 2005 for her research. She was humbled by their generosity and overwhelmed by the dire circumstances under which they existed without water. Everywhere she went, local people told her that their greatest need was for water.

www.waterforniger.org montessori-amman-imman-project.blogspot.com email: [email protected] Amman Imman is a program of the Friendship Caravan, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

Amman Imman : Water is Life Bringing Water and Hope to the Azawak of West Africa When her formal proposals to bring water aid to the Azawak were rejected by some wellknown large humanitarian organizations - because the region was too vast and dangerous for their aid workers since there was no water - Ms. Kirtley decided she would make it her own undertaking. In spring of 2006, she started Amman Imman, a program under the banner of The Friendship Caravan, an American 501(c)3 organization, with a plan to build one borehole at a time in the drought-ridden and water-starved region of the Azawak. Her initial intention was that Amman Imman's borehole wells would act as a catalyst for larger humanitarian organizations to bring much needed resources, including water, education and health aid, to these abandoned people. Since Fall, 2006, students from universities, high schools and Montessori schools around the world have been partnering with Amman Imman to bring water to the Azawak. This collaboration, fostered by a personal connection with Ariane Kirtley, has inspired compassion, student leadership, and activism as students work together to raise awareness and funds for Amman Imman's mission in the Azawak. The goal of the Montessori initiative, named Montessori Wells of Love, is to build one borehole well in the Azawak in the name of Montessori students worldwide. More and more schools are participating. To find out more, please visit the blog that has been created to keep students and schools connected: http://montessori-amman-immanproject.blogspot.com/. THE FIRST BOREHOLE IN TANGARWACHANE SAVES AND IMPROVES LIVES

In July, 2007, through the efforts of the small and dedicated Amman Imman team, as well as the donations of concerned individuals, the first Amman Imman borehole well was completed and is now bringing clean and potable water to the people who live near the village of Tangarwashane in the Azawak. The photo above shows one of the few schools in the Azawak. Our hope is that as water becomes accessible, more schools will be built. However, many, many more borehole wells are needed to accommodate this large region. The people in the Azawak have a saying: Amman Imman, Arr Issudar which means Water is Life, Milk is Hope. Before they can have hope, they must have water. One borehole at a time, Amman Imman works toward its mission to bring water to the Azawak. Students are helping. But more help is needed. Child getting water from Tangarwachane faucet.

Please help. Please join our effort to bring hope to the people of the Azawak so that their children can have a future. www.waterforniger.org montessori-amman-imman-project.blogspot.com email: [email protected]

Amman Imman is a program of the Friendship Caravan, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.