Program Amman Imman. All material copyright © 2005-7 by Ariane Kirtley unless otherwise noted.

Latest News and Updates

Run & Rally for Water: March 22, 2008: World Water Day
by Laurel on 2008-03-20
Runners, Washington, D.C. locals and people interested in supporting an effort to build the next borehole well in the Azawak Valley - please come out for the Run and Rally for Water on March 22, 2008.

March 22 is recognized by the United Nations as World Water Day. The event will raise awareness about global water shortages and Amman Imman's efforts in Niger.

Runners will run one portion of a marathon - 26.2 miles. The total distance run on March 22 will represent the distance many children in the Azawak must travel to find water for their families. All runners will be wearing blue to signify the clean water our wells will tap into, deep below the surface of the Azawak Valley.

Each participant will set their own fundraising goal. The first runner will take off at 9 a.m. from the corner of Columbia and Connecticut Avenues NW. The last runner will end at that same spot around 3 p.m. A rally will take place in Dupont Circle, following the run at 4 p.m.

E-mail: laurel.lundstrom@gmail.com, for more information.



Stand Up Against Poverty with the UN: Drink for Water in Niger
by Laurel on 2007-10-02
Unified with other "Stand up, Speak out against poverty" events,
Drink for Water in Niger is meant to raise awareness to the people living in the Azawak Valley, who, each day, suffer because they do not have enough water to drink.

To participate, please keep track of how many glasses of water you consume from 9 p.m. on 16 October to 9 p.m. on 17 October.

Next, for each glass, or eight ounces, of water you consume, pledge to donate $1 or more to Amman Imman, a well-digging project benefitting the people in the Azawak. You might also want to ask your friends and/or colleagues to join in the effort by forming a group to make a pledge.


Amman Imman Fundraising in America and cast your vote for $1000
by Ariane on 2007-09-11
** This update covers two important topics, for which your help is requested:

1) My upcoming fundraising trip to the states, for which I ask your help to make it the most worthwhile and successful possible.

2) Your online vote so that Amman Imman may win $1000, and at the same time gain notoriety within the world of non profit organizations. **

Dear Friends of the Azawak,

Before I begin with my two major themes for this email, I want to share good news: today we received a call from the department of hydraulics in Abalak informing us that the borehole in Tangarwashane is functioning properly, and that everyone is in good health, grateful, and well hydrated! We also spoke with our local connection, Moustapha, who has recently returned from the Azawak and confirmed this good news.

Ok, now for the pressing topics:

1) Fundraising in the USA:

I will be in the USA as of early October until November 8th, traveling around the USA raising money for Amman Imman. I am presently working on a travel itinerary with speaking engagements that will best expose Amman Imman to potential donors, meanwhile raising awareness about the the Azawak.

Debbie Kahn, a major leader of Montessori/Amman Imman partnership, spent 10 days with me in France last month reviewing over 13 hours of video footage, and helping to select photos from the five months of our work in Niger for the Azawak. We have a great deal of new and enlightening material to show, not only of the living conditions in the Azawak during the dry season when water is most scarce, but also of our work constructing the Tangarwashane borehole.

I am eager to share these images and information to as many media outlets, institutions, foundations, schools, churches, and individuals as possible! Please help!

Now that you have been able to witness our success at Tangarwashane, you may want to contribute directly. You can also greatly help us by connecting Amman Imman with possible future donors, and helping to set up meetings and presentations that could significantly facilitate Amman Imman's fundraising and awareness raising efforts.

The Amman Imman team worked exceptionally hard to bring water to the region of Tangarwashane. People in the region now have enough crystal clean water to drink, bathe with, and give to their animals. We will ensure success through follow up visits and continued training of the management committee and community.

The team is eager to help save more lives by building additional water sources. Please help in whatever way you can make my fundraising trip to the USA successful so that we may soon have enough money to return to the Azawak with hope and water!

2) Help Amman Imman win $1000 by casting your vote!

Between now and Sept. 14, Amman Imman has been entered to win a grant of $1,000 through a Speed Granting Contest. The grant will be awarded to the proposal that gets the most votes on Facebook during this time period.

The theme for the two week period that began on Sept.1 is Change your Water World, offered to organizations providing solutions to make a difference in the lives of people and communities who do not have access to clean, safe water.

Amman Imman is only 36 votes behind 2nd place, and could easily win first place if we all vote! Your votes must be cast before September 14 th. Let's not hold back… this voting process takes very little time and will cost you nothing!

Please sign up with Facebook ASAP and recruit at least 4 more Facebook friends to vote for Amman Imman's proposal with the intention of casting a larger light around the cause of bringing water to the Azawak. The grant is small, yet sizable, and winning would put Amman Imman into a recognizable position that could attract more attention in the non profit world. It will also bring us just that much closer to building our second permanent water source, thereby saving more lives.

PLEASE take a few minutes of your precious time to recruit your friends on Facebook and/or send emails! Direct people to this link, and ask them to vote: Razoo Speed Granting


I apologize for making the focus of this email a financial one! We dream that Amman Imman will flourish in water bearing activity, and this depends greatly on the money that we are able to raise.

I send you all my gratitude.

Peace,

Ariane




Finished Tangarwashane Borehole, Equipped and Beautiful!!!
by Ariane on 2007-08-23
Dear Friends of the Azawak,

Denis (my fiancé and work partner) and I have returned to France after five arduous yet extremely productive and rewarding months in Niger.


Our very exciting news is that the TANGARWASHANE BOREHOLE IS FINISHED. As many of you know, the borehole was originally equipped with a temporary installment until we had the finances to equip the borehole properly. This has been our primary activity these past five months, and we are so very pleased to announce that our goal has been successfully completed.

The borehole is beautiful, the populations are thrilled, and the water is pure and very easily accessible!!

The borehole is now equipped with a 20m3 capacity water tower (meaning it can hold up to 20,000 liters of water!), 4 animal troths that are 6 meters long, one water fountain with 6 faucets near the water tower, and one water fountain with two faucets in the village. (see attached pictures)

At the same time that construction took place, we also set up the Water Source Management Committee that is held responsible for the proper maintenance, financial, environmental, and social management of the borehole. Everything was done with the collaboration with the regional Department of Hydraulics, committee members were chosen democratically, and they were trained by Hydraulics specialists.

As field supervisor and field activities coordinator, Denis is our field hero. I was unfortunately ubable to join him while all the final work was accomplished because I had to deal with administrative affairs in the capital. While in the field, Denis did everything from supervising construction to organizing community meetings with the hydraulics, populations, prefects, and mayors in order to set up the management committee.

Construction is Denis' field of expertise, and so when the construction was not done perfectly and did not meet his very high standards, he had the construction company start over. Luckily, the construction company -- HYDROBA -- held its own very high standards, and we are very pleased with their work. Their employees worked from 6 AM to 6 PM every day in over 110 degree weather, and always worked with a smile despite the very harsh physical demands and scorpions that kept them up a good deal of the night.

Setting up the management committee was a more difficult task, as this procedure entailed politics and diplomacy, as well as the very delicate training procedure of committee members once chosen. The management committee will most likely need additional training in the future as well as supervision by both Amman Imman and the regional department of hydraulics.

For now, we have left the Tangarwashane borehole to the care and supervision of the populations, in order to evaluate over the next couple of months how things evolve. Indeed, they are enthralled to have clean and easily accessible water. But its not enough to be thrilled… it will be essential for them to properly take care of their water source so that it lasts a very long time, and so that they can take full advantage of the magnificent structure. We will do our best to keep you informed as to how things move along in Tangarwashane, as well as how things progress for our future borehole sites.

I want to address a very special thank you to Denis, who essentially WAS program Amman Imman in Niger these past few months, and was the key component to getting everything accomplished. I want to thank my father, Michael Kirtley and president of the Friendship Caravan who has been the « big boss and primary coordinator » in Niger and internationally for the entire project« . And last but not least, a huge thank you is extended to Janet Cornelius who financed the majority of the Tangarwashane borehole. We have named the borehole in honor of her.

And thanks to you all for your support!

Yours in Peace,
Ariane




Urgent Need:People traveling up to 120 miles for water
by Ariane on 2007-06-25
Dear Friends of the Azawak,

This is just a very quick note to tell you that, upon Denis' arrival at the borehole of Tangarwachane, he found thousands and thousands of people and their animals waiting in line for water. Some of these people had travelled as far as 100 km (200 km round-trip, and approximately 120 miles round trip) searching for water. The situation is so dire at this point, that entire populations are literally abandoning their villages, and moving closer to the few sustainable sources of water. I apologize for reemphasizing the point… but the Tangarwachane borehole, along with the few others in the area, cannot alone meet the needs of all these people and their livestock. We pray for rain and more boreholes ASAP!

Yours,

Ariane




Longing fror Mineral Water and Rain: Summer Update from the Azawak
by Ariane on 2007-06-22
Dear Friends of the Azawak,

Firstly, I hope that you are all well, and looking forward to the summer, with time away from work and school, resting and enjoying family and friends.

Here in Niger , it is summer all the time, but work does not end to help cope with the heat. The rains seem to have forgotten and bypassed Niger this year. Everyone is suffering, but those menaced the most are the villagers that count on the rain to grow millet and other crops, to have water to drink, to bathe, to give to their animals, and to simply survive.

The strenuous heat has slowed us down a bit… well, particularly me. Denis has been admirable, making the 1700 km round trip journey to the Azawak many times. The last time he was there, he and the construction company conducted a 12 hour pumping trial, to make sure that the borehole has a sustainable quantity of water. During 12 hours, water was pumped out of the borehole, and to our great relief and happiness, the water table only dropped one meter. This is really good news, and means that the borehole should not run out of water any time soon.

We also ran another test on the water quality, just to be sure that the first tests had given accurate results and that nothing had changed since February. The water is pure, and can be deemed, according to the laboratory, mineral water quality. This is also amazing news. It seems so sadly ironic that most people of the Azawak are forced to drink contaminated water, often of deadly quality, when below them – albeit 200 meters below -- pristine water runs throughout the Azawak underground floor. In Europe or in the USA, we could be selling their mineral water for a good deal of money.

I'm impatient to get this delicious and healthy water to more and more people. On Denis' last trips to the Azawak, the situation was getting more and more difficult as the shallow marsh wells had all dried up, and many of the deeper 100 meter open wells had also dried up. Finding water of any quality, good or bad, is almost impossible, and this situation won't get any better until the rains fall.

This morning, Denis left again for the Azawak with a construction team and a huge truck filled with equipment (water fountains, animal drinking basins, piping, etc.) for the Tangarwachane borehole. 30 construction workers are going to be working every day for the next few weeks to finish equipping the borehole. At the same time, the management committee is going to be established and trained by professionals from the ministry of hydraulics.

I'm traveling up to the Azawak next week to make sure everything is running smoothly, and see the end of construction, and celebrate the accomplishment of our first borehole. This is so exciting, as I'm convinced it is going to be a real success story, and will pave the way for future boreholes.

Have a wonderful summer!

Yours in peace and friendship,

Ariane




Final preparations for borehole in Tangarwachane
by Ariane on 2007-05-24
Dear Friends of the Azawak,

I am writing you from Niamey, where the Amman Imman team is making final preparations before heading up to the Azawak during the construction phase next month. The team will be responsible for two major tasks: 1) supervising construction; and 2) strengthening the water source management committee through training sessions in various arenas including proper financial and environmental management, good governance, hygiene and sanitation, etc. If all goes according to schedule, construction and training should be completed by the end of June/beginning of July. Denis will be travelling up with the contractors for a few days this week to conduct initial construction operations.

As I wrote you in my last update, I have been working for the past couple of weeks on a proposal for large international organizations. I have completed the proposal and am now in the process of discussing this proposal with various agencies to determine how we might be able to work together towards the same goals for the Azawak. This whole process has taken a great deal more time than I anticipated, and things are not as clear or straightforward as I hoped they would be at this point, but I do promise to keep you posted.

Work here this past month has been a struggle as we've been caught between an overbearing workload and administrative hurdles, which have both been compounded by unbearable heat (over 115 F°). The Amman Imman team is therefore particularly grateful to have received the steady support, advice, and encouragement of several experts, including my dear friends Aichatou and Ali Betty, Tony Minaise, and the well known and respected German hydro-geologist, Mr. Gerhart Saltzmann, who has been working in Africa for the past 40 years and knows just about everything there is to know about water projects in this part of Africa. Additionally, the Rotary clubs of Niger, particularly members Gaston Kaba and Sidi Mamane, continue to be a huge source of help.

Much much thanks to all of you in America and France that continue to support the project through your various activities and efforts. Please visit the Montessori blog to read about students' participation in "A Walk for Water" and "A Month without Water". The energy and good will achieved through these endeavours has been amazing. Thank you!!

Please keep us all in your thoughts and prayers!

Yours in peace,

Ariane




Update from the Azawak: 4 May 2007
by Ariane on 2007-05-04
Dear Friends of the Azawak,

I very much apologize for the delay I have taken to send this update. I first want to reassure everyone that things are going very smoothly for the project and team members in Niger.

Many noteworthy events have taken place these past couple of weeks:
1) Several large international NGOs have shown a great deal of interest in partnering with Amman Imman to conduct a large scale water project in the Azawak. I am in the process of writing a proposal, and we may hear back from one of these organizations as soon as the end of the month. I'll wait to name the organizations until after the proposal has been submitted and we've obtained a response. If our proposal is accepted, Amman Imman would be in charge of implementing program activities, and a major source of funding for our activities and the actual water sources would come from the international NGO.
2) Denis and Moustapha have been very busy bees this past week in the Azawak. They spent a few days in Tangarwachane, the location for our first borehole, with the contractors we are hiring to better equip the borehole. They had to make an on site visit to determine technical details before placing orders for materials. Construction should begin by mid May and be completed by the end of June. Denis and Moustapha also visited the mayor and the head of the hydraulics department in Tchintabaradene to continue discussing an eventual partnership. We began this discussion the last time we were in the Azawak, but still need to determine their commitment and contribution, which is essential for ensuring the long-term success of the project.
3) Yanic Cadenas returned to France on April 27th after two months working for Amman Imman as our technical and audio visual assistant. We are very grateful for his help and investment in the project, and we hope to make his videos and photos available soon. Thank you, Yanic!!

Many exciting events are also taking place in the USA. Yale UNICEF students raised over 1000 dollars last month for Amman Imman. The combined efforts of the Montessori schools have recently raised over 10,000 dollars through their various activities ranging from "A Month without Water", to Earth Day programs, to bake sales at the IMF. Students are proving their great determination and ability to make the world a better place. So I want to send out a huge thank you to all the students, as well as to their teachers and families that have supported their efforts of solidarity.

Yours in Gratitude and Peace,
Ariane




LOCAL MONTESSORI STUDENTS “WALK FOR WATER”
by Laurel on 2007-05-04
DERWOOD, MD (May 12) – Students from six local Montessori schools will walk around the perimeter of Rock Creek Park’s Lake Frank, in hopes of raising money and awareness for a program which seeks to lessen the marathon journey – which can be a stifling 35 miles roundtrip – that children in the Azawak region of Niger must face each time they and their families need a cup of water to drink.

The 3.25-mile “A Walk For Water”, with the support of Rock Creek Regional Park, will be held on May 12, starting at 10 a.m. Although the walk will only be a fraction of the distance that children in Niger’s desert must journey for water, to the students, who have been learning about the children of the Azawak in their classes, the event will symbolize their solidarity with the Nigerien children.

Participating schools include: The Oneness-Family School, Chevy Chase, Md.; The Barrie School, Silver Spring, Md.; Evergreen School, Wheaton, Md.; Love of Learning Montessori School, Columbia, Md.; Monocacy Valley Public Charter Montessori School, Frederick, Md.; and Odyssey Montessori School, Fredericksburg, Va. A young man from the Azawak who now lives in Pennsylvania will also join the students.

“By walking together, the students are sending a message to the children in the Azawak and to the world that says, ‘We care. Every child should have water to drink, and we are going to do something about it,’” says organizer Debbie Kahn, Assistant Director at the Oneness-Family School. “I want students to gain an experience of the affect they can have on the world by collaborating with each other. This walk is a lesson in global citizenry.” Kahn hopes that “A Walk For Water” will inspire more schools around the country to collaborate to save and improve the lives of the children and families in this region.

Started by Ariane Kirtley, a former Fulbright Scholar who studied public health in Niger and spent a large portion of her childhood growing up there, Amman Imman or “water is life” in the local language of the people that the program helps, hopes to build wells for the people of the Azawak, and eventually the infrastructure, they so desperately need.

Although Amman Imman successfully created the infrastructure for its first well in the Azawak, a region the size of Florida, currently, the majority of the 500,000 people living there have no water for nine months out of the year due to a lengthening drought. During the three months that they do have water, it is nothing we’d recognize. Their water is brackish, brown and thick with mud, dirtied by the people and animals which bathe in the ponds.

Unlike throughout the rest of Niger, there are no humanitarian agencies working in this area, for fear of dehydration and sickness amongst their workers. Therefore, there are no roads or trails leading to or from the Azawak. Few schools exist in the area. The closest health center is a two-day trip by donkey. Half of children born there die before they turn five; one quarter die from dehydration alone. When little girls – nine, ten, eleven years old – make their marathon hike to the nearest water well on the outskirts of the Azawak, they often come home to find their little brothers and sisters dead from having no water to drink.

Although Kirtley lived in Niger for more than a decade and, growing up, witnessed poverty in Ivory Coast, Senegal, Algeria and The Gambia, she said the situation in the Azawak “overwhelmed me. I thought I knew about water problems in Niger. I had no idea.”

Program Amman Imman is a Washington, D.C.-based program, working in partnership with the American non-profit The Friendship Caravan, dedicated to drastically improving and saving the lives of the people living in the Azawak region of Niger. For more information, visit our website, www.waterforniger.org. For information on the student collaboration, visit http://montessori-amman-imman-project.blogspot.com/.



Reflections on Work in the Azawak
by Ariane on 2007-04-18
Dear Friends of the Azawak,

The Amman Imman team has returned to Niamey after 3 weeks in the Azawak. These past weeks were grueling, rewarding on both a personal and professional level, and extremely productive. Thanks to our field travels, we have been able to develop two short-term goals for Amman Imman:

1) Improving our first borehole in Tangarwachane. This will include:

a. Equipping the borehole with a larger cistern, animal drinking basins linked directly to faucets, and better piping with additional faucets for human consumption.

b. The community has been asked to contribute to the infrastructure by building a wall/barrier separating the animal from the human side and protecting the borehole and cistern structure. They will also be actively involved in the construction process so they can have a better understanding of how the system operates.

c. We will hire technicians to better train committee members responsible for the technical maintenance of the borehole. We will continue training committee members as well as other beneficiaries in proper hygiene and sanitation behavior in order to maintain the water potable for human consumption.

2) Launch a bid for one or two boreholes, in order to hire a contractor for the construction of our next boreholes. During our field visit, we covered over 200 km2, and have chosen 14 potential sites for future boreholes (sites cover both the Tchintabaradene and Abalak districts). We are currently waiting on the geophysical analysis to determine which sites we need to make a priority based on the depth of the water table. The geophysical situation is being analyzed both by the Department of Hydraulics in Tahoua and by Mary Ohren of the Desert Research Institute, and Ron Peterson, independent geological consultant. In order to reach a permanent and sustainable water source, we must drill to the "Continental Intercalaire" (CI), an underground water table that flows across Niger. The CI can be reached at approximately 200 meters to the East of our target area, and is found deeper and deeper as you go to the west. Near the Malian border the CI can be reached at approximately 800 meters.

We used several measures to choose our initial 14 sites:

· Thanks to information we obtained from the department of Hydraulics in Tahoua, we were able to determine a large region of the Azawak where the water table is known to be at 250 meters or less. Given that our funds all come from private donors, we cannot currently afford to build a borehole deeper than 250 meters. We therefore focused our attention on this region.

· We obtained names of sites from the department of hydraulics in Tchintabaradene as well as the mayor's office. We also questioned influential members in villages and camps and asked where their needs would be best served.

· We visited the sites to determine their real need, and to discuss this need with community members. We developed a questionnaire, which included questions such as the following:

a. Is there a need for a water point in this area?

b. What type of water point would you like to have in this community?

c. Could you financially and structurally manage a diesel group engine, if this is the type of infrastructure you desire (mentioning price estimates, maintenance, the possibility for environmental degradation, etc.)?

d. How do you conceive managing the water point and ascertaining the financial viability for maintenance and diesel costs?

e. How do you envision the role of women as active participants for the proper management of your water source?

f. What kind of contribution can the community make towards building the water point?

g. How many people and livestock would benefit from this water point?

h. How far do people currently travel to find water in this area?

· We therefore determined sites based on recommendations, requests from the beneficiaries, actual need, as well as the capacity of beneficiaries to manage their water point.

While we were in the Azawak, we also visited several boreholes run with diesel group engines in order to determine if these were being successfully managed, to learn how these were run, and establish benefits and problems associated with this type of infrastructure. We visited the boreholes and then conducted a group questionnaire to management committee members, as well as other village leaders.

Some boreholes were poorly managed, and others very well managed. Those that were well managed had undergone a great deal of follow up after borehole construction (including excessive training of community members in technical management, financial management, organizational management, and hygiene and sanitation) and active involvement on the part of committee members and beneficiaries. Those that were not successful were those built by organizations that did not follow up after the construction of the borehole. Beneficiaries were left with a complex infrastructure that they did not know how to manage.

Thus, the major lesson learned after our visit to existing boreholes is the following: in order to ensure the long term success of the boreholes, there is a need for long-term follow up including monitoring and training for several years after the construction of the borehole. There is also a need for beneficiary involvement during the construction phase so that they feel they have invested in the borehole, and understand that THEY (with our help initially) are the ones responsible for ensuring the survival of their water source.



Finally, in America, lots of exciting things are happening, including "A Month without Water" where families across the nation are giving the equivalent of their April water bill to Amman Imman initiatives. "A Walk for Water" is going to be taking place in May, where students, family members, and friends from many different schools in the Washington DC area are going to walk three miles, in spirit of the children of the Azawak currently traveling up to 30 miles a day to find water. The students are asking for sponsorship for each mile they walk, and all the funds they raise will go towards helping to build permanent water sources in the Azawak. Please read more about these initiatives on the Montessori blog: http://montessori-amman-imman-project.blogspot.com/


Yours in gratitude and peace,

Ariane





Team Amman Imman in the Azawak
by Ariane on 2007-04-07
Dear Friends of the Azawak,

Team Amman Imman arrived in the Azawak one week ago. We have been seeing and living the beauties and hardships of life here, and have witnessed people’s daily struggle for survival searching for water.

Firstly, I want to reassure everyone that our team is faring well despite the tremendous heat, fatigue, and emotional difficulty seeing people suffer firsthand. Mary, our geologist, arrived last Sunday, and has been a true asset as we have been gathering coordinates for possible future sites, and determining the geological layout of the area.

Thanks to the first borehole we built in Tangarwachane, we have not personally suffered from a lack of water. It has been very exciting to see how significantly the lives have changed of the communities living near the borehole. When I lived with these same communities in 2005 and 2006, all the children and adults were chronically sick and covered in filth and pests. They survived off of marsh water, or well water often no less contaminated. Everyone was exhausted from their daily search from water. Today they are clean and healthy, and children have time to play, and soon time to go to school. The school is in its final phase of construction and should be opening in the next few months.

We are now working to improve the management committee, particularly concerning the maintenance of the pump and sensitization concerning hygiene and sanitation. We have also determined that the solar panel pump is not appropriate for this area (it’s use at such great depths is not sustainable), and are discussing with the population the improvements they would like to make in particular, such as a bigger cistern, more faucets, drink basins for the animals, etc.

We have also visited up to 15 sites, and are giving special consideration for two sites where we think a borehole would serve a large number of people, and where the population has asked for a borehole and has shown the capacity to maintain it after construction.

Life for most of the people here is not as easy as for the communities living near Tangarwachane. This year the rainy season lasted fairly long, and so most people are surviving off of marsh water that has seeped into the ground. They have dug holes in the dry marsh lands from 6 to 20 meters deep to pull out just a few 20 liter jugs worth of water for their families and their animals. Hundreds of animals, large and small, wait their turn to drink a few sips of water. People often spend days at one of these wells waiting hours at a time for small quantities of water to seep into the well and provide a few more liters of water for their family members and livestock. This water is contaminated with animal excrement and often has the consistency of mud rather than water.

The deeper of the shallow wells, up to 120 meters deep, do not provide relief because they do not contain more water than the marsh wells, and they also dry up for hours or days at a time depending on how many people use them. When the wells go dry, young boys or men are sent down to dig deeper. Sometimes the wells collapse on them, but this is a necessary risk to take for the hope of having just a little more water.

Four donkeys and the strength of several grown men are needed to pull the water up from such great depths. The work is so grueling that the donkeys can only pull up a few buckets of water before having to be replaced. They must almost be beaten to be forced to move and haul and pull, and we even saw donkeys fall over from exhaustion. Just filling a bucket at such a great depth takes a lot of strength and time. At one well we calculated that it took 8 minutes to pull the bucket up out of the well with the strength of several men and four donkeys, and at least a few minutes more simply to fill the bucket before pulling it up. This exhaustion is compounded by the distance that people have to travel to find these few non-sustainable and contaminated sources of water.

One boy was so exhausted the other day that he dropped a bucket filled with water after pulling it up 120 meters. He and the other children and men stood in disbelief as the muddy water spilled over and then seeped into the sand. I wanted to hold him when I saw tears of sadness swell in his eyes, knowing that he had lost most of the water he was going to bring home to his family that day.

People are thirsty. They are so thirsty that they drink anything they find. It is so hot now, up to 115 to 120 degrees. They are exhausted. But they do not give up, and continue their daily struggle traveling from water point to water point, sometimes over 30 miles, just to find a sip to stay alive.

I am sending this message along with Mary who is going back to the USA on Friday so that you do not forget the people of their Azawak: their courage and their daily struggle for survival in a land without water.

We will stay here in the Azawak for at least a couple of weeks, learning more and selecting good sites for new boreholes.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers,

Ariane



Update from Niger: Weeks of March 18 and 23
by Ariane on 2007-03-29
Dear Friends of the Azawak,

We spent another week in Niamey, meeting with various individuals and organizations, and repairing my truck. The truck is finally in tip top shape, and we'll be off tomorrow for the bush of the Azawak. I've been waiting for this moment for such a long time… but I'm also apprehensive… we are leaving during the hottest and hardest time of the year. Water fetchers will be making their 30 mile round-trip treck for water in up to 120 degree heat. Wells will often be dry, and the few functioning wells will be severely overcrowded. This is the time of the year when the death rate for children soars sky high due to the woeful lack of water. Our team will have to be strong when dealing with the heat, lack of water, and most importantly, our emotions when witnessing the extreme suffering and hardships. Despite all this, I am certain that we will be welcomed with smiles and laughter, and showered with gifts of meat and milk.

We had two very rewarding meetings this week. The first was with the water program coordinator at UNICEF. He was very interested in our project, and would like us to submit a proposal for a partnership. UNICEF is already working south of our target area, and would like to extend its work to the north. UNICEF could help finance a few boreholes, and would use our help determining sites, conducting the geological study, and instating water resource management committees.


The second meeting of particular interest was with the Traditional Chief of Tchintabaradène, our target region's leader. He is extremely supportive of our work, and has offered to help Amman Imman. He thanked us for helping his people, and confirmed that organizations rarely show interest in his region. Before I could say anything about the type of water sources we hope to build, he said, "shallow wells, you see, have to be dug so deep and they dry up. They are too difficult to use. If you really want to help, please consider building boreholes". I assured him that this was our plan, and then asked how many people use one well at a time during this time of the year. He answered, "you won't believe me if I tell you… up to 20,000 to 25,000 people and at least double or triple that amount of animals".

This meeting confirmed everything I have been saying for the past year. I have been criticized by many people for claiming that so many people use one water source at a time. I have also been highly criticized for wanting to build expensive infrastructure, even though I repeatedly say that one costly borehole will serve the needs of a very large number of people, therefore rendering the cost minimal and worthwhile. Due to all the criticism I have received, I had begun doubting myself and the entire project. Yet ever since our team arrived in Niger, authorities such as various members of the Ministry of Hydraulics, and public officials from our target region have repeatedly reiterated everything that I have been claiming ever since Amman Imman was founded. I will now document the truth with photos and video so that those unable to travel to the Azawak can witness the real conditions in our target region for themselves.

I will do my best to be in touch while away in the bush. Please keep the Amman Imman team in your thoughts and prayers.

Yours,

Ariane

--



Week of March 11-17th - Amman Imman Activities in Niamey
by Ariane on 2007-03-19
Sunday the 11th :

Today we had a very refreshing meeting with Ingrid Patetta and Youssouf Alhaji Ami, a French lady and a Tuareg, who have also dedicated their lives to helping the populations of the Azawak. They are the founders of the local NGO "Tagaste" that works to rehabilitate one village in the Abalak District of the Azawak. "Tagaste" has already built a school and rehabilitated one well that is 125 meters deep. Both Ingrid and Youssouf have experience creating management committees and conducting sensitization programs on gender and health related issues through radio shows. Youssouf offered to present us to his sister in Tchintabaradène that focuses her attention on women rights issues, and could help us address gender equity dilemmas we are sure to confront. Ingrid spoke of "Waterforce", a large French program that finances humanitarian water programs. She has contacts within the program and has offered to help us submit a proposal to them. Ingrid also creates documentaries for a living, and we hope to hire her to produce a documentary on the water issue in the Azawak. In any case, I am greatly looking forward to spending more time with Ingrid and Youssouf, and maybe one day working hand in hand for the people of the Azawak.

Monday the 12th :

This morning we had a very informational meeting with the chief geophysicist at the Ministry of Hydraulics. We discussed a great deal of pertinent issues, including the following:

a) He confirmed that Amman Imman is working in one of the most difficult regions of Niger in terms of the geophysical conditions. The first thing he said when we told him we were building permanent water sources is, "I hope you are not planning on digging shallow wells". He warned us that in order to reach permanent underground water sources in our target region, we must drill more than 200 meters (and most often more than 400 meters).
b) He worked in our target region for 6 years before becoming the head geophysicist for the ministry. From his experience in the area, he confirmed that one water point in our target region will serve the equivalent of 10 villages in another region because of 1) how few water sources exist in the area, and 2) the fact that we are working with nomadic as well as sedentary communities.
c) He encouraged us to only consider two drilling companies in Niger, because the others do not have adequate drilling equipment and have a poor track record.
d) Once we choose a large number of possible locations strategically placed throughout the Azawak and determine the exact coordinates for these with a GPS, our geologist can work with the ministry to locate the shallowest points to drill, as well as locations with high artesian pressure.

We then spent a great deal of time this afternoon at the Ministry of the Interior. Amman Imman has obtained NGO status in Niger, and we have had the right to operate in country since the construction of our first borehole. However, we have not obtained tax exempt status because the government has not provided this status to any new NGOs since 2005. Since we may have to import materials, we are working with the ministry to obtain this status in order to avoid paying costly import taxes.

Tuesday the 13th:

Representatives from the international NGOs working in Niger meet once a month to discuss their various projects and ascertain that there is no overlap in their work. We were invited to present Amman Imman at this month's meeting, with the hope of discussing the potential for a partnership. For the moment, no international NGOs are working in our target area except for UNICEF in the southern region. "International Relief Development" (IRD) is planning to work in the area in 2008, and has asked us to submit a proposal so that we may work together once they begin operation in the Azawak. The Red Cross conflict resolution team congratulated us for our efforts to help the Azawak, a region that has been source of conflict in the past.

In the afternoon, our team met with the international organization "Aquadev" that works on water development projects. They have a large drilling project in the Zinder region, which also suffers from water insufficiency. In the Zinder region, one must also drill up to 100 meters or deeper to reach underground water sources. World Vision also works in the Zinder area and has already drilled 36 boreholes. I felt very encouraged after our meeting. If they can provide water to people dying of thirst in Zinder where drilling is also very costly and difficult, then we will be able to bring water to the people of the Azawak.

Wednesday the 14th:

Today we had the great honor to meet with the first lady, Laraba Tanja, the president's wife. She congratulated us for our dedication towards her country, and supports our efforts in the Azawak. She even offered to help us obtain tax exempt status. I told her of my love for Niger and Nigeriens. She appeared grateful and admitted disliking the negative image that Niger has received these past couple of years through the media. She declared "there is more to our country than famine and poverty", and so I promised her to share the beauty and kindness of Nigeriens as well as their suffering with our international partners.

We then went to the Consulate of Monaco to discuss Amman Imman with their project funding program officer. He knows the Azawak and is aware of the water shortage problem in the region because he used to work for OFEDES, Niger's former public water drilling company. He was particularly excited to hear about our international partners, and not only encouraged us to submit a proposal, but also to seek a partnership with he consulate. If our proposal is accepted, the consulate may consider financing one or more boreholes.

Thursday the 15th :

This evening we presented Amman Imman to the Rotary club "Croix du Sud" in Niamey. We received a very warm welcome. Several of the Nigeriens were astonished to hear of the living conditions in the Azawak. They also asked some very interesting questions regarding the possibility of rainwater harvesting, and they expressed their concern about the possibility of environmental degradation caused by high population pressure around the boreholes.

I was particularly concerned about the environmental degradation question. Both of my degrees include specialisations in environmental sciences, and so avoiding environmental damage has been one of my primary concerns with the project. I had looked into this question with specialists at Yale, who had told me that damage would be insignificant. Nonetheless, after our discussion, I will look into this question with specialists at the Ministry tomorrow.

Before the Rotary meeting, our team met with various drilling companies to compare price quotes for boreholes of various depths. I was happily surprised to find out that price quotes did not vary greatly from one company to another (including the most highly recommended company). The price of our boreholes will mostly be determined by the depth we have to dig, and the type of tubing we use to line the boreholes. Under 200 meters, the borehole can be lined with PVC plastic, but over 200 meters, the borehole has to be lined with steel tubes. Steel costs at least three times more than PVC. Also, the more boreholes we build at one time, the cheaper the construction costs will be.

Friday the 16th :

Today we met with the chief of division for "village and pastoral community water management" at the Ministry of Hydraulics. Still concerned about the environmental degradation question, I asked him his opinion about the matter. He confirmed that up to 150 meters surrounding the borehole would suffer from environmental degradation, but that this damage would be extremely minimal as far as surface area was concerned, and not something the Ministry considers when building boreholes in pastoral areas given the benefit these have on the population. He nonetheless recommended building boreholes at least 10km apart to avoid additional environmental degradation due to population pressure. This will not be a problem given we were planning on constructing our boreholes at no less than 20 km apart.

We also discussed the idea of rainwater/surface water harvesting (which had been my initial plan when I brought the situation to CARE's attention in 2005). He said that for pastoral populations in an area with so little rainfall, this would be a Band-Aid solution for only a few months a year. He thinks we could use this as a secondary strategy to improve access to water in the Azawak, but that we cannot rely on rain/surface water harvesting to provide year round water to both populations and their animals. This confirmed the answer I had obtained from several research institutions in America specialized in rainwater harvesting, which claimed that for our target area (characterized by low annual rainfall and very large animal herds) rainwater harvesting would provide minimal results. Nonetheless, we will continue to look into this and dew harvesting as secondary and less costly solutions to the water problem in the Azawak.

We also asked about the possibility of using hand pumps in areas where artesian pressure brought the water high enough to the surface. He did not advise hand pumps in pastoral areas. He repeated the statement made by the Ministry's head geophysicist that the equivalent of 10 to 12 villages would be using one borehole, and that hand pumps would not withstand the heavy usage for more than a few days. From his experience in our target area, the most reliable systems are the well boreholes, and when these cannot be built because of low artesian pressure, the only other solution is the diesel group engine.

Finally, he also confirmed that it will be difficult to locate drilling places where we will be able to dig at less than 200 meters, and that more likely we will have to drill 400 meters or more.

Saturday the 17th:

Today, we were thrilled to finally get together with our "superwoman" geophysicist, Mary Ohren of the Desert Research Institute. She arrived in Niamey yesterday, and will be joining us in the Azawak at the beginning of April. In the meantime, she will be gathering more geophysical data for our area to help us best determine future construction sites. Locations for our boreholes, she warned, must not only be chosen for depth and best location for the population, but also in terms of the sediment and rock. Certain rocks and sediments may contaminate our water with elements like fluoride and arsenic.

Mary brought us a GPS in order to locate the coordinates for our future sites. She also gave us a testing kit so that we can verify the quality of the water of our first borehole. The water has already been tested, but we want to be sure that the water has not been contaminated since the borehole's completion.

We will be travelling up to the Azawak next week in order to determine 15 to 20 potential sites for our future boreholes. We will also visit our current borehole to make sure that the "water management committee" is functioning properly and the borehole is being maintained correctly. We are also looking forward to seeing if they have begun constructing the school. Classes are already being held in a tent in the meantime.



Update from Niger: 9 March 2007
by Ariane on 2007-03-16
Dear Friends,

I arrived in Niger on March 2nd with my fiancé and work partner, Denis Gontero. Our team has been attending meeting upon meeting, developing partnerships, obtaining additional geologic data, and determining the best location and infrastructure for our next borehole.

This evening Moustapha Alkassoum (program co-founder) and I introduced "Amman Imman" to the Niamey Rotary Club "Croix du Sud". Mr. Gaston Kaba, "Croix du Sud" club president, kindly invited us to give an official power point presentation next Thursday. Mr. Kaba has been extremely supportive in various ways, by serving as my personal mentor, allowing us exposure to different clubs, and offering to help the project bring equipment into the country if necessary. Sidi Mamane, president of the Rotary club of Agadez, and Leslie Clark have also provided us with invaluable advice and support. The Rotary Club of Agadez currently operates north of our target area, and devotes much of its energy to improve the lives of pastoral nomads. They have expressed interest to extend their work to our region.

This morning our team met with a representative from the Ministry of Hydraulics, who claimed to be very impressed with our efforts. His eyes grew huge when we told him our target area in the Azawak. Hiding behind his large desktop computer, as if embarrassed to be the bearer of bad news, he informed us, "the good news is that there is water everywhere in your target region, and your work is direly needed. The bad news is, you have to dig over 200 meters to find a permanent source of water… you need a lot of money". He explained that the cost of digging so deep is often a discouraging factor for both the government and humanitarian organizations, thus explaining why there are so few sources of water in our region. Of course, this "bad news" is old news to us, and we plan on persevering no matter how deep we have to dig. Luckily, Mary Ohren and Ron Peterson, geologists that work with the Desert Research Institute, have been helping us work with the Ministry of Hydraulics to determine the best (and most shallow) locations for our boreholes. Mary will be arriving on the 16th to continue gathering data, and visit the Azawak. On Monday we will be meeting with the ministry's specialist for our target region in order to obtain additional geologic data.

In the afternoon we met with the coordinator for the international non profit organization "Action against Hunger". He has invited us to present "Amman Imman" at the monthly meeting held by all the international non profit organizations working in Niger. We will be presenting Tuesday morning, at which point we hope to meet future partners.

Last but not least, we will be meeting with the newly appointed Minister of the Interior this weekend. He is a Fulani from the Azawak, and very interested in helping his people. I have no doubt that many good things will come of this!

Thank you for your continued support. Thank you for believing in our goal and vision.

Yours in Peace,

Ariane Kirtley


Volunteer Updates: February 2007
by Laurel on 2007-02-25

Starting off the New Year, Laurel introduced Amman Imman to more than 250
students and faculty at the Agnes Irwin School in Rosemont, Pennsylvania. Students expressed interest in doing fundraising projects of their own for Amman Imman, in lieu of their 40-
hour community service requirement.

Visit Amman Imman on myspace.com and become a "friend" of Amman Imman. Laurel created the account to help to launch successful e-campaigns for Amman Imman in the future.

Charity:, a nonprofit organization stimulating greater global awareness about extreme poverty, educating the public, and provoking compassionate and intelligent giving may be interested in incorporating Amman Imman's project goals into their own, by helping with fundraising ideas and events. Laurel will be meeting with Lani Fortier, Outreach Coordinator for Charity: in New York on Monday, February 26th.

Laurel and Heather met with some students from the Oneness-Family School, where they served as an audience for students to practice the Powerpoint presentation of Amman Imman; they
found the presentations to be both eloquent and well-spoken.

Debbie has been helping several students from the Oneness-Family School to prepare for presentations of Amman Imman. Throughout the week, 7th graders went to the Barrie School in Silver Spring, Maryland, and then to the Monocacy Valley Public Charter Montessori School in Frederick, Maryland on Thursday. Students in the school's Peacekeeper club also presente to Oneness's parent community, friends and neighbors on Wednesday.

Debbie also helped to create a gallery of Ariane's photographs along with a framed declaration which states: "The students at Oneness-Family School are partnering with Amman Imman to bring water and hope to the children in the Azawak valley of Niger, West Africa. "

Recently, Oneness-Family School held a Family Dance sponsored by the Peacekeepers. They set up a beautiful display of Ariane's photos, and sold small photo note cards - $30 for a package of six, making about $300 that evening from sales of the note cards.

An article that Debbie wrote about Ariane and Montessori's involvement with Amman Imman will be featured in the March issue of Tomorrow's Child, a magazine published by The Montessori Foundation.

On the Montessori Blog, Montessori Wells of Love has been officially announced as the name of the Montessori partnership with Amman Imman. Additionally, A Mission and Vision statement has been posted, articulating the potential that student involvement with the mission of Amman Imman will contribute to their future as compassionate leaders in this world, sensitive to the needs of humanity.

The Montessori Wells of Love team has started to publicize "A Month Without Water," by sending out letters to specific Montessori schools who expressed interest in
participating during the Montessori Peace Conference in Florida. Additionally, Megan Mason and Maureen Keeling, two members of the Wells
of Love team, are working on a brochure that may be sent through Montessori organizations to their mailing lists and individual schools in the future. Several on the team are going to be attending some upcoming Montessori conferences where flyers and information on Amman Imman and A Month Without Water will be handed out, and notecards will be sold.

At the Island Village Montessori School in Florida, the children raised more than $300, and with an additional check from a donor for $1000, they have sent a large contribution, filled
with love, to the children in the Azawak.

Maureen announces that several students from the Odyssey Montessori School are in the final planning stages of their used toy sale to benefit Amman Imman. They have publicized the
sale both at school and around town. There are currently numerous ads in the local papers, radio stations, etc. The sale will be on March 10th at Odyssey Montessori School, with a rain date March 17th. At the sale, they will also sell coffee, hot chocolate and donuts.

Odyssey has also begun sending out invitations to their annual Gala/silent auction/live auction, the theme being "Go With the Flow." All of the sponsorships have water themes for the various levels. Amman Imman will get a percentage of the auction items. Megan has more details on this. The Gala is at the Fredericksburg Country Club on March 30th.

Megan and Maureen have been invited to do presentations at some of the local Rotary Clubs, probably sometime in March or April. Odyssey is also planning their annual "Spring Fling" Festival, for the last weekend in April. This will coincide with a Month Without Water.

Dennis has made several valuable connections with potential donors and interested parties in Connecticut. For instance, he recently spoke with Charles Musser, co-chair of the Yale Film Studies Program and producer of academy-award-winning film "Hearts and Minds." Musser expressed interest in Amman Imman. Several acquaintances of Leonard Zimmerman, a retired engineer who is very interested in project, may be potential donors as well.

At the Master's Tea in Saybrook, Connecticut, where presenter Elizabeth Kobert, staff writer for The New Yorker magazine, led a discussion on Global Warming, Dennis talked a
bit about the effects that global warming have had on the Azawak. A Yale Daily News reporter, Veronica Greenwood, was most interested and hopes to writes a follow up to Africa Week. Greeenwood's father is Executive Director of the Mountain Research Initiative, which includes the study of the receding glaciers of the world and the development of proposals
towards sustainable land, water and resource management.

Thanks to two wonderful friends of Amman Imman, Tobias Roy and Birgit Maier, we have been made aware of the possibility of a small grant from the International Monetary Fund's Civic Program. Between $5 - 10,000 may be available.

Tobias has served for a few months on the CPAC international committee (Civic Program Advisory Committee), which discusses and evaluates grant applications. Athough these funds do not usually support "brick and mortar" type projects, Amman Imman would, in his view, "fit very well into the roster of small and independent projects supported by the CPAC."

Birgit works with the IMF's Family Association and is planning fund raising activities for for Amman Imman in the spring. She has already secured 50% matching funds for any staff who donate to Amman Imman through the IMF's recent "Helping Hands" campaign.

In addition, Amman Imman is now eligible and on the IMF list of eligible programs to receive matching funds from any contributions made through payroll deductions. If you know of anyone associated with the IMF, please urge them to consider contributing to Amman Imman and ask that their funds be matched.






Water For Schools in Niger
by Ariane on 2007-02-22

10 February 2007

Dear Friends of the Azawak,

Late last week I called Moustapha Alkassoum -- Amman Imman co-founder and field supervisor. I jumped out of my seat with joy when he informed me that the populations have already asked permission from the local government to build a school near our first Amman Imman deep well. They needed water in order to make adobe bricks to build homes and other buildings, and now that they have water, they are wasting no time to construct infrastructure that will improve their lives.

Moustapha made the 800 km trip to the Azawak this Thursday. I am impatient for him return with even more exciting news and photos. The significance of this update cannot be emphasized enough: it is evidence that the populations are proactively improving their living conditions and that our first well is the first of many that will serve as a catalyst for a bigger and better future for the people of the Azawak.

I have another very exciting bit of news: we made our purchase of solar panels, pump, and cistern yesterday in order to equip our borehole with a solar powered pump next month. This is a huge step for the project, considering that we had to weigh the pros and cons of solar power with other technology, we also spent a great deal of energy researching the best companies from which to order the material, as well as time negotiating prices for the equipment! The material, which we ordered from France, will arrive in Niger at the beginning of March. We will then hire a Nigerien company to set up the solar panels and pump, and will use the help of local populations to set up the cistern and build a shelter and walls to protect the borehole and solar panels.

In my next update, I will tell you more about the Montessori Schools/Amman Imman partnership, which has been named the "Montessori Wells of Love". In the meantime, please visit Slide Show on You Tube, to view our narrated slide show of the Azawak. Ingrid Patteta, a brave and fascinating young woman who has also dedicated her life to helping the people of the Azawak, has posted video footage of her experiences. You can view her footage of the Azawak at Ingrid on You Tube.

Water is Life, Milk is Hope.
In gratitude and peace,
Ariane





Weekly Update: 30 January 2007
by Ariane Kirtley on 2007-02-02

Dear Friends of the Azawak,

I am truly excited to be sending this Amman Imman update to you, my dear friends of the people of the Azawak region of Niger. For around a year you have followed the developments that led to my founding Program Amman Imman (Water is Life) as part of my father's organization The Friendship Caravan, following the year I spent as a Fulbright scholar conducting public health research in rural Niger. Many of you have volunteered hours and hours of your time to help, and many others have made wonderful financial donations to the cause. Today I have a few things to tell you. And over the next months I plan on sending you these updates on a very regular basis.

Before anything else, then, I want to THANK YOU! Thank you for your personal support and thank you for helping me offer a future to the children of the Azawak! Without your steadfast love and support, this program would not have become the bright star of hope that it is today.

There are so many things I would like to tell you about. And I will, over time. Especially about the partners that have joined with us, from Montessori schools to Rotary clubs to Royal Air Maroc, the Moroccan national carrier. And about the people that individually have given so much to our cause. And much much more!

I promise to share this wonderful news in upcoming updates. Today, however, I would like to focus on two pieces of exciting news.

Before I start, though, for those of you who may not be familiar with Amman Imman, I refer you to our main web site, www.waterforniger.org. In a nutshell, we are engaged in a campaign to bring sustainable sources of water to more than 500,000 people who have none, thereby helping them to preserve some semblance of their traditional lifestyle.

These people, mainly Tuareg and Fulani nomads, live in the Azawak, a vast plain the size of Florida that for the most part has been abandoned by the rest of the world. In this land of extreme hardship and surprising hospitality, there are no roads, no schools, no health centers, and most of all, no permanent sources of water. Even international aid groups venture into the Azawak with great trepidation, out of fear that their workers suffer from the lack of water.

The first news I would like to share with you is the publication of my first cover story, late last week in Yale Medicine, the magazine of Yale Medical School. Here you will find out how I discovered the plight of the Azawak, and how I came to the conclusion that someone had to do something to help these gentle and hardworking people. Here is an excerpt from my article:

"…When I threw a pebble into Mohammed and Gonda's well, I heard a faint thump, not the splashing of water. "How deep is it?" I asked. Two hundred feet, I was told, and no sign of water.

For six years Mohammed and Gonda's families from neighboring villages and camps in the Azawak plains of the Republic of Niger pooled their resources to dig an adobe well. Then they abandoned their efforts. There was no more money to dig deeper or to line the well with cement—the adobe well threatened to cave in. Even if the families had had the resources, it would take six more years to reach water. In the Azawak the first water table typically lies 430 feet underground, and renewable aquifers are at 700 to 1,400 feet. Because the people of the Azawak cannot afford pumps and pipes, there are few sources of water, and none are permanent or reliable because they dry up from overuse…"

To read the entire story, please go to www.yalemedicine.yale.edu, and click on "Water is Life".

The second news is much more important that any magazine article could ever be: working together with a sister organization in Niger that I helped found with my research assistant, Moutapha Alkassoum, named "Water For Life," Amman Imman is proud to announce that our first borehole was drilled late last year, in a locale called Tangarwachane. This is the same area I describe in my article, where I lived with my host parents Sadouan and Alhassan.

I had hesitated to tell you about this borehole until we could arrange for a permanent pumping system. We are working on this as you read these lines. In the meantime, however, we felt it would be criminal to drill for water and then not bring the water to the surface, when people are literally dying for lack of water. So we have settled on a temporary solution: we have place a diesel-powered pump on top of the borehole, allowing for water to be distributed to families who otherwise would walk hours and hours to find some.

Many of you know how much I dislike the "diesel-powered" solution. The pumps break down, and fuel is difficult to come by, and costly for the populations to maintain. For the next few months, however, it will do, a band-aid for an open wound. We are now studying ideas for the best permanent solution for the Tangarwachane borehole. We are looking into solar power and other solutions. We will also be bringing a gigantic rubber cistern to this borehole, so that the nomads will have a rudimentary kind of water tower.

Right now I am in France, working with my team here to procur the equipment we will send to Niger. I have also been delayed by a lingering illness brought on by my last trip to the Azawak. In mid-February I plan on returning to Niger and finish the job by the end of March.

Of course this is only the beginning. With your help and the help of many new friends yet to be discovered, my dream is to bring at least fifty water sources to the people of the Azawak.

I plan on sending you very regular updates of our progress and work. I hope that through these updates we can all live this beautiful experience together. However, if you would like to be taken off this list, please let me know. Or, if on the contrary, you would like to add people to this list, please feel free to tell me. Regardless, you can find out more information on the work of Amman imman at www.waterforniger.org and http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/water/blog.html. You can also find out more about the amazing Amman Imman/Montessori partnership by visiting http://montessori-amman-imman-project.blogspot.com/ .

I am so excited to share and live this adventure with you.

Water is life, milk is hope,
Ariane

PS: As soon as I receive photos of the borehole in Tangarwachane, I will of course share them with you



Thank You Letter to Montessori Students
by Ariane Kirtley on 2007-01-27
Dear Montessori students worldwide helping to bring water to the Azawak of Niger,

Thank you, thank you. Thank you for the inspiration that you have brought to the Amman Imman cause through your activities filled with love and hope. Thank you for caring and loving your brothers and sisters that live across the ocean in a world unknown to you, and for taking precious time and energy helping to save their lives. Thank you for your beauty, and for believing that together we can make this world a better place.

Every day I go to the Montessori blog to feel empowered by you to continue to work hard and fulfill our common vision of life and hope for the Azawak. Your words and actions fill me with tears of joy and inspiration.

Although I was originally planning on being in Niger in December, I am still in France working with the Amman Imman team in Europe, Niger, and America in preparation for all the hard work that lies ahead in Niger. We have been very busy negotiating contracts with construction companies, determining construction sites through geophysical studies, and considering different infrastructure options.

Last week, almost every day I had the joy of coming home from work to beautiful packages filled with this same love and hope from the Odyssey and Oneness Family Montessori schools. I immediately called every member of our work team in the United States, Niger, and France to describe all the contents of the packages, from the post cards you have been making to sell, to the rosemary, to the letters of encouragement you have written me, to photos of the PeaceKeepers and students in Odyssey and Oneness, to the article on the Odyssey school "petite soap company", to the soap… the list goes on. Our entire team was thrilled and felt rejuvenated.

Your packages and messages that arrive almost daily on the Montessori blog are a true blessing and a source of deep encouragement. Work has been fulfilling yet difficult these past months. I find myself getting caught up in all our “business-type work”, which unfortunately creates a huge distancing affect between the work I am doing and the reality of the lives of the children of the Azawak. Your letters and packages helped remind me the purpose of our mission: to bring light, spirit, hope and life to our friends in Niger.

The hard and sometimes monotonous work is coming to fruition. We have even been successful building one borehole 40 km north east of our target region’s capital, Tchintabaradène. I will be traveling to Niger soon to complete this structure with a pumping mechanism, and am impatient to send you photos of children drinking water and celebrating life. In return to them, I will show them your letters and works of love. They will be so tremendously touched that children so far away care so much about them.

During the next few weeks, we will be meeting with heads of the best contracting companies to negotiate a partnership with them. I will take my tokens of love filled activities taking place among the Montessori students as proof of the movement that has begun in America. I will point out that even the smallest children are aware of the situation in the Azawak and being proactive to change this situation. I will make sure that the contractors understand that children around the world, from America to the Azawak, are counting on them to help us bring light, spirit, hope and life to our friends in Niger.

Once again, thank you. Thank you for the love and hope you bring to our world. You are beautiful, you are powerful, and you, united with the children of the Azawak, are my light and inspiration in this humanitarian endeavor.

Yours in love and gratitude,
Ariane
Amman Imman, Founder and Director


"Friends of the Azawak" Listserve Created for Regular Updates
by Ariane Kirtley on 2007-01-24
I have created a list of emails of our "friends of the Azawak" -- people that have helped or shown interest in Amman Imman -- to whom I intend on sending regular updates informing our work and progress. I will also post these updates here. Please check regularly for news and updates!

Please contact me if you have noteworthy news on your progress being a part of the Amman Imman endeavor. I would love to include your experiences as a part of our updates!

I am excited to share and live this adventure with you.
Yours in peace and hope,
Ariane


African Week at Yale
by Dennis Hamilton on 2007-01-24
Although this message dates back to November, it was never posted, and is still timely. I am posting it today in our effort to bring updates to you, particularly a noteworthy event such as this...

November 4-11, 2006

A Concert for Water
A Concert in Dwight Chapel benefiting Amman Imman kicked off African Week at Yale on Saturday, Novembre 4th. The unique a cappela “Shades” opened with incredible powerful songs in original African languages. All were startled by the tremendous sounds of drums when Yale’s first African Singing Group “Asempa” (which means "good news" in Twi, a Ghanaian language) marched and danced into our midst. Then a fine chorus called Konjo brought the audience a range of sounds including blues, gospel and traditional African songs and live African dance.

After a short break, students donned an array of African garments and treated the audience to a Fashion Show befitting the best dressed women and men.

Kristine Berzin JE ‘08, President of Yale Undergraduate Students for UNICEF and Ruth Botsio ‘09, Public Relations Coordinator for The Yale African Student Association hosted the event. After first describing the evenings program, I was introduced and said a few words including a brief description of the Azawak and Amman Imman, commended the students organizing African Week, pointed out a selection of Ariane Kirtley’s photographs of children that were exhibited on the Chapel walls and gave thanks to all who were supporting our mission on behalf of Ariane and the people of the Azawak.

Exhibiting Beauty and Suffering
Nearly all of Ariane’s photographs were put on exhibit on Monday, Novembre 6th at the new MacMillan Center for International and Area Students and Scholars at the request of the student organizers of African week Although reluctant at first, permission was obtained to use the best site in in the building to tell our story through Ariane’s writings and photographs. Thanks to Heiwa and MaryAnne, the power of the display did honor to the people of the Azawak. The International Center Director, Ann Kulhman agreed the exhibit should stay up an extra week until the students left for Thanksgiving break.
A Master’s Tea for Amman Imman On Tuesday, November 7th, I spoke at a Master’s Tea at Pierson’s College. Arranged by Pierson College’s indomitable Su Yin Tan and thanks to Laurel Lundstrom and Ariane, approximately 25 students and guests heard a PowerPoint presentation adapted for the occasion. Master Harvey Goldblatt, Professor of Slavic languages and literature, aka Master “G”, hosted a formal dinner for Amman Imman. Over an elegant setting, I had the opportunity to discuss and answer a range of questions and interests from students from six different organizations, colleges or classes. I was readily supported by Master “G” when the discussion included similar experiences overseas and during the sixties and seventies at Yale and in the USA. A Yale Album – The Third Century filled with essays and photographs was warmly given to us and signed by students and Master “G”. Several of the students said this occasion had a profound impact on them and offered to work with us the rest of the year. One student, a freshman, Kristjiana Gong, later took a copy of Ariane’s powerpoint presentation to present to her high school and area Rotary Clubs in San Luis Obispo, California during the Thanksgiving recess.

Performance, Poetry, and Stories of Africa to Benefit the Azawak
Thursday evening, Novembre 9th, found another packed audience in the International Center. Again, Ruth Botsio, along with Maggie Mapondera ‘09 and Pricella Adipa ‘07 and other Yale Association of African Students hosted a program that included delicious African munchies and performances by Asempa and a “WORD” poetry performance. Then a silence fell over the audience and against a back drop of Ariane’s photographs, the African author, Chimamda Ngozi Adiche GRD '08, read from her newest novel, Half of a Yellow Sun, a powerful, haunting description of the birth and death of Biafra’s passionate struggle to become independent from Nigeria. Copies of her previous award winning work: Purple Hibiscus as well as Half of a Yellow Sun were autographed and inscribed to “Alzhara” (Ariane Kirtley).
Food for Water Friday, Novembre 10th, another benefit dinner for Amman Imman was held and nearly 150 students paid $5.00 each to snarf African and other ethnic foods from 22 New Haven restaurants delivered en mass to Dwight Chapel. With the photography exhibit across campus, the remaining post cards and a portfolio of Ariane’s photographs greeted the students on arrival. There were some serious introductions made with keen interest from more undergraduates, International Fellows from Europe and Asia as well as chairpersons from both Yale and Southern Connecticut. The only downside noted was disappointment of a few, including the dean of Timothy Dwight College that Ariane was not there in person!
Ending With Dance, Smiles, and Hope at a Safari Dance Party African Week at Yale ending Saturday night, Novembre 11th , with a rockin’ “Safari Dance Party in Saybrook Dinning Hall, all proceeds for Amman Imman. Over 30’s were excluded so rumor has it that it was another packed event and no one wanted to leave at 1 am.
Credit for such exceptional and successful week of events is due in no small part to: Kristine Berzin JE, Ruth Botsio, Su Yin Tan, Master “G”, Maggie Mapondera, Pricella Adipa, Roshan Sethi, Rosh Sethi, Kristjiana Gong, and Lea Yu, as well as their colleagues at: Yale Undergraduate Students for UNICEF, Yale Association of Africa Students, Office of International Students & Scholars, Pierson College,Yale Daily News, Dwight Hall, and the MacMillan Center for International and Area Students and Scholars .



Blog Linked!
by William Martin on 2006-12-23
Finally, we have linked the project's blog hosted at the Louisville Courier-Journal. Use the 'blog' link at the top to read the posts. The Montessori blog still has its own link, now under 'Montessori'.


Montessori Blog Launched!
by William Martin on 2006-11-27
Please visit the blog set up by Debra Kahn of the Montessori Schools for more information, updates, and details about how you can participate in the program to bring water to the Azawak of Niger! It also includes a presentation kit for educators wanting information to present to their students.

You can find the link at the top of any page on this website, or simply click here.


Reflections from a Run for Water
by Laurel Lundstrom on 2006-11-24
I finally feel recovered from the 26.2 mile run I made on Sunday for the people of the Azawak. Throughout the first half of the run, I reminded myself of how lucky I was to have the cool, fall breeze following me as I ran. Unlike the stifling 100+ degree temperatures that the children of the Azawak face each day on their marathon hike for water, I was blessed with a damp, seasonal wind. As the run got tougher, I tried to remember what I was running for - the survival of 500,000 of the most vulnerable people on this Earth. While I will only travel 26.2 miles by foot once this year, the children of the Azawak will do it numerous times throughout their nine-month dry season; the notion of that hardship followed me to – and well beyond – the finish line.

I believe that everyone who donated to Amman Imman in sponsorship of my marathon was similarly touched. People in the West are familiar with marathons. Many are in awe that I would choose to run a marathon in the first place. Most say they could never complete such an athletic endeavor. When I say to them, imagine then, making a marathon hike, without water, with little to eat, in an oppressive heat, knowing that if you do not make it to the end of that marathon in time that one of your family members could be dead. My marathon run then seems small, only slight in comparison, to the phenomenal challenge that little girls in the Azawak face each day. Please remember this.

So, following my friend Paul Lee, who also ran for Amman Imman, I finished the Philadelphia marathon in a little more than four hours knowing that the money I raised will – in some time – ease the physical and emotional hardship of families living in the poorest environs of the world. In the future, I hope that other runners will make this same challenge and that a worldwide movement can be created to run for what is the most basic of all human rights – access to a clean and sustainable water supply for all.


Reflections from a Hunger Banquet
by Laurel Lundstrom on 2006-11-24
Last week, I represented Amman Imman at the University of Maryland’s annual Hunger Banquet. The idea of the hunger banquet is to raise awareness of the global disparity in wealth. Each participant at the banquet was given a card telling them where to sit in relation to their assigned income bracket. After standing in line, I was awarded a green card; I became a member of the minority elite fed a full course meal that evening at draped dining tables. At the same time I was served, the lower-middle income group sat in plastic chairs around us with a cup of beans in rice. The majority impoverished community sat on the floor with a ½ cup of rice and some water. The moderators then gave examples of real people who might be from each group and the lives they lead.

As I sat at the banquet, I occasionally glanced back to the display board I had made, telling people about Amman Imman and the world water crisis in general. I thought to myself, these people here sitting on the floor represent the poorest of the world’s poor. Well, where then are the people of the Azawak? When the United Nations World Food Program delivered rice to the people of the Azawak during the food crisis of 2005, the people of the Azawak got none. These are not people who have one cup of rice to eat per day, these are people who have none. The poverty that families in the Azawak experience is phenomenal and difficult to explain to a roomful of students who will never know it. I only hope that by learning more about Amman Imman they will begin to realize – like I did when I met Ariane last June - how desperate the situation is in the Azawak is. I hope that Ariane’s images will stay with them as they did with me and I hope that over the upcoming holidays they will not take for granted with the rice that they have, and will remember - and maybe even reach out to help - the people who have none.


Running for Water in Niger
by Laurel on 2006-11-13
I am running 26.2 miles next Sunday, November 19, in the Philadelphia marathon to raise money and awareness for the small girls who have to make a marathon hike to their nearest water source for nine months out of the year in the Azawak.

The marathon starts at 8 a.m, at Eakins Oval, 23rd & Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia.


Hunger Banquet
by Laurel on 2006-11-13
I will be having an informational table at the University of Maryland's Hunger Banquet on Wednesday, November 15, at 6:30 p.m. in the Atrium of the Stamp Student Union.

My table will include a board on the world water crisis and Amman Imman. On the board, I will show the disproportionate suffering that the people of the Azawak face in comparison to other regions worldwide.


Yale Africa Week
by Yale UNICEF and Yale African Students Association on 2006-11-05
Click below for a larger version (in a new browser window).



Childhood Innocence
by Ariane Kirtley on 2006-11-02
I'm now on my ten hour flight Paris-Atlanta, and will be heading down to Tampa afterwards. I'm getting more and more excited about getting nationwide support from Montessori schools… and working students!

Young people are so uncomplicated. They hear that people are dying, and immediately they want to help without asking questions. They seem to understand the urgency and the injustice so clearly. Young people in America understand that this planet is shared, and that we are all brothers and sisters, no matter where we live on earth. They understand that NO ONE should suffer miserably, and that, most importantly, NO ONE in today's world should die because they do not have even one simple glass of water to drink in a day.

Many students I talk to cry when they hear of their 10 to 13 year old brothers and sisters that wake up at 3:00 AM to travel ten to seventeen miles to the nearest well on the outskirts of the Azawak. That much too often, when they arrive early afternoon in scorching 100 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit heat and wait several hours in line to fetch water, their turn comes too late as the 50,000 other people and their livestock sharing the well have rendered it dry. That these children then wait up to three days for the water to fill the well again, before they can ride the ten to seventeen miles home with often no more than a glass of water for each member of their family. They try to fathom the burden and responsibility of their brothers and sisters in the Azawak, as they understand that while these children sit and wait for the well to fill, they know the longer their wait, the greater their chances are to find one of their little brothers or sisters at home dead from dehydration. To children in America, the truth is simple: in the Azawak child mortality before five rates as high as 50%. One out of every four of these children dies simply because he or she has no water to drink. American children want to help put a stop to this inhumane suffering.

A couple of weeks ago I was speaking to the Oneness Family School "Peace keeper" group of students, aged about 10 to 12 years old about the situation in the Azawak, and what the project is trying to do to help. After my presentation, a mother came to pick up her daughter, Sophie, and asked her what she had done during the Peace Keeper meeting. Sophie then passionately recounted almost word for word everything I had said during my presentation. I was greatly impressed by the attention she had given me, how touched she was by what I had told her, and how well she was able to represent the project.

The entire day had been truly inspiring. That same morning, I had spoken to several classes of 6 to 8 year olds, and was amazed at their enthusiasm and desire to help. What proof of empowerment as well, that children so young understand that they can make a difference in the world. I love working with our future leaders, touching their hearts, and opening their eyes to a world they did not know existed on their own planet earth.

I also can't wait to go back to the Azawak and tell "my children" (I possessively call all the children of the Azawak "my children") that their brothers and sisters back in America are fighting for their survival… that American children are willing to take precious time away from playing with friends, watching TV, and all their other activities to bring water to them.


Montessori, Yale, and UNICEF...
by Ariane Kirtley on 2006-11-01
I'm in France, preparing to head back to the US tomorrow. I'll be spending the next four days at the "National Montessori Peace Conference" in Clearwater Beach, Florida raising awareness and support for project Amman Imman (Water is Life). There should be over 200 schools represented at the conference, and I hope that a good number of Montessori schools across the nation will adopt the project as their own. I've been invited by the "Oneness Family School", a Montessori school in Maryland that has been so moved by project efforts, they are doing everything they can to help raise funds and awareness for the people living in the Azawak.

Since my last fundraising trip in the US, that began early September and lasted until mid October, several schools have become involved with fundraising efforts, among them East Catholic High School and Hopkins High School in CT, Yale University, and the Oneness Family School in Maryland. Working with students has been an amazing source of both support and inspiration for the project and for me. I love the idea of coupling fundraising with awareness and education. It's always a beautiful experience touching the heart of young people here in America to the point that they want to help their suffering brothers and sisters in Africa.

Today I received an update on a fundraising and awareness activity being organized at Yale University from the 4th to the 10th of November, in part for the project. The UNICEF Chapter at Yale and the Yale African Students Association (YASA) have instated "Yale Africa Week" to hold many educational and fundraising events. Some of these activities include a Benefit Concert on Saturday the 4th, a Benefit Dinner on Friday the 10th, and the Dance Party to raise money on Saturday the 11th. There will also be a Master's Tea in Pierson College on Tuesday where Dennis Hamilton, the project associate director, will present the project to the Yale community. An exhibit of my photos of the Azawak will be up all week to educate people with images and text describing the situation in the Azawak.

A couple of Yale UNICEF students were bold enough to approach Mia Farrow while she was giving a talk on Darfur at the Yale law school early October. They've remained in contact with her since. She greatly wants to help the project, and in fact was hoping to be able to moderate one of the events for Africa week, but she won't be able to make it because she is heading off to Darfur next week. She nonetheless took the time to present the situation of the Azawak to UNICEF, and her inquiry has been forwarded to the Niger office. Hopefully, UNICEF in Niger might eventually become a partner with Amman Imman, and help bring not only water, but also much needed health and food aid.


Oneness Family School Presentation
by Ariane Kirtley on 2006-10-10
We are presenting the project at the Oneness Family School in Bethesda, Maryland today, October 1oth, from 1:30pm to 5:00pm.


Trinity College Presentation
by Ariane Kirtley on 2006-09-22
For people in the CT-Hartford area: I will be presenting the project, with many photos and stories of the people, at Trinity College on the 27th of September, 4:15 PM, McCook Auditorium. All are welcome!


Upcoming Presentations
by Ariane Kirtley on 2006-09-18
I extend a huge thank you to all those that have sent words of encouragement. We will soon note our progress on the site. Also, I will be presenting at 6:15 at the Essex Yacht Club on the 26th. I will also be presenting at Trinity College on the 27th at the McCook Auditorium. Finally, I will be presenting at the Yale School of Public Health (60 College Street) on the 19th (tomorrow) at 4:00 in Room 101. Please come!