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Mission Statement

“Water is Life.”

This could not be truer than in the Azawak region of Niger, where during nine months out of the year there is no water.

A vast plain, 200,000 km2 (larger than the state of Florida and ⅓ the size of France) on the edge of the Sahara, the Azawak is the poorest region in Niger, considered the poorest nation in the world. Living on the brink of survival, the region’s 500,000 inhabitants walk up to thirty miles a day for water. They have no access to roads or schools, and health centers are a two-day donkey ride away. Few organizations or government agencies work to improve their lives.

If you were to travel there, the Azawak people would welcome you in a princely fashion. They would travel miles to obtain a goat to slaughter in your honor and share their last bowl of frothy camel milk. You might ask for water, then turn away in disgust at the cup of brackish liquid brought to you. You would feel ashamed learning that they generously offered you their last cup set aside to drink for the day.

Clean water is there, in aquifers at an average depth of 650-1300 feet. As a program of the American non-profit The Friendship Caravan, Amman Imman is raising funds to drill permanent sources of water. Our goal is to provide these resilient people a chance to live without the indignity of daily thirst and fear of water-borne illness. With your contribution, we can accomplish this goal.

Water is life. One water source at a time, we can bring hope to people who have nowhere else to turn. Please help fulfill this dream. The children of the Azawak deserve a better future.

Direct Appeal for Help from the Azawak

June 21, 2006

My Dear American Brothers and Sisters,

My name is Mustapha. I am Tuareg from the Azawak region of Niger. I am also a member of the Nigerien NGO Water For Life (a partner of Program Amman Imman), which is actively struggling to bring water sources to the Azawak. Why the Azawak? Because my people of the Azawak are literally dying of thirst.

Once the ponds that formed during the rains dry up, we dig holes around the dried ponds searching for water that has seeped into the ground. These water holes usually provide enough drinking water for a couple of weeks, but when the rains have been good, the water can last up to one or two months. Our most extreme hardships begin once these water holes also dry up. When this happens we have to travel up to fifty kilometers (32 miles) round trip to find one of the rare wells in the area. Even then, there is no guarantee that we’ll find water there, because these wells also are prone to drying up. Sometimes entire villages are abandoned during the nine month dry season because everyone goes in search for water.

It is truly an injustice that my people are dying of thirst because there is so little water in the Azawak. In other regions of Niger, each village has at least 2 or 3 wells or more, and many times they will also have a borehole with a hand pump. This is why we -- the people of the Azawak who know that something can be done to end the extreme suffering endured by our people -- have initiated this fight to improve the lives of our people with the help of our dear friend and sister of the Azawak, Ariane Kirtley.

With this letter I write to implore you, in the name of the entire population of the Azawak, to help us so that we may at least have enough water to drink and assuage our thirst. Help us save the lives of our children who are dying because they do not have water to drink.

I pray that my call for help will be heard by many brothers and sisters in America. I am convinced that you will do something to help us because we are in dire need. We are counting on your help for our survival.

Mustapha Alkassoum

Camp Tantigalley Teckniwen
Region of Tchintabaradène, Azawak