Ariane visits schools in the Washington DC area

Ariane's visit to the Washington DC area has generated enthusiasm from students in kindergarten through high school.

On Monday, Ariane spoke with middle and high school students at the National Cathedral School. After her presentation, which included photos showing the Amman Imman borehole well at Tangarwashane and children drinking clean clear water, several high school students approached her to find out more. Their faces revealed their concern as they spoke with Ariane about the problems afflicting the nomads due to the lack of water in the Azawak region. (Read an article by an NCS student about Ariane's presentation at the school: "Water Is Life": Creating Sources of Water in Niger.)


On Tuesday, Ariane returned to the Oneness-Family School, sharing news and photos of the project's success in building its first water source and thanking the students in grades K through 8th for their support in making this possible. Last year, almost every student in the school took part in the project in some way, whether selling crafts at our Holiday Bazaar, collecting coins every time they used water, presenting the project at other schools, taking part in the PeaceKeeper program that sponsored the project, raising funds in A Walk for Water, or simply dropping their spare change in the water collection jug. As she visited each classroom, Ariane asked the students questions, such as

How big is the region of Azawak?
How many people live there?
Why don't they have water?
How much water do you use in a day?
What would life be like for you if had the equivalent of one bottle of water for the entire day?

The students' answers demonstrated that they had been paying attention.

Ariane visited the Aidan Montessori School in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, speaking to a group of students from the lower and upper elementary classes. The students listened with rapt attention as they discovered something that they had never heard before: that there are people in the world who do not have any water, that there are people who spend their all their time searching for water, and the limited amount of water that they do find is brackish and contaminated. These young students marveled at the contrast to their own lives where they live with the convenience of turning on a faucet. Ariane asked questions to the students as she interacted with them.

Ariane: What happens if you don't drink water?
Student: You get dehydrated, and you could die.

She did not have to push any gruesome facts because the children understand immediately the urgent need of someone who does not have water to drink.

As the presentation came to a close, head of school Kathy Minardi confirmed the desire brewing in the students after learning about the people in the Azawak , "Aidan Montessori School will do something together to bring water to this area."