Ariane and the Amman Imman team have reached the Azawak. She sent the following update via text message:

We are in Tangarwachane, the village where we built our first borehole. It is evident that their lives have vastly improved.

We will keep you posted on further updates from the bush of the Azawak....stay tuned!

On World Water Day, a blogger at the Daily Progress.com, an internet daily based in Charlottesille, Virginia, picked up on A Month Without Water. Laura E. Bland, the online editor, wrote this:

One interesting event in this global focus on water scarcity is a project to raise money for wells in Niger, West Africa. Could you go for a month without water? A month without M&Ms or a cafe mocha from Starbucks, maybe. In Niger, kids walk about 30 miles a day to get water that’s shared with livestock and carries disease. In the United States, the average households spends about $30 for water a month. So A Month Without Water is asking people to donate $30--or one month of water--to help with an effort to build wells in the Azawak region.

You can read the rest of the article at the Daily Progress, March 22. 2007.

• To find out more about A Month Without Water, please go to this post.
  
• You can download a brochure to distribute to your community, through the Downloadable Presentation Tools. Follow the instructions here in these posts.

I invite you to contribute your month of water to the Azawak of Niger! Please go to the Amman Imman donation page to make your contribution.

Catherine Varkas presented the Amman Imman project to the students, staff and teachers at Palm Harbor Montessori Academy. Today, each student will go home with an empty bottle, that they saved after drinking the water, and this message to their parents:

EARTH DAY 2007

“Amman Imman” – Water is life. Milk is hope.

The Earth Day theme this year is “Water Is Life.” We are joining the “A Month Without Water” worldwide campaign. A Month Without Water is a simple program. We are asking families to share what they spend per month on water. The average family spends $30 per month, or $1 day per day, on water used for drinking, cooking and bathing.

The monies collected will go to Montessori Wells of Love. This project is involving Montessori students worldwide with Amman Imman in building permanent water sources for the people of the Azawak who are the poorest nation and poorest people in the world. The Amman Imman project is spearheaded by a remarkable former Montessori student, Yale graduate and Fulbright scholar, Ariane Kirtley. We ask your help in joining with Montessori families around the world to help provide wells for the people of the Azawak.

Through the coming weeks, please fill this water bottle with your pocket change and perhaps even a set amount of coins for each time that you enjoy a glass of water or use water to cook or bathe. When the bottle is full, bring it to class to add to the large well in the classroom. On Earth Day, the large wells will all be put together at the celebration so that everyone can see how much can be done. Together, we can bring clean, readily accessible water to the Azawak people. What an amazing gift to be able to give and what an amazing venture to be part of.

Please join PHMA and Montessori schools across the country in this life-changing event as, together, we seek to make a difference in our world through the Montessori Wells of Love.

Your change can change the world!

Recently, a student from the Monocacy Valley Montessori Public Charter School in Frederick, Maryland wrote a letter to Ariane. After hearing students from the Oneness-Family School present Amman Imman at her school, she wanted to help. She had a question:

I do not understand why the people in the Azawak region, if they are nomadic, do not move to a location that is closer to water or health care. I was wondering if you could explain this to me.

Ariane's response:
Thank you for your message and contacting me directly. I'm so pleased that you were touched by the plight of the people of the Azawak, and that you would like to help.

Now to answer your question, why don't they move? This is a good question. There are many answers...

The first is that there are 500,000 people, and at least 100,000 or more animals living in the Azawak. They are far too many in number to simply just pick up and move. There is already overcrowding in the cities, and other areas of Niger and so imagine what it would be like if they all went and took over other people's land and homes. The other people would not likely be very welcoming! When you have this many people move out of a region to another country, they are called refugees. When you have this many people move out of their region to another region in the same country due to political, environmental, or other factors for which they have no control, they are called internally displaced persons. Neither situation is acceptable in terms of human rights, and is a situation that all governments try to avoid whenever possible.

The second reason that they do not want to move is that the Azawak is their home. Imagine if you were told to move from your home, the same place your mother and grandparents grew up, and their grandparents, ect, ect... you probably wouldn't want to move. You would be attached to the land, and would hope that the government would help you cover your basic human needs (food, water, shelter) so that you could remain at home. People do not want to leave their home, the best pasture land in Niger for their animals. Nevertheless, they are leaving the Azawak, they are becoming refugees elsewhere, they are abandoning the only land they can call theirs because they do not have water to drink. Is this right? Is this the best solution? To cause overcrowding in other areas, and to force people to abandon the only home they have? Or is it better to improve their conditions so that they can continue living in their home?

I've chosen the second option, and I hope that you can help us improve life in the Azawak so that the people don't have to leave their home, and so that refugees and internally displaced persons can have a home to go back to.

Thank you! Please spread the word... and be in touch with students and teachers at the Oneness Family School.

Yours,
Ariane

The Oneness-Family School in Chevy Chase, Maryland and the Barrie School in Silver Spring, Maryland invite students, families and their friends to A Walk For Water. On May 12, students will walk the 3.25 miles around Lake Frank in Derwood, Maryland, in support of the children of the Azawak who journey 30 miles a day to fetch water for their families during the nine month dry season. The students will seek sponsorships for every mile they walk.

Please stay tuned to this blog for details about the walk.

If you would like to sponsor A Walk For Water in your community and need support, a Montessori Wells of Love representative would be happy to help! Contact info@ammanimman.org. Soon, a registration form and sponsorship forms will be available for download! (click on the flyer below for a bigger view!)

March 18th-March 25th
Niamey, Niger

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

At Oneness-Family School, World Water Day and the theme of water scarcity was the focus of our weekly community meeting on Friday morning. We presented some of Ariane's video footage of the Azawak. The movie showed the muddy marigot toward the end of the rainy season, where people, particulary children, travel about about one hour from camp every day to dig under the adobe for water. We also showed a very special video of Ariane Kirtley introducing Amman Imman. You can view and download this video on the Amman Imman website.

The Azawak is a region affected by permanent water scarcity and because of this problem there is a constant struggle to obtain water, whether making the hour trip to the marigot during the rainy season or the 17 mile journey to reach a working well on the outskirts of this large region.

We also announced two special campaigns:

• A Month Without Water, a worldwide campaign for April 2007 sponsored by Montessori Wells of Love to raise awareness and funds for Amman Imman. Please click on this link for more details about this campaign: A Month Without Water.
• A Walk For Water, a collaborative fundraising walk for students, sponsored by Montessori Wells of Love to engage students in working together for the people of the Azawak.
  

In the Washington, D.C. area, Oneness-Family School and the Barrie School will be jointly sponsoring A Walk For Water on May 12. In teams of 8 or more (or as individuals), students, with their families and friends, will walk the 3.25 miles around Lake Frank in Derwood, Maryland, in collaborative support of the children in the Azawak. Other schools will be invited to join us. For a more detailed description of A Walk For Water, please click on this link: A Walk for Water. Stay tuned to this blog for further details about A Walk For Water in the DC area!

We invite other schools around the world to sponsor A Walk For Water in their community! For help in planning your event, please contact debbie@ammanimman.org. We will soon be posting a promotional flyer and sponsorship sheets for students that can be downloaded through the blog to aid you as you organize your Walk.

Our vision is to have several walks happen in May around the same time as our children unite to walk for the children in the Azawak!

We closed our community meeting with a moment of silence and and a Native American prayer from the people known as the Haudenosaunee:

We give thanks to all the Waters of the world for quenching our thirst and providing us with strength. Water is life. We know its power in many forms - waterfalls and rain, mists and streams, rivers and oceans. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to the spirit of Water.

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. Photo of our visit with first lady Tanja, President Tanja's wife Laraba Tanja (the first lady, Ariane, Denis, Moustapha)

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 the 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. (see photo)
Children attending french class in Tangarwachane (the location for our first borehole)

On my way to the American Montessori Society’s conference in New York, I had the opportunity to present the Amman Imman project to an audience of 250 fifth grade students and their teachers at Lawrence Intermediate School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, a town near Princeton. My dear friend from high school, Lisa Charles, got excited about the possibility of getting her students involved after hearing about Amman Imman when she visited me in January.

At first, Ms. Charles thought only a couple of classes would be interested and that we would have the presentation in the school’s library. But after she sent an email describing Amman Imman’s mission in the Azawak and the opportunity for student involvement, all the fifth grade teachers wanted to bring their classes. We were given the school’s auditorium, which doubled as a cafeteria, in order to fit everyone.

With the help of school’s personnel, Tuareg music was filtered through the room’s sound system. I wanted to create the atmosphere of a different place for students as they entered the large room. The display on the stage of three beautiful photographs from the Azawak brought a focus to the presentation that I hoped would catch the student’s attention as they filed into the room to sit on the benches around the cafeteria tables.

For me, this was the first time I had ever spoken to such a large audience, much less 250 10-year-old public school students. Each class filed into the large room, in a buzz of activity and excitement. I remained focused and calm, feeling a sense of peace around me with a confidence in the presentation I was about to make. As soon as I started to speak, explaining that I was about to tell them a story about 500,000 people who had no water, a silence came over the entire crowd. I had their attention.

I explained that the mission of Amman Imman was to save and improve the lives of the people in this region, the size of Florida, who had no water at all for nine months of the year, who shared contaminated and muddy water with animals for three months, whose children died because of this lack of water. I also told them the stories of generosity that define the nature of the people in the Azawak region, the people that welcomed our friend Ariane Kirtley into their lives like a member of the family.

A collective gasp rose from the audience when I told them that the people in the Azawak do not bathe for nine months. I asked them, “If you had only the equivalent of a glass of water per day, would you waste it on a bath?” A rising “noooo” came from the audience. When they saw the photo of 18-month-old Agoubiouly drinking from a bowl with water darker than hot chocolate, they whispered, “yuck”. And when we talked about how easy it is to cool off here in America during our hot summers, but how children in the Azawak have to travel on the back of a donkey in 125 degree heat with no sprinklers, no swimming pools, no water fountains, they understood.

The stories that Ariane brought us from the Azawak are stories that everyone can relate to, stories of family, stories of caring, stories of sickness. There are some things as Westerners we may not fully comprehend, such as what it is like to travel 30 miles on the back of a donkey to bring back some water for your entire family, or singing to ward off spirits rather than take a pill to cure an illness. But when it comes to the basic human needs that are sorely absent from the lives of the inhabitants of the Azawak, needs like adequate and clean water so that children can bathe, wash their clothes and have time to play, needs like health care so that when someone is sick they have a doctor they can go to, even ten-year-old children understand. These are needs that everyone who has access to them, whether they are a student in a large public school or a student in a small Montessori school, can relate to as important for healthy living.

I did not show them the pictures of suffering children that live in the Azawak region, children dying from lack of water, children malnourished from the lack of adequate food during the dry season. Ariane did witness these scenes in the Azawak and it affected her deeply, as she says, “I could not bear to take pictures of my sick and dying friends.” She could not exploit their misery. While the usual wisdom is that pictures speak louder than words, in this case the words telling about the sick and the dying, the hungry and the thirsty, the searching and the waiting for water, along with the striking pictures of children and adults living amidst a beautiful culture that needs to be preserved, speak loudly to the heart.

As the presentation came to a close, I told the students what other schools were doing to help and how I envisioned a network of children across America working together to help these children in a land so far away, children who deserved to play and learn just like them. I explained that children in America have an opportunity to connect with children in the Azawak through Ariane’s personal connection with them.

As the students and teachers left the room, I stood at the door thanking them for coming. Many stopped to ask questions and thank me for the presentation, saying they wanted to help. Back in the classroom, Ms. Charles' students were especially enthusiastic. Three students told me they wanted to learn how to present the project to other students. All the students liked the idea of A Walk for Water.

One girl touched me deeply. She stayed with me until the last person left the auditorium, and we walked back to the classroom together, as she expressed her understanding and passion. “These kids have no water, and we have to help them.”

“Our bodies are made of water”, she explained. We talked about how important water is for every human being. “It’s an essential resource”, she wisely reflected. “Of course, we need it.” She told me she wanted to tell others about the children in the Azawak region and help raise funds. I envisioned that participation in this project of caring could be an opportunity for this young girl to focus on something that feeds her spirit and passion, therefore supporting her self-worth even as she continues to pursue academic success.

Children are so caring. It doesn’t matter if they go to a public school, a private school or live in a remote region in Africa. What a beautiful thing to involve students, both those in Montessori schools and their peers in all kinds of schools, in a project of care that unites them in their essential humanity. How wonderful to bring a project to students that they can see through to completion, where they will be able to connect with the children in the Azawak as they get water, as their lives become healthier and reflect their beautiful natures.

This project builds bridges of understanding and connection broadly and inclusively from student to student, whether they are in a Montessori school, in a public school, in a home-schooling program, or any kind of school. As they work together to tell their community and the rest of the world about the needs of the people in the Azawak and Amman Imman’s project to bring water, the gaps of separation created by cultural differences, as well as school philosophies, shrink. As children around the world reach out to children in the Azawak, the essential nature of their humanity becomes a unifying bridge of connection. (all photos of the Azawak courtesy of Ariane Kirtley)

Many thanks to Ms. Charles and the students in her 5th grade class at Lawrence Intermediate School. Your enthusiasm inspires us all!

Sharon Babineau, a classroom assistant and parent of three children who attend Odyssey Montessori in Fredericksburg, Virginia, sends us a wonderful story illustrating the initiative of children and what can happen when the adults around them support their ideas:
After Christmas break, my three boys began talking with their school friends about donating toys for a yard sale to be held at the school in the spring to benefit the Amman Imman project. We sent home flyers to all the families in the school asking for donations. The response was overwhelming! We placed a plastic bin by the front entrance, and time and again it was overflowing. Some people even brought donations directly to our house. We took the donations and put them in our basement, and we had two "pricing parties," when some parents and students got together to help put price tags on the items and sort them.

We placed ads in local publications, and my oldest son designed a poster that was hung up around town as well. A lot of parents came by to bring the toys to the school the afternoon before the sale, and many more kids and their parents came to help with the event on Saturday. A local Starbucks donated coffee for the event, and Krispy Kreme offered us their donuts at half price, which we offered to our "customers" for a donation. In all, we raised $470.50 for Amman Imman. Not bad for three hours of selling!

Sharon downloaded brochures from the Idisk and the children had them available on the tables for people to learn about Amman Imman.

Thank you students, parents and teachers of Odyssey Montessori! You are helping to build a better world for children in the Azawak!

Please support Odyssey's 2nd annual Gala and Auction on March 30 that will benefit Amman Imman! Find out more at this post : Odyssey Montessori: Go With The Flow.

March 22 is World Water Day, as designated by the UN General Assembly. This year’s focus is on water scarcity. Many events are planned around the world. A Month Without Water, a worldwide campaign to raise funds for Amman Imman to build deep borehole wells in the Azawak region of Niger, is registered as an official World Water Day event with two websites: the IRC (International Water and Sanitation Center) and the FAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization). Please raise awareness about water scarcity by supporting World Water Day, Amman Imman’s mission in the Azawak of Niger, and A Month Without Water by mailing these links to all your friends!

Schools are getting ready to participate in A Month Without Water campaign:

• Michelle Daley from Montessori Stepping Stones in Mt. Clemens, Michigan is working on ways to promote A Month Without Water in her school.

• Cathy Carpenter’s class at the Barrie School in Silver Spring, Maryland, will be kicking off A Month Without Water during the last week of March after their spring break.

• Maureen Keeling and Megan Mason from Odyssey Montessori have put together a brochure to promote Montessori Wells of Love and A Month Without Water. Catherine Varkas of Palm Harbor Montessori in Palm Harbor, Florida has also made a brochure. Both of these documents can be downloaded from the Idisk; follow the instructions in this post.

If you are doing something in your school to participate in World Water Day, A Month Without Water, and Amman Imman, we want to know! Please email me at debbie@ammanimman.org.

Additional resources:
More information about World Water Day can be found at the UNESCO website at the UN-Water website.

In December, 2003, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the years 2005-20015 as the International Decade for Action “Water for Life”. Find out more about the Water for Life Decade at this website http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/ . You will also find many useful publications that you can use in your classrooms.

I particularly enjoyed listening to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s video message: "Water is essential for life".

Dear Friends,

I arrived in Niger on March 2nd with my fiance 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

Odyssey Montessori School's 2nd annual Gala and Auction on March 30 will dedicate a portion of its proceeds toward Amman Imman's project to bring water to the Azawak in Niger. The theme for this year's Gala, held at the Fredericksburg Country Club in Fredericksburg, Virginia, is Go With The Flow.

If you live in the Fredericksburg, Virginia area (about 1 hour from Washington DC), you are invited to participate in this event that will highlight Amman Imman!

An Amman Imman information table will display video footage from Ariane's 2005 visit to the the Azawak. To kick-off the live auction portion of the evening, a slide show of Ariane’s photos will be presented. Michael Kirtley, president of the Friendship Caravan, will introduce Richard Cizik, an Odyssey parent and evangelical environmentalist, who speak about Amman Imman to the Odyssey community and their guests. Several beautiful silent and live auction items, including handmade jewelry from Niger and other items from the Azawak region, will be available for bidding.

Please encourage friends and family who live in the area to attend this event in support of Amman Imman! Tickets are just $40 person, and $75 per couple. This would be a great way for local people to find out about and support Amman Imman's mission, with an opportunity to talk to Michael Kirtley and Richard Cizik.

For more information, or to receive an invitation, please contact Megan Mason at the Odyssey Montessori School at 540-891-9080 or email her at megan.mason@cox.net

A Walk for Water:
A Collaborative Fundraising Project
for Students and Schools

In the fall, marathon runners in New York and Philadelphia complete a 26.2 mile marathon. Fall temperatures in both those cities usually hover between 60 and 70 degrees, perfect weather for a physical challenge that demands enormous commitment, training and focus.

But every day, in stifling 100+ degree temperatures, the children of the Azawak make a marathon hike for water, inspired not by an athletic goal, but by a desperate need. While the marathon runners take on this challenge one day in the year, the children in the Azawak will make such a journey numerous times during their nine month dry season. They do it in an oppressive heat, with little to eat, knowing that if they don't return soon one of their family members might die.

To bring an awareness to the challenges these children face, and to raise money to bring them clean water, we propose A Walk for Water. In teams of five or more, students can collectively walk 1-5 miles each, totaling up to the marathon distance that children in the Azawak have to travel for water. Students can seek sponsorship from family, friends, neighbors and their local community for each mile that they walk in support of Amman Imman’s mission to bring clean water to the children in the Azawak.

Let's walk together so that the children of the Azawak can have water to drink and time to play.

To make your donation, please go to the Amman Imman website's donation page.