Lawrence Intermediate School's A Walk For Water on May 24 raised $2141 for Amman Imman's project in the Azawak! WZBN TV-25, a central New Jersey news station, covered A Walk For Water on their local news broadcast. You can watch a video report on the WZBN TV-25 website. Once you get to the video player, click the WZBN News folder on the left, and then scroll down to find "Walk For Water 5-29-07".

The local newspaper covered the story as well. You can read the article that appears in the Lawrence Ledger at this link: Refreshing: Kids raise funds for digging wells in Africa.


Amman Imman introduction and presentation videos are available for download, including a movie of Ariane presenting the project with the powerpoint slides. Use these to present the project to your school or group, and also to learn about the problems in the Azawak and how Amman Imman is helping.

Click here to go the idisk, then enter the password educakit. Enter it twice. You will be directed to the idisk where you will find several folders, including one called "Amman Imman Movies" that contain the following:

1. Amman Imman:Water is Life slide show. This popular YouTube video displays Ariane's photos from her visit to the Azawak in 2005 as she introduces the project at the Montessori Peace Academy Conference in Clearwater Beach, Florida in November, 2006.
File Type: QuickTime
File Size: (two versions) 47.4 mb and 6.8 mb
Length: 4 minutes, 22 seconds

2. Introduction to Amman Imman. In this video, Ariane introduces the project. Footage from the Azawak is shown as she tells about life there without any water and asks for help. This video is also available for viewing and download as a Windows Media file on the Amman Imman website.
File Type: QuickTime
File Size: 41 mb
Length: 1 minute, 45 seconds

3. Ariane presenting the Amman Imman project. In this powerful video, Ariane presents Program Amman Imman. She tells the story of the people of the Azawak who live for nine months of the year without any water. She tells of their suffering, of their survival, and what Amman Imman is doing to help them survive.
File Type: Windows Media
File Size: 456.7 mb
Length: approx. 35 minutes
Please be aware that even with a high speed internet connection these files will take some time to download, and may take more space than indicated above.

Other new tools you will find on the idisk for download:
  • a pdf version of the Amman Imman : Water is Life article that was published in Tomorrow's Child magazine. Look in the folder called "Media Articles on Amman Imman" and then in the folder called "Tomorrow's Child Article".
  • a photo of Ariane showing the cards and letters from children in America to the children in the Azawak. Look in the file called "pictures from the Azawak".
For a complete description of the other folders and files available for download on the idisk, please refer to the posts in this category, Downloadable Presentation Tools.
Teachers find creative ways to incorporate the service project of Amman Imman into their curriculum, even for 3-5 year olds, with studies of culture, science, and practical life. Minnieland Private Day School, a Montessori school in Richmond, Virginia, held a bake sale fundraiser and raised $215 for Amman Imman's project in the Azawak.

School Director Lory Marano tells us what the teachers and parents at the school did to teach 3-5 year old students about the people in the Azawak:
Our Montessori students ages three to five years old were introduced to the plight of the people of the Azawak region in Niger, Africa. The wonderful teachers here at Minnieland - Huguenot immersed the students into learning all they could about the country of Niger, the geography, its people and the hardship they experience daily living without available water.

The teachers shared children's stories from the country and investigated how the lack of water effects their lives and the environment around them. In addition to their study of Niger, the teachers conducted several science projects where water was used and not used and the effect it had in the experiment. Discussion of how a well is built and how it works was investigated.

As a culminating activity we asked our parents to bake an item for the bake sale with their child and discuss the role water played in the process. The bake sale was held on Tuesday, April 24, and we are happy to report a profit of $215.00.

The teachers are committed to maintaining the awareness of thinking and aiding our friends in our global community.

Thanks to the teachers and parents at Minnieland for your committment, creativity and choice to work with your young students to help our friends in the Azawak.

Pat Bates runs a Montessori school in her home. She came across the Amman Imman : Water is Life article in Tomorrow's Child and got her students involved in fundraising for Amman Imman. Here is Pat's story:
Our small school, Montessori of Maryknoll, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois is in my home. My enrichment class of 7 Kindergarten age students was studying Africa when Tomorrow's Child arrived. We went on the website and watched the video of Ariane. We wanted to do something and we were out of time for the school year to organize a walk. We quickly did a bake sale/lemonade stand and raised $200. We are sending a check this week to the Friendship Caravan.

We discussed that if everyone does a little, it will add up to a lot. We estimated costs and number of schools needed, etc. It was a great math work as well.

I believe our students came out of this experience better aware of the many gifts their lives contain and the sense of power that they can connect and contribute their skills for the betterment of others. Thank you for providing the opportunity.
Yesterday, the Friendship Caravan received the $200 check from Pat Bates and her students. I agree with Pat. As we give consciously and with love, we receive a gift: appreciation for our lives. If we all chip in, even a little bit, we add to the greater whole, bringing the hope of water one step closer to reality for the people of the Azawak.

It is wonderful for students to recognize that each of their efforts makes a difference.
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
Kristie Norwood heard about Amman Imman in February when she attended MEPI's Hands for Peace conference in Myrtle Beach, SC. After talking with Maureen Keeling and Megan Mason from the Odyssey Montessori School at the MEPI Conference about Amman Imman, Kristie wanted to get her son's school, the Palmetto Montessori School of Ridgeway, South Carolina, involved in the project.

To get her son's class involved, she shared a book with them, A Kid's Guide to Giving, written by fourteen-year-old Freddi Zeiler, that contains suggestions and ideas from a kid's perspective on raising money for worthy causes.

Recently, Kristie wrote to me with an update on the school's efforts:
We held a small bake sale this past Thursday and raised $200.00! Its a small amount compared to what is needed, but the children were thrilled as they counted the money. We are having a send off party tomorrow when we mail off the check. As a parent I am so proud of the students! One other parent, Julie McCrary, helped with the sale which has inspired others. Just as I had hoped, our sale produced a chain reaction of interest. We will discuss what the next fundraiser will be during the summer. I heard they wanted to do a toy drive! I am so proud!
Congratulations to Kristie, Julie, the students, teachers and all the parents at Palmetto Montessori! We are all very proud of you as well! (Read about the toy drive held by Odyssey Montessori school back in March!)
Lawrence Intermediate School in Lawrenceville, NJ will do A Walk For Water on Thursday, May 24. Two Hundred and Eighty 5th grade students will walk around the perimeter of the school. Their walk will make a statement that they care about the children in the Azawak, and that they want to help make their lives better.

The idea for the walk came after the students at Lawrence Intermediate heard the Amman Imman presentation (click here to read the post). Students in Ms. Charles 5th grade class took up the cause. They made a bulletin board with Ariane's pictures illustrating the water insufficiency in the region and hung posters around the school giving information and advertising the walk. They have also appeared on the school's morning TV show asking all the students in the school (4th, 5th and 6th graders) to contribute their change to help raise funds. The change is being collected all around the school.

Teacher Lisa Charles has this to say: “As soon as our students heard about the situation in the Azawak, and that other students were helping, they wanted to help, too. It is natural for them to want to make the world a better place. For them, preparing for this walk has been a lesson in global citizenship.” Ms. Charles hopes that A Walk for Water will inspire children to know that they are needed and have an ability to make some changes in the lives of children and families on a global scale.

LIS involvement leading up to the Walk has incorporated a cross spectrum of the local community. Through a grant provided by Lawrence Township Community Foundation, volunteers from Camp Fire USA Gift of Giving Program, an organization that promotes service learning and community projects in public schools, has been working with LIS students to write letters to local businesses asking for sponsorship.

Additionally, all 280 students in the 5th grade have received a sponsorship form and the opportunity to raise funds for their brothers and sisters in the Azawak of Niger.

We look forward to hearing about the walk and seeing the pictures!
On Sunday May 12, approximately 115 people gathered at Lake Frank near Rockville, MD to participate in A Walk For Water.

This event marked the culmination of several months of dedication by students in local Maryland schools and their communities to raise funds for Amman Imman’s project in the Azawak. We were fortunate to be accompanied on the Walk by a young Tuareg man, Attaher Mohamed, who grew up in the Azawak and lived the life of searching for water. Recently, Attaher discovered Amman Imman on the internet, as he was looking around for a way to help his people. Having him come to A Walk For Water and speak to the students and their families about life in the Azawak brought the reality of the struggles of the people there a little closer to us all.

Early in the morning our team of volunteers assembled at the park.

As each student checked in, they received a button that displayed one of Ariane’s pictures:











At the rally we talked about why we were walking, reminding students and families that our walk of 3.25 miles, crossing a slippery creek, symbolized the daily challenge that children in the Azawak make, as they walk 30 miles in 120 degree temperatures in search of a basic element needed for survival.


We also congratulated the children on their efforts of raising funds over the last several months. By their actions they were making a statement that they were going to change the world. Now, by walking together their voice would rise louder, by their unity, to let the world know their committment to bring water to the people of the Azawak. We asked some of the students to stand next to Attaher, as examples of the power of unity, working together and making a difference in the world. And these students represented the hundreds of students around the world who are working to make life healthier for the people in the Azawak.

Attaher spoke to the crowd, re-emphasizing that the greatest need of his people is water, and thanking the students and their families for the help they are giving to the people of the Azawak.


Ariane Kirtley sent us the following message which was read to the crowd:
Dearest Students, Parents, Teachers, and devoted Friends of the Azawak,

Thank you for coming together for "A Walk for Water" and joining in solidarity the children of the Azawak. Today, as you walk around the lake, your spirits will be united with the them as they too will be walking long distances in search of water.

The people of the Azawak and team Amman Imman are so very grateful for your compassion. Thank you for keeping their plight in your heart and devoting your time and energy to help them.

I wish I could be with you today as you walk for water. Team Amman Imman joins you in spirit.

Thank you. Yours,
Ariane


As we began to walk, Attaher led us.






























Everyone helped each other across the stream.
















As each child completed their walk they were congratulated and received a certificate signed by Ariane Kirtley, founder and director of Amman Imman and Michael Kirtley, president of the Friendship Caravan, that named them "an agent of world transformation and a friend of the Azawak".

Many thanks to the students, families and volunteers from the following schools who participated in A Walk For Water: Oneness-Family School, Barrie School, Evergreen School and Monocacy Valley Public Charter School.

And a very special thanks to the students who collected sponsorships for every mile that they walked. Because of your efforts $6185 was raised to support Amman Imman's work in the Azawak!

To view a video slide show of a walk for water, please go to the idisk by clicking here ( password=educakit).

Amman Imman takes pleasure in announcing that Royal Air Maroc, the flagship carrier of the Kingdom of Morocco, is a major sponsor of Ariane’s work in the Azawak. If you fly to Africa, fly RAM!

Royal Air Maroc's support of the Amman Imman team's transportation needs has been a source of invaluable assistance for the team's continued work in the region. In the future, Royal Air Maroc plans to offer special trips for Amman Imman volunteers who want to visit the Azawak, especially as the establishment of water sources begins to bring the needed infrastructure to the region.

Fly Royal Air Maroc and vacation in exotic Morocco! click here to find out more. Also, Royal Air Maroc flies to multiple destinations in Europe, Africa and Canada...visit their web site to learn more www.royalairmaroc.com/ENG.
Read about how an eight-year-old inspired the Rotary Club of the Grand Cayman Islands in "A future humanitarian leader", an article in the Caymanian Compass, Cayman Island's national newspaper.
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/.
Team Amman Imman in the Azawak in April at a party celebrating the inauguration of the first borehole (from left to right): Moustapha Alkoussoum, Yanic Cadenas, Mary Ohren, Ariane Kirtley, Denis Gontero.

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
Some of Ariane's recent photos from the Azawak have been added to the post Team Amman Imman in the Azawak, dated April 5. To view them with the story go to this link.

Several parents have expressed to me that they are particulary glad that we are involved in a project that can continue into the next year and give the children some continuity of purpose. As a condition of our culture, we are trained to start something, get some experience and then go on to something else. We focus only for so long until we get distracted and pick up the next thing.

But our souls require gazing. Our souls require languishing on a lake in the moonlight, taking the time to watch the sun settle into the corner of the lake, and then waiting for the moon to rise over the glassy surface. Our souls require focusing on something that lasts and makes an impression.

One reason I have become so involved in this project is that it is so personal. There is an opportunity to follow it through. This is not just protest, but it is action. This is discovering a problem, finding a solution, and doing the best you can with all your resources to make it happen. Ariane is doing that in Niger. The students around the world who are helping are doing that as well. We are working toward the same goal.

This is not easy work for any of us. For Ariane in Niger there are all the challenges associated with doing something that has not been done before. For some teachers who have brought this project to their community, there is the challenge of conveying the importance for it that they feel to others. For students wanting to help, there is the challenge of taking the time to research, tell others and fundraise.

But all of this comes with much joy, for when passion and possibility mix, the drive to purse despite challenges and obstacles moves us forward. This is the model that Ariane has brought to us. A model of persistence fueled by compassion. A model of tangible change that reaches out and touches you back in the very place that inspired you to give in the first place.

In the last few days, I have heard many stories from schools that reflect the personal nature, compassion and persistence that has defined this project since we first heard about it from Ariane. Many students, parents, teachers and administrators are taking action in their communities.

A short list of some of those stories follows:

Palm Harbor Montessori students raised over $3500 in spare change and contributions for A Month Without Water that culminated on Earth Day.

Oneness-Family Middle School
students have a snow cone business where 50% of their profits will go toward Amman Imman's mission in the Azawak.

Five Oaks Academy
is planning a school-wide water awareness day this month and planning to raise funds for Amman Imman.

Students at Montessori Stepping Stones in Michigan collected change and dollars, raising over $700 for A Month Without Water. The children collected change and inspired the parents.

A Oneness-Family School parent, Birgit Maier, sponsored a bake sale through through the IMF Family Association, raising $1500 for Amman Imman.

Montessori by the Sea in the Cayman Islands plans to hold an Asian Art Festival this spring, an idea inspired by a fourth year student who has taken an interest in Asian Art and Amman Imman. All proceeds will go toward Amman Imman.
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