Dear Montessori Friends and Friends of the Azawak,

The blog has been freshened with a new design. Your feedback and contributions are always welcome. Read all the latest posts on the blog at http://montessori-amman-imman-project.blogspot.com/ by scrolling down or go to these specific entries:

While it has been a while since our last update, Amman Imman: Water is Life and our friends in Montessori schools have been very busy!

On April 13th, Ariane Kirtley and several Amman Imman volunteers attended Breakthrough: the Women, Faith and Development Summit held at the National Cathedral in Washington DC. On April 14th, Ariane participated at the Summit's Leadership Council, attended by world leaders. Read more about Amman Imman's affiliation with this global alliance for women and girls here: Breakthrough Summit for Women: Meet Basic Needs First .

A new Amman Imman YouTube video has been posted. Please read the post, Deep Wells in the Azawak, that describes the struggle to get water in a place where basically there is none. Then, I invite you to watch the video.

Recently Amman Imman has been featured on several websites. Get the entire scoop on all the Amman Imman sightings at the post Amman Imman on the Internet. One article of particular interest was in the Gazette, a local Washington DC newspaper. You can read that article on this website: http://www.gazette.net/stories/031908/montsch03253_32368.shtml

Finding ways in which to share the human spirit while presenting the realities of the world to three year olds through thirteen year olds occupies Montessori educators. Read one perspective about how the Amman Imman project offers a that within a tangible and compassionate experience in Widening our Vision, Opening our Boundaries.

This grassroots collaboration between Amman Imman: Water is Life and Montessori schools continues to spread, mostly through the work of the students themselves:

Students in the Washington DC area have been preparing for A Walk for Water by taking initiative to invite other schools while rallying their own school. Read more at Students Take The Lead In "A Walk For Water". Several area schools are joining together . Read about how the Boyd School in Virginia got involved and what their students have to say: Walk a Mile and Give Life

In February, students from Oneness-Family School traveled to Ohio to share the project with students at the Hershey Montessori School: Pass It On: Students from Maryland share Amman Imman with students in Ohio

Since last January when Oneness-Family School students presented Amman Imman: Water is Life at the Barrie School, Barrie students have met the call to action with fundraisers and participation in A Walk For Water. Read about their latest effort in Barrie 6th Graders Dodge for a Challenge

Finally, be sure to check out the post containing Student Editions of Amman Imman Powerpoint. Powerpoint presentations can be downloaded as a tool for presenting the Amman Imman project to school communities.

Whatever you do, enjoy and appreciate!

Sincerely,
Debbie

**************
Debra Kahn
Associate Director, Oneness-Family School
6701 Wisconsin Avenue
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
www.onenessfamilyschool.org

Program Amman Imman websites:
www.waterforniger.org
montessori-amman-imman-project.blogspot.com

Ariane Kirtley and several Amman Imman volunteers attended Breakthrough: the Women Faith and Development Summit To End Global Poverty held at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. on April 13th and 14th. Leaders from the faith, women and development communities came together to form an alliance and announce their commitments to end global poverty by empowering women and girls.

• Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Honorary Breakthrough Summit Co-Chair, spoke to the audience by video: "Women and girls around the world face great challenges. They bear an unjust burden and this must change for the benefit of all humanity. We must act with common purpose and speak with one voice to change global policies and global wills so that gender justice and an end to poverty can be achieved."
  
• Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright's keynote address reflected the spirit of the event when she stated the powerful message that "Poverty is not a force of nature - it is a choice. What we have the ability to choose, we have the power to change."
• Actress and Global Youth Aids Ambassador Ashley Judd spoke on several issues including management of the world water in the developing world.

Ariane participated in a working session with the Leadership Council, comprised of influential leaders from the women's, faith and development communities as well as from UN agencies and private corporations. In addition to Madeline Albright and Ashley Judd, individuals in attendance on the Leadership Council included Kim Campbell, former prime minister of Canada and Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland.

Ariane had a chance to speak to the Council about the needs of women and children in the Azawak, emphasizing that in order for women to benefit from education, health care and economic opportunities, attention must first be given to basic needs such as having adequate clean water. Her passionate plea was met was met by a round of applause, and an affirmation from MC Mary Robinson.

Through participation in the Leadership Council, several important connections for Amman Imman were fostered.

In the Azawak of West Africa, the method for obtaining water symbolizes a daily and constant struggle for survival. During the rainy season, people rely on muddy marshes to meet their needs for drinking, bathing, cooking and anything else one might need water for. You might call this time "the happy time" for this is when animals are producing milk, and therefore the people are thriving. However, this "joy" is not only short-lived, but quite relative to what a human being ought to expect for meeting their basic needs.

First of all, children are often the ones who travel an hour on the back of a donkey just to reach a marsh. Once they arrive, the water they pour into their jerry cans from the marsh is contaminated with human and animal waste. Most importantly, as the rainy season comes to an end, the marshes dry up, and then there is no more water.

Then, the real hardship begins. People travel as much as 35 miles in a day to reach the nearest deep well. These wells provide only relative relief. After a grueling ride across rough terrain on the back of a donkey, a person would most probably find a water source that has very little water, if any, after being exploited by 25, 000 people and animals. Further, it takes the strength of several strong men and three to four donkeys to fill the bucket and then pull it up from a depth of at least 300 feet deep. To aggravate the matter, the water that is retrieved is muddy and contaminated.

This is a truly sad scenerio, and one that Amman Imman plans to remedy by drilling permanent water sources that access the abundant aquifers that flow beneath the Azawak.

Here is a video depicting the struggle it takes to get water from a deep well in the Azawak: