Aichatou explains why your help is so important for people in the Azawak

Aichatou Bety lives in Niamey, Niger and works as an educator for Catholic Relief Services. A long-time friend of Amman Imman, Aicha was in the United States for a conference through her work at the same time A Walk for Water at Lake Frank was taking place. It was our blessing that she was able to be with us at AWFW and speak at the rally.



Highlights from Aicha's speech:

"Think about something that is really important in your life. Something that today if you miss it, you feel like you are not existing. Water in the Azawak, in the desert, is like this. Providing water to a nomad, is providing everything."

"Water is the basis for development. There is an NGO that built a school last year. They really built a nice school. But until now no one is in the school. Do you know why? Because there is no water. How can you build a school in a nomadic area without water? When the school was being built, the enterprise who got the contract brought water from far away to build the school. But after having the school, you also need to provide water for the community. Because if nomadic people are always traveling to look for water, how can you have people in your school? "

"What you are doing is really responding to the need of people from Azawak. This project really expresses the need. The people expressed their need and you accept this need and you decided to help.... Alot of projects fail because they don't respond to the need of people. I am convinced that you bring the hope. With this water, you are going to bring life, help them develop alot of skills."

"I want to thank all of you. Especially children. The involvement of children is very strong. You know why I say this? Children are the future. By starting now and helping the people of the Azawak, these children will continue to help. And even their children will continue."