Niger Field Journal

Ariane Kirtley Bardstown native, Ariane Kirtley first travelled to Niger at six months old with her brother, Tercelin, her French mother, Aubine, and Bardstown born and bred father, Michael. Michael and Aubine Kirtley, who were freelance photojournalists working for Geo Magazine and National Geographic, took Ariane and Tercelin on their missions in West Africa, where they lived with the Inadan - Tuareg artisans of Niger's A?r region, the Bozo fisherman of Mali, the enigmatic Wolof of Senegal, and the "panther men" of the Ivory Coast. When they were not travelling throughout Africa, Ariane's family lived in Bardstown, where she and her brother attended Bardstown Elementary, Middle and High Schools. After receiving a BA in Medical Anthropology from Yale University in 2001 and a Masters in Public Health from Yale in 2004, Ariane returned to West Africa as a Fulbright Scholar to conduct health research in rural Niger. For her research, Ariane traveled to the pastoral region known as the Azawak -- Niger's most remote and abandoned territory, covering 80,000 square miles and inhabited by over 500,000 people. During her many years as a child and adult living in West Africa, Ariane had never seen such a large and vast an area with so few resources and infrastructure: no roads or dirt paths, no schools or health centers, and most importantly, no sources of water. Despite the particularly dire living conditions in the Azawak, no projects or governmental agencies currently work in the region to bring humanitarian aid. To save lives and improve living conditions in the Azawak, Ariane founded program "Amman Imman, Water is Life" to build permanent and sustainable sources of water throughout the territory. She hopes that her efforts will motivate larger-scale humanitarian organizations to bring additional developmental aid, thereby significantly improving the lives of 500,000 adults and children among one of the most vulnerable populations in the world.

Dear Friends of the Azawak,

I hope that this email finds you well! Our Amman Imman team recently returned to Niamey from a rewarding couple of weeks in the Azawak. Debbie has already gone home to the United States, and Denis, Laurel and I are developing partnerships with organizations. We are also keeping busy negotiating with contractors.

Among the many things that we accomplished in the field, the following are of foremost importance:

• Conducted follow up study on the Tangarwashane borehole;

• Set up a new local Amman Imman team to run on site activities;

• Chose our site for the Montessori Well of Love, as well as sites for future construction;

• Worked on developing partnerships with organizations working locally;

• Re-established our ongoing partnership with local authorities, including the prefecture, the mayor, and the department of hydraulics;

• Created partnerships with local schools and Montessori schools.

Since there is so much to talk about, I am going to keep this email focused on Tangarwashane, our future construction site named Kijigari, and on our new local Amman Imman team.

Tangarwashane:

What a beautiful site: a great looming water tower, nomads and villagers waiting to retrieve water from the faucets, and herds of cows, sheep, and camels drinking from the troughs. Over the hill, beyond the water tower, stood a little hut filled with 20 eager boys and girls learning French, and one devoted teacher. We dropped off a chalk board and adult learning booklets for the new adult classes that are soon to begin.

What a joyous moment it was to enter the school and see the Tangarwashane children – the same children I have known and watched grow up over the past four years -- clean and healthy, and most important of all, learning! Before the borehole existed, these children never had time to go to school because they were too busy looking for water. I never dreamt that I would someday be able to have a conversation in French with them. They are so smart and ready to learn everything brought to them.

And thanks to our newly hired female field agent, Assaidat, we had a very open and honest conversation with the women. They are so excited to have the borehole, and to no longer have to walk all day searching for water. But they told me, « Ariane, we now have so much time on our hands, we don’t know what to do. We have no skills, but we want to have our own income. Our husbands sometimes leave for months at time, at which point we have to beg for food and other things to keep our family alive ». They want to learn how to sew, and to raise their own livestock, as well as own a village store. The men have built a wall around the water tower, and are planning on growing gardens in the walled off area. This may open up an opportunity for the women to have their own gardens. The women, also, want to get even more involved in the management of the borehole well. I promised to bring these women people who can help. We are going to now work with and seek out NGOs to bring Tangarwashane other forms of assistance. The population is now ready to develop Tangarwashane into a prosperous community.

Kijigari, the next site for the Montessori Well of Love:

Kijigari, a large rural village surrounding a sweeping marsh, regroups over 4,000 inhabitants living directly within its boundaries, and many more than 25,000 in the surrounding communities. Kijigari was originally inhabited by refugees. For this reason, it is different from most villages one might encounter in the Azawak because it has received a good deal of assistance from international NGOs. It has had an operational school for over 20 years, and has a little village clinic held by a government nurse, and a large market where people come from afar to sell their goods once a week. As long as there is water in the marsh wells, the women run a village store, a sewing cooperative, and grow their own gardens.

For most of the year, however, Kijigari has no water. As soon as the marsh wells dry up, all activities end. Instead, families abandon the village in search for water. During the height of the dry season, Kijigari becomes a ghost town.

Everyone from the prefect to the mayor and the hydraulics department, as well as people from neighboring camps and villages, said that Kijigari should be our priority. As I got to know the village, I agreed, for several reasons:

• The need for water is huge. With more than 25,000 people and triple the amount of livestock that will directly benefit from a permanent water source, we will be providing the basis for life to a tremendous population.

• The population has proven themselves to be organized, capable, and willing to manage a borehole. The women have already been named the future borehole’s primary caretakers.

• Montessori schools worldwide partner with the school in Kijigari. We have already completed a friendship bracelet exchange with their school and a Montessori school in America.

Local Amman Imman Team:

Our newly appointed local team is composed of two men, one female field agent, and a representative in Abalak. This team will conduct follow-up studies on borehole sites and will help to develop our relationship with local authorities and potential partner NGOs. They are an invaluable resource.

I will keep you posted as our negotiations progress. I hope to send an email soon with the good news that we are preparing to drill. However, if we cannot bring the drilling cost down enough, then we will have to leave Niger sooner than planned in order to resume fundraising efforts with the hope of bringing water to the people of Kijigari in the very near future.

Yours in hope, for the children of the Azawak.
Ariane

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Saturday, March 21, 2009
Sand and Stories

Dear Friends of the Azawak,

Please treat yourself to Laurel's blog with personal stories of her experience in Niger: http://www.laurelinniger.blogspot.com/

Her evocative and explicit writing captures the spirit of our adventures in the Azawak and brings forth the essential importance of Amman Imman's work in bringing water to the region.

Sift through the sand and stories and dip into an experience of Niger with Laurel!

Monday, February 23, 2009

Amman Imman Team in Niger and traveling to Azawak

Dear Friends of the Azawak,

I write you on this hot and dusty evening in Niamey to tell you that Amman Imman's international team arrived safely in Niamey, Niger and will be traveling to the Azawak in a few days to prepare for the future drilling of "The Montessori Well of Love" Borehole.

My husband and son, Denis and Fassely, and I arrived in Niamey on February 7th, accompanied by Amman Imman's communications coordinator and long-time representative, Laurel Lundstrom. Debbie Kahn, education coordinator and head of the Amman Imman-Montessori partnership, arrived on the 18th.

We received a very warm welcome from all our friends here in Niamey, and thanks to my dear friends and mentors, Aichatou and Ali Bety, we have a very nice house with ceiling fans and plenty of crawling space for Fassely. The fans are great for warding off heat (it's already well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit here),with an abundance of flies, and mosquitoes. Fassely, with his big blue eyes, blond hair and toothy grin, has already charmed men, women and children alike. He's also helped us negotiate good prices from fruits and veggies in the market all the way to our work permits. If only his smile could help us obtain a really nice price for drilling our next borehole.

If we are able to negotiate a fair price for the drilling, construction should commence at the beginning of next month. Laurel and Debbie left for the field on Sunday. Fassely, Denis and I will depart for the field on Wednesday the 25th, after we obtained our work permits from the Ministry of the Interior.

While we are in the field, we will have much to accomplish. Our primary goal is to determine the drilling location for our "Montessori Well of Love". We have several possible sites in mind, and the final choice will depend on several factors, including the depth of the water table and the desire and ability of the population to manage a borehole. To make this choice we will be accompanied by a specialist from the regional department of hydraulics, as well as a local guide and translator.

During the period that we will be in the field, we also plan on conducting a follow up visit and evaluation of our "Janet Cornelius" borehole in Tangarwashane. Up until now, I was not personally able to conduct a follow up visit, and I am impatient to witness first-hand the huge impact that our borehole has had on people's lives. We will be traveling with technicians to conduct a diagnosis of how well the equipment has been maintained. Not only will they help with necessary reparations, but they will also determine if additional technical training for the management committee is necessary. The regional expert from the department of hydraulics will help determine how well the management committee has operated and will conduct follow up training.

Debbie and Laurel, who have been working tirelessly for the Azawak since 2006, will finally be able to witness the conditions of the Azawak. This will not only be personally rewarding for Debbie and Laurel, but it will also prove very beneficial to the project. Their first hand experience in the region will greatly increase our organizational capacity.

Debbie will be working to connect the children in the Azawak with Montessori school children in the USA through a friendship bracelet exchange. Children in the USA have made bracelets for their brothers and sisters in the Azawak. Debbie has brought the material to make 200 bracelets with the children in the Azawak, to give back to the children in the USA. We hope that this will be a beautiful opportunity to create a greater level of connection and love between our beloved children in the Azawak that desperately need water, with the compassionate children in America that have been tirelessly working to bring water to their friends over the past three years.

I will send you personal updates as much as possible as our work and adventure progresses. You can also view regular messages that we will be sending through the web at twitter.com.

Yours in gratitude, for the children of the Azawak.
Ariane

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Sunday, August 05, 2007
Finished Tangarwashane Borehole, Equipped and Beautiful!!!

Finished water tower with most members of management committee and a few of construction company; the women members are missing.

All photos in this post are courtesy of Denis Gontero

Dear Friends of the Azawak,

Denis (my fiancé and work partner) and I have returned to France after five arduous yet extremely productive and rewarding months in Niger.

Our very exciting news is that the TANGARWASHANE BOREHOLE IS FINISHED. As many of you know, the borehole was originally equipped with a temporary installment until we had the finances to equip the borehole properly. This has been our primary activity these past five months, and we are so very pleased to announce that our goal has been successfully completed.

The borehole is beautiful, the populations are thrilled, and the water is pure and very easily accessible!!

The borehole is now equipped with a 20m3 capacity water tower (meaning it can hold up to 20,000 liters of water!), 4 animal troths that are 6 meters long, one water fountain with 6 faucets near the water tower, and one water fountain with two faucets in the village.

The animal drinking basins, all set a bit far away from the water tower and water fountains.

The larger of the two water fountains with three faucets on either side. One water fountain is near the water tower, and the other in the center of the village.

At the same time that construction took place, we also set up the Water Source Management Committee that is held responsible for the proper maintenance, financial, environmental, and social management of the borehole. Everything was done with the collaboration with the regional Department of Hydraulics, committee members were chosen democratically, and they were trained by Hydraulics specialists.

As field supervisor and field activities coordinator, Denis is our field hero. I was unfortunately unable to join him while all the final work was accomplished because I had to deal with administrative affairs in the capital. While in the field, Denis did everything from supervising construction to organizing community meetings with the hydraulics, populations, prefects, and mayors in order to set up the management committee.

Construction is Denis' field of expertise, and so when the construction was not done perfectly and did not meet his very high standards, he had the construction company start over. Luckily,the construction company -- HYDROBA -- held its own very high standards, and we are very pleased with their work. Their employees worked from 6 AM to 6 PM every day in over 110 degree weather, and always worked with a smile despite the very harsh physical demands and scorpions that kept them up a good deal of the night.

	Construction of the water tower.

Setting up the management committee was a more difficult task, as this procedure entailed politics and diplomacy, as well as the very delicate training procedure of committee members once chosen. The management committee will most likely need additional training in the future as well as supervision by both Amman Imman and the regional department of hydraulics.

Water fountain being constructed.

For now, we have left the Tangarwashane borehole to the care and supervision of the populations, in order to evaluate over the next couple of months how things evolve. Indeed, they are enthralled to have clean and easily accessible water. But its not enough to be thrilled… it will be essential for them to properly take care of their water source so that it lasts a very long time, and so that they can take full advantage of the magnificent structure. We will do our best to keep you informed as to how things move along in Tangarwashane, as well as how things progress for our future borehole sites.

	Sign being placed on water tower at night.

I want to address a very special thank you to Denis, who essentially WAS program Amman Imman in Niger these past few months, and was the key component to getting everything accomplished. I want to thank my father, Michael Kirtley and president of the Friendship Caravan who has been the "big boss and primary coordinator" in Niger and internationally for the entire project. And last but not least, a huge thank you is extended to Janet Cornelius who financed the majority of the Tangarwashane borehole. We have named the borehole in honor of her.

And thanks to you all for your support!

Yours in Peace,
Ariane

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Dear Friends of the Azawak,

This is just a very quick note to tell you that, upon Denis' arrival at the borehole of Tangarwachane, he found thousands and thousands of people and their animals waiting in line for water. Some of these people had travelled as far as 100 km (200 km round-trip, and approximately 120 miles round trip) searching for water. The situation is so dire at this point, that entire populations are literally abandoning their villages, and moving closer to the few sustainable sources of water. I apologize for reemphasizing the point… but the Tangarwachane borehole, along with the few others in the area, cannot alone meet the needs of all these people and their livestock. We pray for rain and more boreholes ASAP!

Yours,
Ariane

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The Amman Imman borehole at Tangarwachane

Dear Friends of the Azawak,

Firstly, I hope that you are all well, and looking forward to the summer, with time away from work and school, resting and enjoying family and friends.

Here in Niger, it is summer all the time, but work does not end to help cope with the heat. The rains seem to have forgotten and bypassed Niger this year. Everyone is suffering, but those menaced the most are the villagers that count on the rain to grow millet and other crops, to have water to drink, to bathe, to give to their animals, and to simply survive.

The strenuous heat has slowed us down a bit… well, particularly me. Denis has been admirable, making the 1700 km round trip journey to the Azawak many times. The last time he was there, he and the construction company conducted a 12 hour pumping trial, to make sure that the borehole has a sustainable quantity of water. During 12 hours, water was pumped out of the borehole, and to our great relief and happiness, the water table only dropped one meter. This is really good news, and means that the borehole should not run out of water any time soon.

We also ran another test on the water quality, just to be sure that the first tests had given accurate results and that nothing had changed since February. The water is pure, and can be deemed, according to the laboratory, mineral water quality. This is also amazing news. It seems so sadly ironic that most people of the Azawak are forced to drink contaminated water, often of deadly quality, when below them – albeit 200 meters below -- pristine water runs throughout the Azawak underground floor. In Europe or in the USA, we could be selling their mineral water for a good deal of money.

Mariama drinking clean water from the Amman Imman borehole at Tangarwachane

I'm impatient to get this delicious and healthy water to more and more people. On Denis' last trips to the Azawak, the situation was getting more and more difficult as the shallow marsh wells had all dried up, and many of the deeper 100 meter open wells had also dried up. Finding water of any quality, good or bad, is almost impossible, and this situation won't get any better until the rains fall.

This morning, Denis left again for the Azawak with a construction team and a huge truck filled with equipment (water fountains, animal drinking basins, piping, etc.) for the Tangarwachane borehole. 30 construction workers are going to be working every day for the next few weeks to finish equipping the borehole. At the same time, the management committee is going to be established and trained by professionals from the ministry of hydraulics.

I'm traveling up to the Azawak next week to make sure everything is running smoothly, and see the end of construction, and celebrate the accomplishment of our first borehole. This is so exciting, as I'm convinced it is going to be a real success story, and will pave the way for future boreholes.

Have a wonderful summer!
Yours in peace and friendship,
Ariane

The photos below show people who do not have access to clean water and are still relying on very dirty, muddy wells for their water source

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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

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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

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Dear Friends of the Azawak,

The Amman Imman team has returned to Niamey after 3 weeks in the Azawak. These past weeks were grueling, rewarding on both a personal and professional level, and extremely productive. Thanks to our field travels, we have been able to develop two short-term goals for Amman Imman:

1) Improving our first borehole in Tangarwachane. This will include:

a. Equipping the borehole with a larger cistern, animal drinking basins linked directly to faucets, and better piping with additional faucets for human consumption.

b. The community has been asked to contribute to the infrastructure by building a wall/barrier separating the animal from the human side and protecting the borehole and cistern structure. They will also be actively involved in the construction process so they can have a better understanding of how the system operates.

c. We will hire technicians to better train committee members responsible for the technical maintenance of the borehole. We will continue training committee members as well as other beneficiaries in proper hygiene and sanitation behavior in order to maintain the water potable for human consumption.

2) Launch a bid for one or two boreholes, in order to hire a contractor for the construction of our next boreholes. During our field visit, we covered over 200 km 2, and have chosen 14 potential sites for future boreholes (sites cover both the Tchintabaradene and Abalak districts). We are currently waiting on the geophysical analysis to determine which sites we need to make a priority based on the depth of the water table. The geophysical situation is being analyzed both by the Department of Hydraulics in Tahoua and by Mary Ohren of the Desert Research Institute, and Ron Peterson, independent geological consultant. In order to reach a permanent and sustainable water source, we must drill to the "Continental Intercalaire" (CI), an underground water table that flows across Niger . The CI can be reached at approximately 200 meters to the East of our target area, and is found deeper and deeper as you go to the west. Near the Malian border the CI can be reached at approximately 800 meters.

We used several measures to choose our initial 14 sites:

• Thanks to information we obtained from the department of Hydraulics in Tahoua, we were able to determine a large region of the Azawak where the water table is known to be at 250 meters or less. Given that our funds all come from private donors, we cannot currently afford to build a borehole deeper than 250 meters. We therefore focused our attention on this region.
• We obtained names of sites from the department of hydraulics in Tchintabaradene as well as the mayor's office. We also questioned influential members in villages and camps and asked where their needs would be best served.
• We visited the sites to determine their real need, and to discuss this need with community members. We developed a questionnaire, which included questions such as the following:
  1. Is there a need for a water point in this area?
  2. What type of water point would you like to have in this community?
  3. Could you financially and structurally manage a diesel group engine, if this is the type of infrastructure you desire (mentioning price estimates, maintenance, the possibility for environmental degradation, etc.)?
  4. How do you conceive managing the water point and ascertaining the financial viability for maintenance and diesel costs?
  5. How do you envision the role of women as active participants for the proper management of your water source?
  6. What kind of contribution can the community make towards building the water point?
  7. How many people and livestock would benefit from this water point?
  8. How far do people currently travel to find water in this area?
• We therefore determined sites based on recommendations, requests from the beneficiaries, actual need, as well as the capacity of beneficiaries to manage their water point.

While we were in the Azawak, we also visited several boreholes run with diesel group engines in order to determine if these were being successfully managed, to learn how these were run, and establish benefits and problems associated with this type of infrastructure. We visited the boreholes and then conducted a group questionnaire to management committee members, as well as other village leaders.

Some boreholes were poorly managed, and others very well managed. Those that were well managed had undergone a great deal of follow up after borehole construction (including excessive training of community members in technical management, financial management, organizational management, and hygiene and sanitation) and active involvement on the part of committee members and beneficiaries. Those that were not successful were those built by organizations that did not follow up after the construction of the borehole. Beneficiaries were left with a complex infrastructure that they did not know how to manage.

Thus, the major lesson learned after our visit to existing boreholes is the following: in order to ensure the long term success of the boreholes, there is a need for long-term follow up including monitoring and training for several years after the construction of the borehole. There is also a need for beneficiary involvement during the construction phase so that they feel they have invested in the borehole, and understand that THEY (with our help initially) are the ones responsible for ensuring the survival of their water source.

Finally, in America, lots of exciting things are happening, including "A Month without Water" where families across the nation are giving the equivalent of their April water bill to Amman Imman initiatives. "A Walk for Water" is going to be taking place in May, where students, family members, and friends from many different schools in the Washington DC area are going to walk three miles, in spirit of the children of the Azawak currently traveling up to 30 miles a day to find water. The students are asking for sponsorship for each mile they walk, and all the funds they raise will go towards helping to build permanent water sources in the Azawak. Please read more about these initiatives on the Montessori blog: http://montessori-amman-imman-project.blogspot.com/

Yours in gratitude and peace,
Ariane

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Thursday, April 05, 2007
Team Amman Imman in the Azawak

Dear Friends of the Azawak,

Team Amman Imman arrived in the Azawak one week ago. We have been seeing and living the beauties and hardships of life here, and have witnessed people’s daily struggle for survival searching for water.

Firstly, I want to reassure everyone that our team is faring well despite the tremendous heat, fatigue, and emotional difficulty seeing people suffer firsthand. Mary, our geologist, arrived last Sunday, and has been a true asset as we have been gathering coordinates for possible future sites, and determining the geological layout of the area.

Thanks to the first borehole we built in Tangarwachane, we have not personally suffered from a lack of water. It has been very exciting to see how significantly the lives have changed of the communities living near the borehole. When I lived with these same communities in 2005 and 2006, all the children and adults were chronically sick and covered in filth and pests. They survived off of marsh water, or well water often no less contaminated. Everyone was exhausted from their daily search from water. Today they are clean and healthy, and children have time to play, and soon time to go to school. The school is in its final phase of construction and should be opening in the next few months.

We are now working to improve the management committee, particularly concerning the maintenance of the pump and sensitization concerning hygiene and sanitation. We have also determined that the solar panel pump is not appropriate for this area (its use at such great depths is not sustainable), and are discussing with the population the improvements they would like to make in particular, such as a bigger cistern, more faucets, drink basins for the animals, etc.

We have also visited up to 15 sites, and are giving special consideration for two sites where we think a borehole would serve a large number of people, and where the population has asked for a borehole and has shown the capacity to maintain it after construction.

Life for most of the people here is not as easy as for the communities living near Tangarwachane. This year the rainy season lasted fairly long, and so most people are surviving off of marsh water that has seeped into the ground. They have dug holes in the dry marsh lands from 6 to 20 meters deep to pull out just a few 20 liter jugs worth of water for their families and their animals. Hundreds of animals, large and small, wait their turn to drink a few sips of water. People often spend days at one of these wells waiting hours at a time for small quantities of water to seep into the well and provide a few more liters of water for their family members and livestock. This water is contaminated with animal excrement and often has the consistency of mud rather than water.

The deeper of the shallow wells, up to 120 meters deep, do not provide relief because they do not contain more water than the marsh wells, and they also dry up for hours or days at a time depending on how many people use them. When the wells go dry, young boys or men are sent down to dig deeper. Sometimes the wells collapse on them, but this is a necessary risk to take for the hope of having just a little more water.

Four donkeys and the strength of several grown men are needed to pull the water up from such great depths. The work is so grueling that the donkeys can only pull up a few buckets of water before having to be replaced. They must almost be beaten to be forced to move and haul and pull, and we even saw donkeys fall over from exhaustion. Just filling a bucket at such a great depth takes a lot of strength and time. At one well we calculated that it took 8 minutes to pull the bucket up out of the well with the strength of several men and four donkeys, and a least a few minutes more simply to fill the bucket before pulling it up. This exhaustion is compounded by the distance that people have to travel to find these few non sustainable and contaminated sources of water.

One boy was so exhausted the other day that he dropped a bucket filled with water after pulling it up 120 meters. He and the other children and men stood in disbelief as the muddy water spilled over and then seeped into the sand. I wanted to hold him when I saw tears of sadness swell in his eyes, knowing that he had lost most of the water he was going to bring home to his family that day.

People are thirsty. They are so thirsty that they drink anything they find. It is so hot now, up to 115 to 120 degrees. They are exhausted. But they do not give up, and continue their daily struggle traveling from water point to water point, sometimes over 30 miles, just to find a sip to stay alive.

I am sending this message along with Mary who is going back to the USA on Friday so that you do not forget the people of their Azawak: their courage and their daily struggle for survival in a land without water.

We will stay here in the Azawak for at least a couple of weeks, learning more and selecting good sites for new boreholes.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers,
Ariane

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Sunday, March 25, 2007
Update from Niamey: March 18th - March 25th

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 trek 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

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Monday, March 19, 2007
Amman Imman activities in Niamey: Week of March 11-17

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.

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)

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Friday, March 09, 2007
Update from Niamey, Niger

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

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Saturday, February 24, 2007
Photos of the first Amman Imman borehole

Dear Friends of the Azawak,

My research assistant went to the Azawak and took some photos of our first borehole. The quality of the photos isn't super, but it shows the conditions, which we hope to improve vastly with our cistern and solar panels, as well as faucets and basins for the livestock.

Photos 1 and 2 show the children and men at the base of the borehole with their water jugs. In the background you can see a small cistern and a shelter for the diesel pumping system. In photo 3 you can see the base of the borehole, the cistern, and the shelter.

My departure with Denis is scheduled for March 1st. We had a small setback because of the war in Guinea Conakry, which took away plane availability.

Enjoy the photos!!
yours,
Ariane

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Dear Friends of the Azawak,

Late last week I called Moustapha Alkassoum -- Amman Imman co-founder and field supervisor. I jumped out of my seat with joy when he informed me that the populations have already asked permission from the local government to build a school near our first Amman Imman deep well. They needed water in order to make adobe bricks to build homes and other buildings, and now that they have water, they are wasting no time to construct infrastructure that will improve their lives.

Moustapha made the 800 km trip to the Azawak this Thursday. I am impatient for him return with even more exciting news and photos. The significance of this update cannot be emphasized enough: it is evidence that the populations are proactively improving their living conditions and that our first well is the first of many that will serve as a catalyst for a bigger and better future for the people of the Azawak.

I have another very exciting bit of news: we made our purchase of solar panels, pump, and cistern yesterday in order to equip our borehole with a solar powered pump next month. This is a huge step for the project, considering that we had to weigh the pros and cons of solar power with other technology, we also spent a great deal of energy researching the best companies from which to order the material, as well as time negotiating prices for the equipment! The material, which we ordered from France, will arrive in Niger at the beginning of March. We will then hire a Nigerien company to set up the solar panels and pump, and will use the help of local populations to set up the cistern and build a shelter and walls to protect the borehole and solar panels.

In my next update, I will tell you more about the Montessori Schools/Amman Imman partnership, which has been named the "Montessori Wells of Love". In the meantime, please visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ngVd1AUS4A, to view our narrated slide show of the Azawak. Ingrid Patteta, a brave and fascinating young woman who has also dedicated her life to helping the people of the Azawak, has posted video footage of her experiences. You can view her footage of the Azawak at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spYkq_C-bwM&mode=related&search=.

Water is Life, Milk is Hope.
In gratitude and peace,
Ariane

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