During November’s 2006 Montessori Peace Conference inClearwater Beach, Florida, teachers were introduced to a human-itarian initiative called Amman Imman: Water is Life. Begun byformer Montessori student Ariane Kirtley, Amman Imman endeav-ors to bring water to an extremely arid area of Niger, West Africacalled the Azawak. When educators at the conference heardAriane’s stories about this region and its people, many felt movedto help. Hence, a worldwide Montessori initiative has sprouted: toengage students in learning about this region and raising enoughmoney to build at least one permanent water source in the nameof Montessori.

The implications for uniting Montessori schools are grand. If everyMontessori student raised just $10 for thisproject, at least one water source could be builtwhich would save the lives of many people.This initiative truly brings forth MariaMontessori’s vision of putting study into ac-tion, engaging in meaningful work and cre-ating a culture of peace. Since the teachers re-turned to their schools and began to share thiss t o ry, students in many different schools havecome up with ideas on how to raise funds forthis Montessori Well of Love. The stories, ideasand progress of this collaborative project arenow shared on a blog called MontessoriStudents and the Amman Imman Pr o j e c t a th t t p : / / m o n t e s s o r i - a m m a n - i m m a n -project.blogspot.com/.

The following article by Debbie Kahn, Assistant Director at the Oneness-Family School in Chevy Chase, Maryland, tells how this project betweenAmman Imman and Montessori educators got started. (All photos arecourtesy of Ariane Kirtley. )

Amman Imman:Water is LifeDebbie Kahn, Assistant DirectorThe Oneness-Family SchoolChevy Chase, Maryland

Photos by Ariane Kirtley

ecently, I had the great honor to make theacquaintance of a remarkable youngwoman. Ariane Kirtley is spearheading aproject to bring permanent water sourcesto a remote part of Africa. The people ofthe Azawak are the poorest people in thepoorest nation in the world. Mainlynomadic Tuaregs and Woodabe Fulani,they live in the country of Niger, in aregion about the size of Florida. Longignored by governmental and humanitari-an aid organizations because their remotelocation is too dangerous, even for aidworkers, Ariane describes them as anabandoned people. For nine months dur-ing the dry season, the people of theAzawak region have to travel almost 30miles a day to thenearest well. Often,small children aresent out on thismission on theback of a donkeyand return home,sometimes afterwaiting severaldays for a well tofill up – with theequivalent of lessthan half a gallon of water.

Ariane grew up in West Africa, and soshe has always had a great affinity for theAfrican continent. She met the people ofthe Azawak while on a Fu l b r i g h tFellowship to study the health condi-tions of women and minority groups in theregion. Her research assistant, who was fromthe Azawak, begged her to come to this par-ticular area. What she found was a populationof people who have to travel a two-day don-key ride to get the barest of medical care and,even more tragically, have no viable source ofwater for nine months of the year. Disease isrampant as children bathe in putrid, fecal-filled water, as dark as hot chocolate – if theycan find it!

Ariane’s stories about her time in theAzawak tell of a people, who welcomed herinto their villages as if she were a daughter.Her ‘father’ walked 12 miles the night she ar-rived, just to bring her some meat to eat.Their kindness touched her and their plightb r o ke her heart. Ariane told their story to aidorganizations, such as Care and Save theChildren, begging them to bring water andhealth care to the region. She was told that,until there was water, the area was too dan-gerous even for aid workers to begin theprocess of sending help. It was a catch 22! I tseemed that no one cared about these beau-tiful people. But Ariane’s heart had beentouched, and she could not walk away.

Under the banner of The Fr i e n d s h i pCaravan (an American 501[c][3] organiza-

©Tomorrow’s Child Magazine Spring 2007 • www.montessori.org20

The Hope of the Azawak

©Tomorrow’s Child Magazine Spring 2007 • www.montessori.org 21

tion), she started Program AmmanImman, with a beginning goal of raising$280,000 to build two water sources inthe region. Since June, 2006, she hasraised $170,000. Even though she hasnot yet raised enough money to buildthe two wells she initially planned, shewill be returning to the region soon towork with entrepreneurs to begin theinitial drilling for one well. But one watersource in a region of this size is notenough. Two permanent water wells willnot meet the needs of the 500,000 peo-ple who live in the region. So, this proj-ect is a pilot effort. The hope is that, aft e rone or two permanent water sources arebuilt, the work of Amman Imman wills e rve as a catalyst for other humanitarianaid organizations, who will piggyback onher efforts and start bringing in healthcare and other humanitarian assistance,while she works to continue raisingfunds for many more water sources. Herlong-range goal is to build at least fifty

of these deep wellsover a five-year periodto serve the basic waterneeds of 500,000 p e o p l e .

When Ariane pres-ents the project, shetells the stories ofthese people with agenuine love. She tellsof ‘her children’ that

are dying everyday and her ‘sister,’ whodied in childbirth. She tells of illness anddeath and disease. But she shows pic-tures of their deep eyes, warm smiles,and colorful clothing. Through the pic-tures and her stories, we feel the essenceof these people. Her passion to helpthem speaks to the heart. She could notbear to exploit them by photographingtheir misery. But it doesn’t matter thatwe don’t see that awful reality. Throughher words, we feel their pain, and in thebeauty of their pictures and the storiesthat she tells of their great love, we feeltheir essence.

I first met Ariane in October, whenshe presented the project to the teach-ers of the Oneness-Family School duringour weekly faculty meeting. Feeling herlove, her kindness and her passion tohelp, she had all of us in tears. Now, wecould not walk away. Ariane told her sto-ry to the 6 – 9 year old class and she pre-sented the project to our Pe a c e ke e p e r’ sClub. We decided to adopt the project asour community service fundraiser.

Andrew Kutt, director of the One-n e s s - Family School, invited Ariane to theMontessori Peace Academy conference

in Clearwater Beach, Florida, intendingthat her presentation of the AmmanImman Project would inspire Montes-sori schools across the nation to adoptthe project as their own as well. Shetraveled 15 hours from her home incentral France to attend the confer-ence. The journey was exhausting ando v e rwhelming for her, because she’dbarely had time to rest while back inFrance for that small amount of time.While at the conference, I felt com-pelled to help make her long journ e yw o rthwhile. I spent most of my timegetting her set up, introducing her topeople, and talking to the conferenceorganizers to be sure she had the bestexposure to the most people. Alongthe way, I discovered a new friend, as i s t e r, and I am so happy.

On Saturday night, Ariane and threestudents from the Oneness-Fa m i l ySchool’s Pe a c e keeper Club presentedthe project to an audience of aroundtwo hundred educators. Ariane did theintroduction. Then, the students mov-ingly told Ariane’s stories, as the Po w e r-point™ presentation displayed the pic-tures of the people of the Azawak. Thehand of love continued to massage ourh e a rts, when Ariane told more storiesa fter the students finished, speaking ofher connection to the people and whatmotivates her to bring them the waterthat they desperately need. Many werec rying, deeply touched by the story ofthe people in the Azawak of Niger andthe compassion of this courageousyoung woman.

The response to Ariane from thecommunity of Montessori teachers andadministrators was tremendous. Alongwith a team of other educators, I willbe working with Ariane to organizeMontessori schools across America,and worldwide, to join in this effort toraise money to build at least one ofthese water sources. Our intention is toraise at least $130,000 by the end ofthis school year for a well in the nameof Montessori schools worldwide.What an amazing experience for thestudents to become connected to thepeople of the Azawak through Ariane.She plans to go back and tell ‘her chil-dren’ that children in America careabout them and are going to help.Connecting students to an effort ofgenuine compassion and courage likethis one truly prepares them for a fu-ture leadership of sensitivity, kindness,courage, and action. It lifts them out ofthe small world of their local communi-ties and connects them to people in a

land far away. Through Ariane’s project, ourchildren in America have a chance to make atangible difference in the lives of their brothersand sisters in Af r i c a .

This is just the beginning of the remarkables t o ry of Ariane Kirt l e y, the Hope of the Azawak.She is a simple human being, with a big heartand a big mission to save a people that sheloves. I implore teachers and students to go tow w w. w a t e rf o rn i g e r.org to find out more aboutthe Amman Imman Project and how they canhelp. Fu rt h e r, dear friends, I invite you to jointhe Montessori community in this effort. Pleaselet me know if you would like to be kept in-f o rmed, as the students of the Oneness-Fa m i l ySchool and their Montessori peers worldwideeducate the greater community about theplight of the people living in the Azawak valleyof Niger and work together in this fundraisinge f f o rt. You are most welcome to part i c i p a t ealongside of us.

To find out more about the situation in theAzawak and Program Amman Imman, pleasevisit www. w a t e rf o rn i g e r.org. To find out moreabout how to get your students involved in thishumanitarian project, please visit http://montes-sori-amman-imman-project. blogspot.com/. Yo ucan also contact Debbie Kahn at Debbie@one-n e s s f a m i l y.org for more inform a t i o n .

End Note: As of publication, Amman Imman is proudto announce that the first borehole was drilled late lastyear, in a locale called Tangarwachane, and is now inuse by the local population. The people living nearbyhave already asked permission from the local govern-ment to build a school near our first Amman Immandeep well. They needed water in order to make adobebricks to build homes and other buildings, and nowthat they have water, they are wasting no time to con-struct infrastructure that will improve their lives.

Below: Ariane and ‘her’ children of the Azawak.