With two new partnerships, Amman Imman: Water is Life brings water, food to many more in Niger

A young girl  enjoys the water
during the pumping trials in Ebagueye.

Washington DC, February 27, 2012—Another 25,000 people and their animals in Niger’s Azawak Valley will now have access to clean water, largely because of support from Amman Imman’s two newest partners: The Vibrant Village Foundation and The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF).

Through a combined grant of $173,000 from the two foundations, additional funds totaling $64,000 from Amman Imman's partnering schools, and individual supporters, our fourth borehole well in the village of Ebagueye is now complete.  We are poised to conduct additional life-changing activities in the village, as well as to provide direct food assistance, gardening training and educational materials in the villages where Amman Imman's existing boreholes are already operating.

"We chose the site of Ebagueye and its surrounding communities at the beginning of December,” said Ariane Kirtley, Amman Imman’s Founder and Director. "By the end of December, the Ebagueye borehole had been drilled. The infrastructure was finished at the beginning of February, and the community has begun drinking the potable water."

Kirtley says her organization aims to create "Oases of Life" across the vast Azawak, starting with drilling permanent and sustainable water sources, not only for its 500,000 inhabitants, but also for refugees seeking shelter in the region. Those refugee communities include individuals that fled Libya last year, and those fleeing Mali today.

The Vibrant Village Foundation, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, supports communities in the United States and throughout the world to build healthy, prosperous, self-sustaining societies that foster tolerance, inclusion and dignity. The foundation focuses on nutrition and health, clean water, agriculture, education, the arts and poverty reduction.

Water tower,
Vibrant Village / The Prem Rawat Foundation
borehole in Ebagueye

“The partnership with Amman Imman is one that we are especially proud to be a part of,” said Ken Delaski, the Vibrant Village Foundation’s Founder and President.  “It has been amazing to watch from afar the rapid but holistic engagement and achievements that Amman Imman has reached in such a short period of time, and we look forward to unfolding plans that will ensure sustainability and maintenance of the boreholes and pump stations, as well as other community development projects."

The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF), founded in 2001 by Prem Rawat, known widely as an Ambassador of Peace and a humanitarian, partners with local and international organizations to help provide essentially needed aid, particularly food and water, directly and efficiently. Its aim is to give people what they most need so that they have a chance to live in dignity, peace and prosperity. Much a reflection of the way Amman Imman works, Prem Rawat expresses the Foundation’s objective as “to help people through the rough times without interfering with the beautiful things that exist in their culture, their beliefs, or their religion.”

Support from the foundations is especially crucial at this time, as another food crisis unfolds in Niger and the surrounding Sahel region, and the rainy season continues to abate.