Debra Kahn's Blog

Welcome to our newest Heroes of Compassion

Debra Kahn — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 03:31:04 GMT

We welcome the following schools as our newest
Heroes of Compassion!

Montessori School of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky

"After learning more about Amman Imman: Water is Life, we couldn't think of a more perfect or worthy cause to join with, in partnership with 54 other schools around the world. Additionally, we welcome the opportunity to be the (seemingly) first school in Kentucky to join the effort."

Freedom Montessori School, Rock Hill, South Carolina

"Our wish at Freedom Montessori is to help build “A Well of Love” for the children and families in Azawak, West Africa. Please visit the website and consider donating to a wonderful cause. It’s a wonderful lesson to teach your children this holiday season! Mrs. Laymon’s students will be collecting money in their “Well of Love” treasure boxes beginning next week. Our goal is to raise $500.00! Visit www.freedommontessori.org, check under parents and scroll down."

Montessori School of Ojai, Ojai, California

"We are starting the program with some very exciting ideas! In October, we are going to decorate the water bottles for each classroom to collect change throughout the year. I will go and meet with each class and talk about what is happening... One of our teachers suggested we get some of the water jugs they use to get water and trying carrying them the distance they walk each day....

The same teacher suggested we do A Walk For Water from Libbey Park to our school in the Spring....It is probably 2 miles. Families could enroll for say $20 or something.....We can have a big press conference at the park and then start the walk. We can end at the school with a barbecue or something and have information about the project.... We will try to get the community involved as well!"

Montessori "Well of Love" Holiday Challenge

Debra Kahn — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:18:49 GMT

Montessori "Well of Love" Holiday Challenge

Amman Imman is less than $75,000 away from building our first Montessori “Well of Love” borehole in the Azawak Valley of Niger.

With over 50 Montessori schools participating around the globe, we are within reach of our goal. If each school raised even $1,000 by January 31, we could begin construction.

We challenge each school
to launch a drive in their community
to build this Well of Love.

In this season of giving, please help us bring water and hope to the children of the Azawak.

Contact info.waterishope@gmail.com for more information

No Tricks, Just a Treat for the Children of the Azawak

Debra Kahn — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:18:48 GMT

When children go house to house on Halloween, they express their joy by dressing up in costumes from goblins and ghouls to policemen and princesses to the delight of neighbors and friends alike. That is the real treat! Traditionally, kids have combined their merriment with a trick-or-treat fundraiser. This year, Amman Imman: Water is Life is sponsoring

Trick or Treat for the Children of the Azawak

Parents and Teachers: please download the pdf file template below from Scribd.com. This template will fit around animal cracker boxes or similar small canisters. Be sure the canister has a slot on top so that coins can be dropped in.

(Hint for Montessori teachers and students: Use a small container shaped like a rectangular prism!)

Instructions for Students

Dear Students,
Thank you for collecting this Halloween for Amman Imman's project to build borehole wells for thousands of people who have no water. The pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters you collect will go toward bringing water and hope to the children, families and animals who live in the Azawak of West Africa.
1. Stay safe by getting permission from your parents before you begin trick or treating!
2. Attach the Trick or Treat for Amman Imman template to a small box or other dispenser.
3. As you go around to the homes of your friends and neighbors on Halloween, invite them to contribute to Amman Imman’s project that improves and saves the lives by building permanent and sustainable sources of water. You can tell them:

"I am collecting funds for Amman Imman: Water is Life. Together, with children around the world, we are building a borehole - a Well of Love - that will bring water to 25,000 people and animals. The children of the Azawak are dying because they have no water to drink. Please help us bring them water....and hope!"

4. In the next few days after Halloween, count up the money you collected.
5. Ask your parents to write a check for the amount and give them the coins in exchange.
6. The check should be made out to The Friendship Caravan/Amman Imman.
7. Either bring the check to school or mail it to:
The Friendship Caravan,
4212 36th Street South, AptA1,
Arlington, VA 22206
8. Due Date: Friday, November 7

Amman Imman Trick or Treat Boxes - Upload a Document to Scribd

No Water, No Hope

Debra Kahn — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:55:13 GMT

In the Azawak, a vast plain on the edge of the Sahara, a little rain falls during two months of the year. For the rest of the year, there is no water.

Imagine scooping water from a muddy marsh. Then, imagine that source of water drying up.

The children of the Azawak spend their time searching for water.

Amman Imman means "Water is Life". For the people of the Azawak, their hope rests on water.

Humanitarian organization Amman Imman: Water is Life is responding to the request of the people of the Azawak: "Please bring us water."

You can help: www.waterishope.org

Photos courtesy of Ariane Kirtley.
Music courtesy of Etran Finatawa, "Maleele", a healing song.

Poem for Dennis

Debra Kahn — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:00:18 GMT

Your Flowing Heart
dedicated to Dennis Hamilton, 1942-2008
Those who know you were not surprised
that your heart ruptured and overflowed.
We felt it flow all over us whenever we were with you.
We saw it well up on your face when you spoke,
trickle down your sleeve when you held out your hand,
and drip onto your shoulder when you rocked a baby.
Your heart seeped through your smile,
leaked into your compliments,
and soaked through your hugs.

You wrote letters about why you stand for peace
and we read your heart.
You told stories about people
who have no water,
and it was your heart
that moved other hearts to give.
You set up photo exhibits
that displayed generosity and love
residing where little else lives,
but it was your heart that
showed us generosity and love.
You even got a preacher from Texas
to invite you to his family home,
and dedicate his website to the thirsty,
only your heart, your heart.

That your heart flowed all over is no surprise,
not to friends who bathed in your love,
drenched in your generosity
and oozed in your care.
Your heart was like a boat on a river,
a vessel of safety and care
for your dear friend.
It was no surprise that
all that was in your heart
burst out.
It always did.

Dennis was Amman Imman's Associate Director. He lived fully and passed on September 16.

Dennis Hamilton: A Man of Heart and Soul

Debra Kahn — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:00:18 GMT

Yesterday, Amman Imman lost one of its dearest friends. Associate Director Dennis Hamilton passed away. Those fortunate enough to cross paths with Dennis knew him as a devoted friend and a man who dedicated his life to peace and service. His last act was taking down the Amman Imman photo exhibit at the MurphyArts gallery in Keene, New Hampshire.

Having met Ariane Kirtley when she was a student at Yale University, Dennis was Amman Imman’s first volunteer. He helped Ariane spread awareness about the plight of the people of the Azawak, acting as spokesperson and advocate. He worked tirelessly to secure interviews for Ariane, set up photo exhibits and obtain the support of individuals, businesses and organizations.

Dennis exemplified the best qualities that as teachers we want our students to possess. He cared about people. He saw beauty and truth in others. He helped his local community. He had a global vision that he put into action. He expressed his passion to wake up the world:

We believe there are no borders between people or countries where children die of dehydration. They are all our children, our brothers and sisters. There are no borders except those we make for ourselves. – Dennis Hamilton, June 25, 2007

I am deeply honored to have gotten to know Dennis in the course of doing this work. Dennis consistently encouraged me, inspiring me to continue. It is rare that someone can see you. Dennis had the soul to see.

The Amman Imman family grieves the loss of dear, dear Dennis. Together we embrace his life, and accept the generous capacity of his heart into our hearts.

We Love You, Dennis

Amman Imman - A Story

Debra Kahn — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:00:18 GMT

Amman Imman - A Story

by Suzanne Carroll Stork

a special thank you
to the students, teachers and families
of the Aidan Montessori School in Washington, D.C.
for their support and encouragment

photos from the Azawak courtesy of Ariane Kirtley

Amman Imman - A Story

All people share one Earth.

All people share the same basic needs.

We all need food, water,
shelter, clothing and protection.

People are able to think and create
to solve problems and
meet these basic needs.

All people hope and dream and love.

This was true of the very first people to live on Earth
and it is true of all people alive today.

Yet, in all of human history,
there has never been,
nor will there ever be,
another person just like you!

(Even if you are an identical twin!)

Maria Montessori believed in children.
She recognized that every child
is born with unique gifts to discover.

Yet, she knew that many people
on our Earth struggle
to meet the most basic of human needs.

Today, on the continent of Africa, in the country of Niger, more than 500,000 people of the Azawak Valley struggle daily to find the water they need to live.

For nine months out of the year,
children travel up to 35 miles every day
searching for water
to bring to their families.

If they find water, it is dirtier
than a mud puddle in New York City.

A woman named Ariane
visited the people of the Azawak.
She was touched by their warmth and kindness. She knew she had to help these beautiful people find a way to get the water
they desperately needed.

So, she founded an organization called
Amman Imman: Water is Life.

Like Maria Montessori,
Ariane believed in children.
She invited children
around the world to help.

And they did!
In 2007, the first Amman Imman borehole
was built in the Azawak in Tangarwashane.

Construction people had to drill
up to 600 feet below the Earth’s crust
to reach the needed water!

Now up to 25,000 people and animals
have access to clean water!

May all the children of the Azawak, and all people of the world,
be empowered to receive what they need and discover their gifts.

Please join students around the world
in helping
Amman Imman: Water is Life
bring water to the Azawak.

www.waterishope.org
montessori-amman-imman-project.blogspot.com
For more information write to: info.waterishope@gmail.com

Student Activism

Debra Kahn — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:00:18 GMT

When Ariane Kirtley spoke to Montessori teachers at the International Montessori Council's Peace Academy conference in Clearwater Beach, Florida in 2006, students presented the project alongside her. Ever since that time, students around the world have been working as partners with Amman Imman. Students have made presentations within their own school communities and also taken the project to other schools. They have participated in collaborative fundraising activities like A Walk For Water, and also initiated their own fundraising projects. Not only is the Amman Imman project impacting children in the Azawak of West Africa who now are beginning to gain access to sustainable water sources, but it is also affecting students worldwide by providing an experience through which they can be activists and make change happen.

Student blogger Sophie M-D writes about her schools involvement with Amman Imman in her blog (http://kimanthoney.blogspot.com):

My school helps a program called Amman Imman. Amman Imman's goal is to bring water to Niger, West Africa. So far in 2007 we were able to raise enough money to build a borehole and help 25,000 people. A borehole is like a well, but it is deeper and is a shaft that brings the water up. In February I was lucky enough to go to The Hershey Farm School in Ohio with the other seventh graders in my class (Sarah Nia, Ashley, Sophie H-S, and Dylan) to present about Amman Imman. Also, on my own, I decided to present to some three to six year-olds at Manor Montessori in Bethesda, MD. I have enjoyed all that I have done for Amman Imman and look forward to the upcoming year to help even more.

Another student blogger, Louise, used her blog to tell about "My Life in the OFS Middle School". Amman Imman played a big role in shaping her experiences:

Our school is sponsoring a project named "Amman Imman." Ariane Kirtley is the founder and program director of "Amman Imman, Water is Life." Ariane speaks with such compassion about the children and adults in the Azawak, Niger's most remote and abandoned territory, covering 80,000 square miles and inhabited by 500,000 people. There are barely any roads, dirt paths, schools or health centers, and most importantly there are no permanent sources of water. Amman Imman's mission is to help the water situation by building permanent sources of water throughout the territory.Ariane came to our school in the beginning of last year's school year (2006) and spoke with such compassion about her experience and lack of help from world organizations. At first she tried to get support but was told that no help could be given. She did not take no for an answer. Instead she started traveling around in North America spreading her word about the lack of water, the people of the Azawak Valley and the need for financial support. She was very knowledgeable about her topic and convincing. She made us all feel we needed to take part in raising funds. She made me believe I can help change the lives for these people. My school helped spread the word to other Montessori schools around the country and the world and with their help we raised enough money to build the first bore-hole. There are still many bore-holes to build.

Experience changes the course of our lives. For these students, these experiences have altered their perception, and possibly their future choices. As they embark on the path toward adulthood, who knows what seeds of life Amman Imman will sprout?

If any of your students have written about their experience in working with Amman Imman: Water is Life to help the people of the Azawak, please write and let us know. We would love it if they were willing to share their work, ideas and experiences with the Montessori community.

Press Release: Photo Exhibit To Depict A Culture Struggling For Water

Debra Kahn — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:00:17 GMT

KEENE, N.H. (August 1) – The Tuareg and Woodabe Fulani people, desert nomads who inhabit West Africa's extensive Sahara and Sahel regions, will be brought to life at MURPHYARTS this summer through a series of photographs. The images, taken in the Republic of Niger by Ariane Kirtley—a former Fulbright scholar who has made it her mission to help save the lives of these desert dwellers—will showcase a rich, artistic, poetic culture now struggling for survival. Kirtley's photographs are not so much reflective of the death and disease these Nigeriens fight each day, but of families in colorful veils who make intricate jewelry and modestly celebrate the life they still have to live.

The daughter of two National Geographic photographers, Kirtley spent parts of her childhood traveling throughout Africa. Although she witnessed poverty and hardship in her travels as a young girl, when she returned decades later, what she saw in parts of this West African desert alarmed her. "I thought I knew about water problems in Niger," said Kirtley, referring to her travels through the Azawak Valley, a region of the southern Sahara Desert stretching through Niger and Mali. "I had no idea… I had never before seen people literally dying of thirst."

What she photographed in the Azawak were 500,000 people who suffer from severe water shortages in a region largely abandoned by the world. What she witnessed was little girls—9, 10 and 11 years old—traveling up to 35 miles roundtrip just to get to the nearest source of water. What she is trying to save is a dignified and generous community—severely affected
by a warming climate—currently dying of thirst.

Part photographer, part activist, Kirtley has not only taken a collage of impressive photographs, but has also started a deep well-digging program called Amman Imman, or "water is life," to help people living in the Azawak. In this remote region with no roads or trails, health centers or schools nearby, Amman Imman is the only organization working to dig deep, permanent, sustainable wells called boreholes. Last summer, the organization dug its first borehole well 600 feet below the Earth's surface, which serves the needs of up to 25,000 people and their animals.

Although currently half of children born in the Azawak die before they turn five, with one quarter dying from dehydration alone, Kirtley hopes that by building more borehole wells Amman Imman will act as an impetus to change all of this. "Until there is a permanent and sustainable flow of water in the region, no organization will come to the Azawak," she said. "I hope that our work will serve as a catalyst for humanitarian organizations to bring much-needed developmental aid, such food aid, health care, education and gender equity to the region."

The photography exhibit, Amman Imman: Water is Life—Bringing Water and Hope to Those Who Have None, will be a testimony to the need for this change. The exhibit will open Friday, August 1, 2008, at MURPHYARTS. A reception will follow Thursday, August 7, 2008, from 5 to 8 p.m. The photographs will remain on display through September 14, 2008.

MURPHYARTS is located at Colony Mill Marketplace, 222 West St., in Keene.

Julie Snorek, a volunteer with Amman Imman who lived and worked with Tuareg nomads in Niger, and Dennis Hamilton, the project's associate director, will be present to answer questions and provide information about Amman Imman's work and the cultures depicted in the exhibit. All proceeds from the sale of the photographs will go to Amman Imman.

Program Amman Imman is a Washington, D.C.-based program, working in partnership with the American non-profit The Friendship Caravan. For more information, please visit: www.waterishope.org.

Simple Giving and Modern Technology bring Global Connections

Debra Kahn — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:00:17 GMT

Communications today make it possible for us to be connected around the world in the click of an email or push of a mouse for an instant message. We can beam video to remote areas and catch events across the globe as they happen. Thus, our world has become an interconnected global community.

We have this vision that the children of the Azawak and the children in Montessori schools who are helping to bring them water can understand that they are connected and part of the global community.

Not everyone can go to the Azawak. And the children of the Azawak can't easily come here. But we can use technology for a really sweet purpose. We can demonstrate to children that what they do - their actions - bring a real smile.

In March, 2007, Ariane Kirtley hand-delivered gifts from the children in America to the children in Azawak. The following 13 minute video allows us to view that heart-to- heart sharing. Ariane and Moustapha tell the children and nomads about the children and teachers in the schools who are helping Amman Imman bring them water. Ariane hands them some of the rosemary that Odyssey Montessori upper elementary student Wyatt collected and sold. The girls wear the scarves that then 8 year old Catie McCoy knitted for them. She explains to them that students at Oneness-Family School and the Barrie School are making presentations and telling the world about their water problems. She shows them the cards from classrooms around the world that have pledge to help them get water. Ariane and Moustapha explain the different ways that children in America are helping.

The nomads smile. The children smile. We smile.

Simple giving. Modern technology. Global connections.

How lovely to see the children in this video, for they are many of the same children that Ariane photographed when she first went to the Azawak in 2005. We have seen them in many of her photos: Takat, Hassan, Abdoulaye, Moussa, Anaou, Rabbi, Mariama, Raichatou, Soutout, Mariama, Hazzi, Saleh.

Please share this video with all students, and let them know their hands can reach across the world and change lives!

See photos of Ariane's visit with the nomads and children in this post:
Sharing Gifts: Pictures from Tangarwashane