Without access to water, children in the Azawak region of Africa spend all day, every day searching for water instead of attending school
Solar borehole will alleviate the affects of climate change
Amman Imman plans to construct the “Water is Education” borehole-well for 16 communities. This solar-powered borehole will provide sustainable clean water for between 15,000 and 40,000 people and animals, depending on the season.
5,000 children will have time to attend school.
Together, we can make a direct difference to thousands of children enabling access to education, health, economic security, and more.
Houlaye is an 14-year-old Nigerien girl.
She cannot attend school as a result of climate-induced water scarcity. Houlaye is left alone to care for her younger siblings while her parents migrate to neighboring countries in search of work. Household chores, including fetching water up to eight hours a day, prevent her from attending school more than a few hours a week.
Unbeknownst to Houlaye and her family, the solution to their calamity lies below their feet. Around 200 meters below the cracked earth, water flows in abundance. The thirsty and exhausted child is literally walking on water.
Amman Imman will bring this water to the surface by drilling a borehole-well, thereby drastically changing Houlaye’s life.
15,000 people would have access to clean water year round.
This multi-community water source will consist of a borehole (in this case, drilled at a depth of about 200 meters), a 30 m3 water tower, solar panels to operate a pump to bring up the water to fill the water tower, and a pipeline several kilometers long to provide water directly to the 16 communities. The borehole will be managed by a democratically-elected management committee consisting mainly of women.
Impact
Water = Education, and much more!
One of the most abundant groundwater sources in Africa, the huge non-fossilized aquifer called the Continental Interclaire, lies beneath the Azawak between 200 and 900 meters deep.
The borehole will provide managed access to a sustainable source of water. 15,000 people in 16 villages will have access year round. 40,000 people will use the borehole during the hot season, from March to June.
The Azawak has an infant mortality rate of between 25% and 50%.
Child deaths related to water will be reduced by at least 40%. Cases of infantile diarrhea may be reduced by 75%.
Amman Imman’s Mobile Clinic
An additional 10,000 women and children will benefit from free medical care and health education, including reproductive health and access to contraception.
Mostly due to the lack of water, the Azawak has an illiteracy rate of 99%.
Student attendance will be improved by 83%; that of girls, 66%.
The child malnutrition rate in the Azawak is at 14.7%. The region has suffered an 80% loss of livestock due to pasture degradation.
We will propose permaculture garden projects and launch a rainwater harvesting project to rebuild pastures.
Rainfall in the Azawak varies between 50 and 250 mm per year. People traditionally collect water from temporary marshes that totally dry out during the hot season
We will initiate an innovative wetlands management project, the first of its kind in the Azawak.
Climate-related migration has especially affected women who leave their families for extended periods seeking jobs in neighboring countries. They are susceptible to slavery, prostitution, rape, trafficking of all kinds and radicalism.
Women will be able to improve their financial resources by up to 70%, and work near their home. They will be trained as leaders of the ecological projects.
The lack of rain in the Azawak means sunshine is abundant.
Powering the borehole by solar energy will limit environmental impact and economic costs of maintaining the structure. Solar panels will electrify the 6 nearest villages in an environmentally friendly way.
