RAIN is expanding to the Tilaberi region -- it's  in the south, bordering the Niger River.  Far from the Air Massif, yet home to many Tuareg and Wodaabe people.

The regional superintendent of schools suggested we might find motivated partners in a village called Ingui. We set off to find Ingui and its school, arriving unannounced to find about fifteen fathers there. They were building a classroom with straw mats hung on a wood frame. 

make a new one. This year they will repair the broken desks and chairs. And the other classroom with the roof that keeps falling in -- they'll repair that, too.  

How many communities anywhere would do this every year for twenty years?  This small village has 160 students in its school -- including many children from the bush who walk up to twenty kilometers each way, every day to attend classes.
 
The people of Ingui are herders. They are lucky to live near a shallow lake and they find a few fish there, but food is scarce and they'd love to have a school garden -- they've tried, but without a fence the goats eat all the crops. Their commitment is impressive and RAIN will help. 

Ingui is located in the Tilaberi region, about four hours northwest of Niger's capital, Niamey.  it is across the Niger River, close to the Mali border.   Over  425,000 people live in Tilaberi's   6,000 square miles. Nearly 60%  of its residents live in poverty.  Despite its proximity to Niamey it is remote, little visited by tourists or aid organizations.  in 2005 USAID said of this region:

"this zone has a particularly worrying food security outlook.

the poor majority have few and possibly decreasing assets in livestock, and no capacity to cultivate enough for minimal self-sufficiency in most years."  

Niger livelihood profiles, January 2005, usaid fews net project

Ahmed Akamankaman is the chief of Ingui and of all Tuareg in the region.  During the severe droughts of the 1970's and 80's his people lost most of their herd animals.  Times were desperate. 

Then, in 1984, geologic changes resulted in the formation of a lake in their homeland.  The people decided to build a village near this water source and become sedentary. They named their village Ingui, which means 'by the water.'

The government of Niger built one classroom and assigned one teacher to Ingui.  They underestimated the chief.  He goes to settlements throughout the region and urges parents to send their children.  So tiny Ingui now has 160 students and is in dire need of food and facilities for them.

 

Mawala Adal has a garden.  He knows the benefits of being able to grow food for his family and sell crops for cash. The day RAIN said we would help was the day that Mawala organized the parents to begin work on the Ingui garden.

She says: "Educated girls postpone marriage, are aware of their health and find ways to earn livelihoods."

Amou Barek, 12, rises in the dark each day.   He begins his 14-mile walk to school at daybreak to be in time for the start of classes at 8:30.  He returns home in the darkness of night.  Amou passes several villages on his route to school  and is joined by about twenty schoolmates along the way. Amou is the top student in his class and wants to be a teacher.

UPCOMING EVENTS

RAIN Markets - we'll be selling leather, straw, embroidered goods  from our women's cooperatives, as well as Tuareg jewelry, this May at the Community Church of Durham.

SAVE THE DATE FOR RAIN's 2009 ANNUAL EVENT 
"SOUNDS OF THE DESERT"
OMARA MOCTAR, TUAREG SINGER/GUITARIST