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RAIN News Spring 2011

 

Rotary International Partners with RAIN to Bring Life and Hope to Bonfeba 

 

Bonfeba students 

The Rotary Clubs of Exeter and Portsmouth, NH, Newburyport, MA, and Rotary International have teamed up with RAIN and the Niamey, Gaweye Rotary of Niger to transform the village of Bonfeba, located on the Niger River, in the Tillaberi region.

 

Newly installed Bonfeba school market garden. With Rotary's help, along with the parents of Bonfeba, RAIN installed a half-acre school garden, complete with well, cistern and drip irrigation system. The garden will include a fence, a motor pump to pull water from the well, and a gardener's salary for the first three months. Bonfeba is located beside a shallow and stagnant pool of water that served as the community's only source of drinking water until Rotary and RAIN dug their first well.  This fresh water will bring better health to hundreds who regularly suffer from dysentery and other illnesses caused by a polluted water supply. After the first growing season, the garden's cash crops will support future seasons.

Since the children must live at school, food must be provided for them. Bonfeba garden gate

After a summer of drought, the Bonfeba School opened in the fall, and the students have come. The food aid provided by Rotary International will be enough to provide support throughout the 2010-2011 school year. Rotary is supporting RAIN's new mentoring program in Bonfeba to encourage and support students. The program includes five mentors and twenty-five students. In addition, RAIN launched an adult literacy program for all adults who are eager to have the world of reading and writing open to them for the first time.

  

 

Students gather to play (Above),  teachers, parents and children of Bonfeba welcome the blackboard, books and school supplies donated by Rotary International (Below left), children share a lunch together (Below right).

  Bonfeba students eating lunchTeachers and students with supplies

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Equipped with food supplies, school supplies, a mentoring program in place, and a school market garden growing the promise of future food security, the village of Bonfeba is in anempowered and joyful place aftera summer of drought and hardship.  In the words of Dr. Bako, Niamey Gaweye Rotary Club member: "This modern garden brings much hope for future food security in Bonfeba. It gives us the possibility of generating food, along with money to help the school.  In the view of this community, this garden project is salutary!"  We agree! 

  

RAIN is thrilled to announce a two-year grant from Newman's Own Foundation.  The grant, awarded as the Foundation surpassed $300 million in charitable giving, will support RAIN's education programs in Niger, including our Girls' Mentoring and Scholarship Program.

 

The Trustees of the Hurlbut-Johnson Charitable Trusts continue to partner with RAIN, investing in the future of Niger  - in sustainable agriculture, small business, and in the children, who will grow up to become a new generation of skilled and educated adults.

 

Thank you Newman's Own and

Hurlbut-Johnson Charitable Trusts!

 

Decorative leather band 

 

Fatimata RhissaFatimata Rhissa

 

"My name is Fatimata Rhissa. I am the mother of student Amina Souleymane. She is my only child and all I have in the world. I am divorced, and my former husband has been in exodus for some years. I engage in small income generating activities to provide for our needs, and those of my parents. I offer plait braiding in downtown Arlit to many visitors who travel near our encampment. But with the conflicts occurring and the displacement that comes with it, my work has not been generating income. We have suffered much hardship.

 

Before the mentoring program came to our community, I did not want my daughter to attend school, but thought she should be at home to help me with domestic tasks and to keep our goats from time to time. After meetings with the mentors, I become more sensitized to the importance of bringing my daughter to school instead of having her stay at home. With the practical skills she has been learning, I now have confidence in my daughter, who is already starting to embroider. I can say already that my daughter is thankful for the skills training and the counsel of the mentors, which are now a primary part of preparing for her future." 
 

Decorative leather band

Help RAIN Find a New Tag Line

 

Do you have a knack for names and a way with words? 
We need your help!

How is RAIN  best
described in 3-5 words?  Are we "greening the
desert," or
"transforming nomadic
communities?"

 

Send us your ideas - if one is chosen, we'll
announce it in our
Summer News!


Mahgas Assaleck

 Mahgas Assaleck 

Maghas Assaleck is the newest addition to the RAIN staff in Niger, heading up the Agadez office.

  

Maghas holds degrees in accounting and business management. His background includes training in management, community health and hygiene, community development, and vocational training. He has worked with various organizations in Niger, including the French Red Cross, HED Tamat, and the International Travel Bureau. He also led training courses in the management of cereal banks and organizational communication, as well as several community awareness campaigns.

 

A Tuareg, he is fluent in Tamasheq, Hausa and French, and is married with three children.  We are pleased to welcome him to the RAIN team!

 

Ten years strong..and growing!   

Celebrate 10 years with us by introducing a friend to RAIN...share this newsletter, post call to actions on Facebook, sign your friends up to receive RAIN news!

You are valued friends, and we need more like you...help us widen our circle in 2011.

 

Click the image below to start!

 

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Save the Date for Stars Over the SaharaStars Over the Sahara Description
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ebay logoLooking for the perfect gift for Mother's Day?  Visit the RAIN page on eBay for beautiful and authentic Tuareg jewelry!  Click on the logo to start shopping, and check back as new items are added.

 

You can also catch RAIN at the Portsmouth Farmer's Market
on the following dates:  

 

May 21 - June 18 - July 23 - August 20 - Sept 10


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