RAIN News Summer 2012

RAIN's mission is to partner with nomadic and rural peoples in West Africa to improve their lives through education, water security, agriculture
and income-producing activities.

Summer 2012

The Muir String Quartet Performs Inaugural Concert for Classical Music By the Sea June 10th

Bob Lord with Co-Chair and host,

Joanne Lamprey

"The goal of Classical Music By the Sea is to inspire today's students to become tomorrow's classical musicians, and supporting musical and cultural missions is a crucial and integral part of our work. The funds raised will have a lasting impact on scholastic music programs in the Seacoast and on the women and children of Niger."

- Co Chair Bob Lord, CEO of PARMA Recordings

The Muir Quartet performs Mendelssohn's Quartet in A minor, Op. 13, and Dvorák's Double Bass Quintet

RAIN is grateful to The Muir String Quartet and the Classics For Kids Foundation for partnering with us for their inaugural event. The mission of CFKF to support music education for all shares our vision of learning as the key to opening new worlds for children across the globe.

Treat yourself to this special Seacoast performance by the Grammy winning Quartet and join us in enriching the lives of children in New England and West Africa.

Tickets are $150 and include a garden reception after the performance.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the Classical Music By the Sea Website.

The Global Hunger Foundation and RAIN Create an
Oasis of Learning
and Food Security in Mari, Niger

Tuareg member of Mari garden co-op

The 99 women of the Tillaberi community of Mari work in a 3,000 square meter long garden along the bank of a seasonal lake. They learn, share and support their children together.

This is the Mari Women's Garden Project, a Nancy Daly Memorial Grant awarded by The Global Hunger Foundation to RAIN. In this season, when the land looks like endless sand and dust, it's almost miraculous to come upon a green RAIN garden.

Mari is located in one of the areas of Niger most often threatened with food shortages. We found the community working hard every day, but hindered by a well that was clogged with sand, a garden invaded by a seasonal river, and an overall lack of experience in agriculture.

With the funds provided by the Nancy Daly Memorial Grant, a co-operative of community women has formed to install and cultivate a garden, ensuring food security for themselves and their families. The well has been repaired, the garden restored, and lessons in health, nutrition, and organic farming in full swing.

Nomadic woman with children.

A Curriculum for Women and Girls

The women's garden curriculum provides a comprehensive approach to all aspects of a Sahelien garden - crops, yields and marketing, environmental conservation and composting. The garden will serve as a hands-on classroom, teaching nutrition and health, building knowledge sharing within the community, and training the next generation of women farmers.

School girls and boys alike will benefit from lessons adapted from the women's curriculum in their own school market garden. In a herding society such as Mari's, diversifying food sources by adding agriculture to each family's skill set is vital for future food security.

Since 2009, RAIN has had a girls' mentoring program in Mari. Since then, school enrollment has increased from 65 to 233, and three girls have graduated from primary school -- becoming the very first girls from Mari ever to reach high school.

RAIN's innovative work is home grown in every sense of the word,

and is at the root of sustainable food sources and durable economic development for rural communities.

RAIN Responds to Niger Hunger Crisis:

A personal note from our founder

Dear Friends,

I was in Niger recently, and the drought and locust infestations of 2011 have taken a terrible toll. This year, RAIN installed six new school market gardens -- all with wells and drip irrigation for long term food security.

While we develop long-term solutions, we must also respond to the suffering before us now. RAIN has just launched a Hunger Relief for Nomads campaign as part of GlobalGiving.org's Sahel Relief effort with the goal of raising $10,000 for remote herders fighting to keep their herds and families alive during this Hungry Season. With no access to the aid distributed in urban centers, isolated nomadic people rely on their dwindling livestock for food and income.

The Global Hunger Foundation is kicking off our campaign with a $1,300 donation. Please join us to fight hunger now. Any amount, even $10, will bring us one step closer to providing the food aid these families desperately need.

Visit our Hunger Relief for Nomads campaign page on GlobalGiving, donate, share with your friends. Love the web? Why not start your own fundraising page! Donate on June 13th and have your donation nearly doubled by GlobalGiving!

Many thanks to all from RAIN and the nomads of Niger. All the best, Bess

The Prem Rawat Foundation, One Day's Wages Foundation, The Global Hunger Foundation, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger and the Christensen Fund have all partnered with RAIN to develop agriculture for long term food security in Niger. We recognize their efforts and thank them for their support in this difficult time.

Rain for the Sahel and Sahara www.rain4sahara.org