Super Heroes of Compassion

What is a Hero of Compassion?  I posed this question to Andrea and Sebastian, two 8th graders from the Oneness-Family School who chose to work with Amman Imman to fulfill the internship and community service requirement at their school.  

"Kind of like a super hero,” offered Sebastian.  "Super heroes use their super human strength to save the lives of ordinary people. Heroes of Compassion give their best to help people, and by helping discover their own super power."    

By the end of our time together it was clear that although these two appear as ordinary teenagers, behind the mask of adolescence they are extraordinary individuals who are changing the world.

These two exhibited super powers all week.  Andrea, serious and philosophical, readily shared her desire to walk the unpaved path through life.  Sebastian, steadfast yet whimsical, added an element of fun.  Between the two of them, they contributed the right balance required to achieve the impossible.  My goal was to prepare them to present our new Hand in Hand campaign to the lower elementary class (1^st through 3rd graders) at Oneness-Family. By Thursday, they would be ready to do the presentation entirely on their own.  We would film the process, and eventually incorporate the video as an instructional tool for schools and a record of our work together.

It’s not always easy to get middle school students to turn off their ipods or to disengage from their friends, and accomplish something. But beneath the surface of these teenage distractions brews the ingredients for inspired leadership. Often kept at arms length, compassion encircles the teenage character.  When you get a 13 year old to shed their armor, it is like they step out of the telephone booth, suited and empowered. They just need an opportunity to bring out their super hero qualities and begin saving people.  

Andrea and Sebastian worked hard all week. On Thursday, they spoke with the class of 30 students about their own super hero abilities.  They described Hand in Hand, where students make handicrafts and sell them in their community to raise awareness and funds for a borehole in the Azawak.  This  Well of Love will bring water, potentially saving the lives of thousands and thousands of people and animals.  No small feat, but for these Heroes a challenge worthy their courage and compassion.

As we finished, I asked them to write about their experiences:

Sebastian Ashley, 8th grade.  Sebastian chose Amman Imman as his community service project.

The reason that I chose to work with Amman Imman was because I thought that this project was the most urgent and important. Some of the possible community service options had to do with helping the homeless or old, but this one helps those who are dying, and this project has very few people actually working as a staff or members, so they could use more help. Amman Imman is important because it helps the people of the Azawak’s need for water and also helps their economy.

By participating in Wells of Love I have become a Hero of Compassion. In a small company like Amman Imman, if you want something done then you can’t just sit around and hope someone else will do it for you. You have to take the initiative and become a leader. I’ve also become more philanthropic. I see how many people have given up prized possessions and much money for others, so I now see that the least I can do is give up a little spare time.

Andrea Manchester, 8th grade.  Andrea chose Amman Imman for her 8th grade internship

I chose this project because I believe that helping others less fortunate than ourselves is not merely an option, but a necessary course of action. It’s important to give back to the global community, particularly if you are born in a society that supplies you with both basic needs as well as whims. Some people wonder why I’ve chosen to help Amman Imman (AI) when there are humanitarian issues so close to home. My answer is simple: people in the Azawak aren’t getting help from anyone else. Specifically, I am addressing the Azawak’s desperate need for water. It’s a simple concept, really. The residents of that area have no water for ten months out the year, so I say let’s give it to them! Saving lives is an amazing thing, and by advocating for AI and helping to fundraise, I am helping to do just that.

My participation in Wells of Love (WoL) helps me to be a Hero of Compassion by encouraging me to motivate others in working towards a common goal, as well as helping me to realize that achieving the greater good takes more than a single generous soul. It’s helped me to learn that I’ll only reach my goals if I advocate for myself and take initiative. You’d be surprised by how few people can do that.

I learned that I don’t need an incentive to help others. It actually comes kind of naturally. I feel a want, if not an urge, to provide aid for those in need of it. It’s also helped me to realize how insignificant I am as an individual, that I can only do little things to work towards something greater. By dedicating myself to this worthy cause, and working collaboratively towards the boreholes, I set a long-term goal for myself. I encourage you to take this up, too!

To bring out the Super Hero in your students, give them the Wells of Love opportunity to improve and save lives in the Azawak of West Africa with Amman Imman: Water is Life!

Find out more here: http://www.waterishope.org/Wells/index.html

Wells of Love: An Opportunity for Students

Dear Educators and Friends of the Azawak,

As the program director for Wells of Love, the service learning component of humanitarian organization Amman Imman: Water is Life, I'd like to invite parents, teachers and students in your community to learn about our organization and get involved in our program. Amman Imman is dedicated to saving and improving lives among the poorest and most abandoned populations of the world by building permanent water sources in the Azawak of West Africa. Our program for schools, Wells of Love, empowers students as "Heroes of Compassion" - future leaders with a caring, philanthropic spirit - by engaging them to help bring water and hope to the people of the Azawak.

Children enjoy clean and plentiful water 

from the Tangarwashane borehole, built by 

Amman Imman with the help of students 

around the world.

For the past three years, students in over 50 schools around the world have had the opportunity to be among the first to bring attention to this region in Niger and Mali where half a million people suffer from the effects of extreme water scarcity due to a changing climate. These students have become part of a grassroots movement to help a population of people that no one else is helping. Through Wells of Love, students become leaders in raising awareness about the water issues in this region. They participate in fund raising projects that utilize their initiative, creativity and commitment to making the world a better place. Students from pre-school to college age have been helping make a tangible difference in the lives of the children and families in this Azawak.   

Students raise funds in A Walk For Water and other service projects.

Very importantly, Amman Imman celebrates the dignity and rich heritage of the people of the Azawak by focusing on the beauty and the generosity that shines through in spite of the peril under which they live. Wells of Love personally connects students with children in the Azawak, making the act of giving more meaningful.

I am available to present this amazing and beautiful project at school assemblies, to individual classes or at club meetings.  Please help me make connections at schools so that more students can have this opportunity.  If you have someone you can refer me to, please contact me debbie at ammanimman.org or call 240-418-1143. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

You can be part of empowering students and helping the people of the Azawak have a future of hope!

Amman Imman honors the people of the Azawak 

whose courage and generosity are an inspiration to us all.

Yours in peace and hope for children everywhere,

Debbie Kahn

Associate Director, Amman Imman: Water is Life

Wells of Love, program director

Ariane Kirtley spreads Amman Imman's message

Ariane Kirtley, Amman Imman's founder and director, has been in the United States since late August.  She's been working with the Amman Imman team here in America to expand fundraising operations. She's  also been gathering support by meeting with various people and organizations in order to bring attention to the crucial environmental and human crises facing the Azawak. Her main goals for this visit have been to establish the Wells of Love program here in America and to make valuable connections in order to raise funds.  Her objective is to construct the next borehole in the village of Kijigari as soon as possible.  The dry season has already begun in the Azawak.  The marshes will soon dry up and the people of Kijigari are waiting for water.

Here are some of the latest developments: 

• Ariane met actress and humanitarian activist Mia Farrow at the Leon H. Sullivan Honors held in August at the Kennedy Center.   Mia expressed concern about the children and families living in the Azawak who are dying of thirst without access to water.  Today, Mia wrote about Ariane on her blog, http://www.miafarrow.org/.
  

• Air America Radio has become Amman Imman's newest sponsors.  Jack Rice, journalist and talk show host, interviewed Ariane last week. The interview was aired on his show and posted on YouTube and various other sites.  Read more about this heartfelt exchange and watch the videos on the Amman Imman blog.
  

• Montel Williams, veteran tv personality and Air America talk show host, spoke with Ariane on his show yesterday which took place at the Health and Fitness Expo for the Marine Core Marathon.  Montel said, "What do we have to do to make people in America understand, that no matter how bad it is for us, there are still people that are worse and we still need to do our part because to whom much is given much is expected."  Montel has offered to continue his support.

Listen to Ariane's exchange with Montel Williams at this link: 
Montel Williams Interview with Ariane Kirtley

Montell Williams and Ariane Kirtley discuss the travesty

of there being people on earth today who do not have any water

A Hero of Compassion

Students have been Amman Imman’s core supporters since Ariane Kirtley began speaking at schools in September 2006.  When she came to the Oneness-Family School in October of that year, she presented Amman Imman to the school’s Peacekeeper club. Peacekeeper students brought the project to the Montessori community, presenting with Ariane at the Montessori Peace Academy conference in November.  Some of these same students have remained at the core of the movement as it has spread to 60 schools, within the Montessori community and beyond. One such student is Sophie M-D.

Sophie has continued to listen and absorb the lessons of compassion and action that Amman Imman has brought forth from her.  Over the last three years, Sophie has remained a key leader in the student movement as it has spread from school to school.  With her family she participates annually in A Walk for Water, canvassing friends and neighbors to financially support her symbolic walk.  In 2008, she traveled to Ohio with her fellow middle school students to present Amman Imman at the Hershey Montessori School.  She helped manage an Amman Imman table at money-raising school events like the Peacekeepers Holiday Bazaar.   As an Amman Imman representative, she presented the project to Oneness-Family School classes.

Sophie presenting Amman Imman at Oneness-Family School, 2008

Activism that springs from true compassion has the power to move an individual to do even more. The cause of the people of the Azawak truly entered Sophie’s heart. In July 2008 she wrote about Amman Imman in her blog:

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.

Sophie explains how a borehole works to the 3-6 year old children at the Manor Montessori School.

Students at Manor Montessori find out what it is like to carry water.

A natural champion of what she believes in, Sophie takes action where she can when she sees a need.   She is a true example of what we intend to cultivate in the students who participate in the Wells of Love program – future leaders with a caring, philanthropic spirit - who employ their compassion by taking action that can change the world.     

It is this vision – our Heroes of Compassion act as spokespeople and advocates for the people of the Azawak – that is at the core of the Wells of Love program.  Student leaders gain the tangible experience of taking the stories and photos that Ariane and the Amman Imman team bring back from remote and rural Azawak and share them with fellow students and school communities, and thus enact a web of involvement that spreads from school to school.

Now that Sophie has graduated from Oneness she continues to be an advocate for the people of the Azawak in high school. Sophie recently told me, “For some kids Amman Imman was something they did in elementary school  For me it is for my whole life”

At the club fair at her high school, The Madeira School, Sophie set up a table to gather support for a new Amman Imman school club.  As a result of her enthusiasm, 13 students signed up to join.  The group will focus on fundraising, education and the annual Walk for Water.    

Sophie has started an Amman Imman club at The Madeira School in Potomac, Maryland.

 Thank you, Sophie, for your dedication and commitment

to making a difference in the lives

of the children and families living in the Azawak.  

You are a true Hero of Compassion! 

Amman Imman Unites Nigerien and U.S. Children through Its Service Learning Program, Wells of Love

Amman Imman Unites Nigerien and U.S. Children Through Its Service Learning Program: 

Wells of Love is the service learning program of Amman Imman: Water is Life. Amman Imman is dedicated to improving and saving lives among the poorest and most severely threatened populations of the world by supplying permanent sources of water in the Azawak of West Africa.

Wells of Love empowers students as "Heroes of Compassion" - future leaders with a caring, philanthropic spirit - by engaging them to help bring water and hope to the 500,000 children and adults living in the Azawak. 

Wells of Love Goals:

·      Uniting students, young people of all ages, from preschoolers to university students, as caring philanthropists, or “Heroes of Compassion” capable of turning their empathy into direct action through collaborative and individually initiated efforts.

·      Increasing awareness among students about some of the most crucial humanitarian and environmental issues of our time, including the global water crisis and climate change directly affecting the lives of the people living in the Azawak of West Africa.

·      Shaping tomorrow’s leaders as global activists and problem solvers, affecting change and finding positive solutions to some of our world’s most challenging problems. 

·      Raising funds towards building numerous “Wells of Love” thereby having long-lasting and significant impact on the lives of the populations of the Azawak. 

           With YOU and Wells of Love  !

Amman Imman Wells of Love Carnival: Children Helping Children

When Suzanne Stork first heard about Amman Imman’s work with Montessori students, it touched her heart. “This is a project that inspires children to use their talents and creativity by empowering them to make a difference,” she says. While working with Ariane’s photos of children in the Azawak in preparation for a presentation to young children at Aidan Montessori, the school where she works, Suzanne was deeply moved. “Each photo evokes a personal connection, a feeling of oneness and commonality. These children have the same needs and feelings as my children. Their eyes and smiles reminded me of my own daughters,” says Suzanne.

Ariane with Suzanne and daughter Sarah

“Today, our children are bombarded with problems in the world. Amman Imman Wells of Love provides an opportunity for children to reach out to children who live far away and to make an incredible difference in their lives. As we begin to see through the eyes of another, we realize our common humanity and interconnectedness. Children see that although the people of the Azawak live far away, they hope and dream just as they do.”

It was this sentiment that inspired Suzanne to bring the Friendship Exchange to the children at Aidan Montessori. “This was an opportunity for children at Aidan to directly reach out to and connect with children in the Azawak, who they’ve been helping with their water problem." The Friendship Exchange not only shared gifts of beautiful beaded bracelets, but also shared photos and special messages between the kids of two vastly different cultures. “This took the children beyond charitable giving, and into a true heart-to-heart exchange,” says Suzanne. The children in the Azawak experienced the same heart-to-heart connection, becoming aware of children across the world in America who are essentially just like them.

In addition to coordinating the Wells of Love project at Aidan Montessori, Suzanne has taken an active volunteer role in the Amman Imman organization, helping to organize A Walk For Water and other activities. In fact, Suzanne’s entire family has been inspired. Her children, Hannah and Sarah, wanted to help, and so they organized an Amman Imman Benefit Carnival in a park near their home. They invited some high school students who made friendship bracelets and Hannah used her artistic skills for face painting.

Hannah painted beautiful designs for the children attending the Carnival.

Virginia high school students make friendship bracelets at the Amman Imman Carnival.

Ariane Kirtley, Amman Imman’s founder and director, her husband Denis Gontero, Niger Program Coordinator, and their small son Fassely, were in town to attend as well. Together with Wells of Love program director Debra Kahn, Ariane used small puppets to tell the story of the people of the Azawak, while Denis played the balafone.

Denis Gontero with son, Fassely.

“The project speaks to my heart because it involves children helping children. It’s simple and simply beautiful,” says Suzanne.

(from left to right) Fassely,Hannah, Kevin, puppy, Suzanee, Sarah, Ariane, Denis, Debbie