Amman Imman

         One of our current juniors has been involved in a great project to try to bring water to the people of the Azawak region in Africa. Last year she showed us this video, which shows just how severe the water shortage is in some places of the world. She is working with Amman Imman, an organization endeavoring  to set up boreholes, sophisticated wells that access the cleaner water underground, in the areas that need them the most.

         I had forgotten just how sad and shocking this video was until I watched it for a second time. This is not just one small, isolated village, it is hundreds of thousands of people who do not know if they will be able to get the water that they need in order to survive. These people are grateful if they get to drink liquidy mud, something that none of us would even think of putting anywhere near our mouths. Rain, which is just an inconvenience to us as we go about our lives, is what their lives depend on. Imagine what it would be like if your life depended on something as fickle as the weather.

        And the worst part is, their situation is getting more severe, not easing. They are the ones who are feeling the effects of climate change, something that to us is just a distant idea that does not have a direct impact on us. We are the ones who are poisoning the planet with our factories and cars and wasteful lifestyles, and yet the people of the Azawak are paying for it. So let us start taking responsibility for our lifestyles and actions and begin paying back the debt that we have been forcing upon the people of the Azawak.
Amman Imman Website