On December 16th 2005 we were invited to take part in the Christmas bazaar of the professional school at Radolfzell. Justina Honsel, the daughter of Mohamed’s boss, had proposed us to the director and of course we were very enthusiastic about beeing one of the four chosen relief organizations.

With bag and baggage we moved off to Germany. Our silver jewellery stand lined up with the other colourful stands of the students, who sold with joy their high quality workpieces for a good purpose.

Then on January 15th 2006 we received a check of 1000 Euro, profit of the bazaar activities. It was a joyful day for us and we celebrated a traditional tea ceremony together with the bearers of the check.

Thank you very much for your magnificent support! 

At the beginning of January we came back from Niger where we had informed ourselves about the status of the different running projects. At the same time the annual meeting of the association took place in Gougaram/Niger.

At our arrival we were surprised by several festivities. The women of Talak had built up a typical Tuareg shelter (ehen) for us, in which we lived comfortably during our stay. The beautifully dressed women assembled to welcome us warmly with their lovely songs.

These days were full of expressive music and we were really connecting with the archaic culture of the Tuareg which was an unforgetable experience.

To be honest I was very impressed by the construction of the well and by the results the Tuareg had created here with their own hands, a shovel and a couple of kettles! The well is very frequented by the nomads nearby and for that reason ENMIGRAW had decided to install a strong Diesel-driven pump and to construct a water collecting basin for the irrigation of the gardens. At the same time small canals were built leading the water to the beds. The vegetable garden is just too large to be managed without a waterpump!

During the meeting, Effad, the president of ENMIGRAW, made us clear how important is the millet storehouse for the population of Talak. Last year’s famine is still very present, although we had tried everything possible, not to leave our Tuareg families without their daily meal. The Management Committee wants to take the opportunity and thank all the donors warmly who had supported us in our fight against starvation.

ENMIGRAW considers one of her main concerns to guarantee nutrition maintenance in times of need. Meanwhile we are prepared to stock our storehouse with 20 tons of millet. Part of the heavy milletsacks reached Talak at the beginning of January.

About 700 families will profit from the enlargement of the store room. Not to forget that we have created two more jobs!

 

In the morning of the 25th of December the women of the Cooperative,  the Management Committee of ENMIGRAW and we came together.

The women presented their handicrafts (bast and leatherwork). I tried to learn how to twist the bast strings.

But my fingers were too clumsy not used to the hard grass and my hands too stiff. What looks so easy while Tuareg women doing it, really gave me a hard time!

Raisha, the president of Tellit, directed our focus also to the social value of the Cooperative. She made clear that the Cooperative is merging and empowering theTuareg women of Talak as a whole. Together they are able to improve their life standards by selling their handmade products.

ENMIGRAW came to the decision to replace the old and run down storehouse by a bigger one. So the Cooperative can store all the raw material without loss and guarantee the income of the Tuareg women.

ENMIGRAW has integrated the two music groups Imzad and Tende into the association since poetry and music plays an important role in nomadic daily life. Imagine that the history of the Tuareg people has always been handed down orally. Keeping up this ancient and already partly forgotten tradition is therefore an important concern of the Management Committee. Cultural roots are of great social value especially nowadays while life in Niger is changing so much.

While performing, Sidi, the singer, is reciting, accompanied by the Imzad (a one stringed lute). The songs tell about difficult moments in the Touareg past like bloody conflicts, also gloryfing the desert which they loved so deeply, other songs about the omnipresent camels, about longing and love.

There are brilliant young men stomping and dancing in front of the singing women. The vibrating atmosphere and the wild dances of the Touareg are a true revival of the heroic legends of the ancient times.

After the performance when dust had settled down men and women took their long way home under their feet. Other duties were waiting for them like collecting and milking the grazing animals and prepare evening meals.

ENMIGRAW has been active in the north of Niger for two and a half years now. Thanks to all the generous supporters and donators we have been able to realize a remarkable number of important projects. With little money only we can show really good results! We have always respected our credo of making the Tuareg themselves the actors of their fight against poverty and improving their living conditions. This has all worked out very well.

After the well of Gougaram was finished in June 2005, we decided to finance another well. In Ani Aghr, about 50 km south of Gougaram, the Tuareg have already started the digging process. Work is in good progress. They have reached by now a level of 17m and are supposed to find water within the next few days, Inch’Allah!

The two storehouses are almost ready except for the roofs. Because of the lack of rainfalls, however, this is not of great importance. Rafters, doors and windows are there and by June everything should be finished. We have already ordered 15 tons of millet and started to put them into stock. The Tuareg families of Talak are very grateful to the fact that their food supply base will be guaranteed.

 

Raisha, the president of the women’s cooperative is very happy about the microcredit rise of CHF 500.- and she would live in the storehouse if she could - even without the roof!

The bundles of dried leaves from the dumpalms are ready for use and some of the mats and other twisted workpieces have come in for storage up to sale.

Unfortunately I was not able to find a solution to finance the Ambulance so far. Even a used four wheel vehicle is a very expensive thing for our association. But I shall be working on this as hard as I can!

When we phoned lately, the women of the cooperative had a cornmill on their list of wishes. Using such a mill would save a lot of time which they could invest in activities to create more income. Grinding the daily portion of millet takes them 3-4 hours. The cornmill would be managed centralized by one person and all the families could bring their milletsacks there for the milling procedure.
So we can also give a fixed job to someone.

We shall discuss the idea within the managing committee and I shall ask other organizations about their experience in this regard.

Christina, one of my schoolfriends, had her 50th birthday last month and celebrated a big party. Instead of accepting personal gifts she decided to ask her guests to support our projects.

So she collected the remarkable sum of CHF 1500.- We came together at her home for a delicious dinner to celebrate with joy this great success and talked about the old times of our schooldays.

 

All the Tuareg families of Talak thank you warmly for supporting them and I am also joining in to thank you all.

 

I wish you all a sunny springtime

 

Anita

 

 

Dear sponsors, dear friends

In July Mouhamed was travelling through the region of Talak to visit for us the projects of ENMIGRAW at temperatures of 45° Celsius which are inconceivable to us. It was like running the gauntlet from one place in the shadow to the next. The sweat was pouring down, the sun had no mercy and the rubber of the tyres seemed to melt at the shimmering heat. Nevertheless he rode from one project to the other, and sometimes even the camera could not bear the merciless heat.....

Both storehouses are finished now. We built them against each other symmetrically to save the costs of one wall.

As it rained enough this year, the harvest of the millet was productive in the Sahel zone and ENMIGRAW could buy 20 tons of millet as was planned.

We thank you all! By your donations you made this enlargement of the millet warehouse possible.

The well of Ani Aghr makes further progress. When digging the Tuareg met a hard sandstone slab at a depth of 17 m. It had to be broken piece after piece with pick axe and hoe. This work was laborious and, above all, dangerous. Moreover the first thunderstorms were announcing the rainy season. Digging and concreting had to be stopped because of the danger of collapsing. Anyway in November the Tuareg nomads of this region should be able to scoop their drinking water from this well, inshallah!

Rhaisha, the president, opened officially the new warehouse together with the women, and all are more than contented. The project is running perfectly and the involved Tuareg women earn money for the maintenance of their families by selling their raffia mats and baskets.
The women contributed half of the construction work of the storehouse, an amazing result!
This fact shows that we are on the right path with our idea „help for self-help“.

The kitchen is badly furnished with a minimum, black with soot and the pots are partly broken. The meals consist of millet cooked with water with a thin sauce. Even in „normal“ times 40% of the children do not get enough to eat – hidden hunger is a sad everyday fact in Niger.

Moreover this food offer is an incentive for the families to send their children to school, for at home there is often only one meal per day.

The elementary school in Gougaram is extremely important for the region, as it guarantees a basic instruction even for the poorest children. Education is the only chance to break through the circle of poverty and ignorance, to create a better life and a more hopeful future.

ENMIGRAW Suisse
Anita Hess Inwilli
Mouhamed Inwilli
Hermatswilerstr.12
CH-8493 Saland
Tel. 052-394 18 80

Donation
UBS, 8330 Pfäffikon ZH
PC 80-2-2
IBAN CH250029629691542540G
BIC UBSWCHZH80A
Accountnumber 0296-915425.40G
ENMIGRAW Suisse - Engagement bewegt