Jill in the Sahara Desert |
From Jill in Ojai, California.
A friend and I raised enough money to repair 9 wells that collapsed during a terrible drought in Niger. Livestock,children and mothers were dying and the Tuareg Nomads were committing suicide. After we raised funds to repair 9 wells, we went there to make sure they were all in working order.
For one month, I crossed 1,800 miles across the Sahara with the Nomads, dressed like them, carrying my own drinking water. I found a place where Grandmothers lived under a dead acacia tree with some of their grandchildren. I spent the night there and the Grandmothers sang songs of courage to me all night. The next morning I asked them what I could do for them. Would a well closer than 10 miles distant be wanted? “No,” they said. “We want a school so that our children will learn numbers and letters.”
In 8 months, I raised the funds. The Grandmothers here in Ojai heard about this and we agreed that one fundraiser a year would go towards the school in Imalole. We have fundraisers 3 weekends a year and one of them is for the school. The others are for those in distress or in need during the holidays.
At our monthly meetings we have a donation box, and everyone who attends has been very generous. The attached photo shows me in the Sahara Desert. |
