Doubara, a nine-year old orphan from the village of Jadiri. Doubara has NOMA, or facial gangrene. I met Doubara during my last…
By Ariane Kirtley
My name tells my story: Ariane Alzhara Kirtley. Like Ariane in Greek mythology, I endeavor to help lead others to safety. Like Alzhara flowers, I blossomed in the wondrous Saharan wastelands. And in the footsteps of my family Kirtley — “over those hills” in Old Gaelic – I am driven by a compulsion to walk, seeking new adventures, discoveries and meaning. After obtaining a Bachelors in Anthropology and a Master of Public Health from Yale, I founded Amman Imman: Water is Life to help Africa’s indigenous populations. I am also the mother of Fassely, Soriya, and Indima. Similarly to how my parents raised my brother and me, we travel the globe as a family.
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Fati goes to school 2 or 3 times a week if she is lucky. She likes school. A lot. She has big…
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In this photo, Fati sews a dress for me, while her niece Fati babysits her lastborn son, Abdoulkarim. This photo is meaningful…
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Fati is a tiny woman of 37 kilos, yet I have never seen such strength of will and vivacity in one person. …
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Fatima’s family is originally from the Azawak and Sai. They lost most of their livestock during the successive droughts of 1973 to…
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Fati and I met one February morning in 2005 as I was walking to CARE’s office in Niamey, Niger’s capital. She and…
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I obtained such a kind reaction to my last post on Fati, that I am now going to continue her story. In…
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Some of you may have already read the first post I wrote about Fati, but I felt it was worth publishing again.…
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Photo: Me with some of my adopted children of the Azawak. They count among those that have become the “indirect victims” of…
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Sadouan was the first to greet me when I arrived in the temporary Tuareg camp that eventually settled to be Tangarwashane. She…
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