The Azawak: The Land and Its People
Throughout history, people have used the natural resources of the land
where they live to meet their basic needs for water, food, shelter, protection
and transportation. With capable hands and creative minds, people have
adapted to the harshest lands on Earth. As human hearts guide hands and
minds, cultures are created. This book and material portray the land and the
culture of the amazing people of the Azawak.
The Azawak is located on the continent of Africa between the West
African countries of Mali and Niger. The northern part of Mali and Niger
are part of the Sahara Desert. The Azawak is in sub-Saharan Africa, a term
which identifies all the land in Africa that is south of the Sahara Desert.
The Azawak is part of a vegetation zone called the Sahel. Sahel is the
Arabic word for “border”. The Sahel is a thin, belt bordering the Sahara
Desert from east to west. The climate is hot and dry except for the 1-3
months of the rainy season. A short rainy season leads to extreme water
scarcity.
The Azawak region is known as “The Land of Plains”. A plain is a
large, flat, open, shrub and grass-covered land with few trees. The vast
plains of the Azawak region cover an area of approximately 80,000 square
miles (200,000 square kilometers) in western Niger and the eastern edge of
Mali. The Azawak region is about the size of the state of Florida or 1/3 the
size of the country of France.
During the rainy season, marshes form in the Azawak region. This
season generally lasts between one and three months, from June to August.
Unfortunately, these marshes quickly evaporate in the hot sun when the rain
stops. If the rainy season is short, the marshes dry up sooner than usual. In
2007, the rainy season in the Azawak lasted only for the month of July.
These children traveled over an hour to reach this marsh to collect
water to bring to their families. But as you can see, this water is mostly mud.
When these marshes dry up, the children must travel further - sometimes as
much as 35 miles in a day - to find water.
Photo courtesy of US Geological Survey
Even during the driest times in the Azawak, water flows in aquifers
600 to 3,000 feet below the earth’s crust. An aquifer is an underground
layer of rock that holds and carries water. A sustainable source of fresh
water exists in the Azawak deep beneath the Earth’s crust in these living
aquifers.
The Azawak is home to two major ethnic groups - the Tuareg and the
Woodabe Fulani. Both the Tuareg and the Fulani treasure their animals,
which provide milk, their primary source of food. They eat meat rarely on
very special occasions. When water is scarce, the animals cannot produce
milk.
The top photo shows Fulani children milking. The bottom photo shows a Tuareg camp.
The Woodabe Fulani have been pastoral nomads for centuries. They
move from place to place every two to three days seeking land for their
cattle to graze. They carry their belongings as they move from camp to
camp. The pastoral Fulani generally live in camps of no more than one or
two families, with extended family units residing one or two miles away.
The Woodabe Fulani “homesteads” consist of one traditional wooden
bed (which they cover with a plastic sheet when threatened by rain or
scorching sun) and a wooden table covered with 20 to 30 calabashes. A few
of the calabashes are used to hold grain or milk. The others are displayed as
decorations and a sign of a woman’s wealth.
Calabashes are the dried gourds seen on the table to the left of the tent.
The most important possession in Fulani society is cattle, about which
these herders have many traditions and taboos. The number of cows a person
owns is a sign of his wealth. A Woodabe man is so knowledgeable about his
cattle that he is said to cast spells with magic potions that will lure his cattle
to follow him wherever he wants to go.
Most Tuaregs of the Azawak have retained a fully nomadic existence
and herd cattle, camels, goats, and sheep. They reside in camps ranging from
50 to 150 people and live in tents made of wooden poles covered with a reddyed goat hide tarp. During the rainy season, they move camp every three to
four days in search of the greenest pastures for their livestock. During the
dry season, they move often to find water, but prefer to stay near their ‘home
territory’, land passed down from one generation to the next, when possible.
As animal herds shrink due to water scarcity, sedentary villages become
more and more common in the Azawak. Without their animals, many
Tuareg people settle in villages and attempt to grow millet to eat. During the
driest months of the year, these people leave their villages to travel from one
distant water source to another.
Millet and wild grasses are pounded into grain to be mixed with milk,
the primary source of nutrition in the Azawak region. When water is scarce,
animals do not produce milk and grains are eaten with a sticky sauce made
from dried leaves.
The women have traditionally been the musicians within Tuareg
society. During ceremonies they typically play a traditional violin called the
“Imzad” and a drum, made from a mortar and a dry goatskin, called a
“Tendi”.
Though they have retained the language and many of the customs of
their Berber ancestors, the Tuareg have developed a unique culture of their
own, a genuine synthesis of many traditions, including not only Berber and
Arab, but also elements from indigenous peoples who reside in the Sahel.
Clean water flows deep beneath the plains of the Azawak. Boreholes that
reach the water need to be drilled in order to give the resilient people of the
Azawak a chance to live without the indignity of water scarcity.
The Tuareg have a saying, “Amman Imman, Arr Issudar” -- Water is
Life, Milk is Hope. Water is essential to all life. When there is water, cows
produce milk. People are nourished. There is hope.
Children washing with clean water at borehole faucet, village of Tangarwashane, Azawak, 2007
Amman Imman: Water is Life is dedicated to improving and
saving lives among the poorest and most abandoned
populations of the world, by supplying permanent sources of
water in the Azawak of West Africa.
Wells of Love, the service learning program of Amman
Imman, empowers students as “Heroes of Compassion” –
future leaders with a caring, philanthropic spirit – by engaging
them to help bring life and hope to some of the most
vulnerable populations on earth.
We invite you to become a
Hero of Compassion
by participating in the Wells of Love program.
For more information and resources,
please visit our website: www.ammanimman.org
or contact [email protected], phone (240) 418-1143
Amman Imman: Water is Life
7700 Old Georgetown Road, Suite 550
Bethesda, Maryland 20814