RAIN’s mission is to work with nomadic peoples of West Africa to improve their lives through education, water security, agriculture, and income-producing activities.  These locally rooted programs promote literacy and empowerment while sustaining nomadic traditions throughout the Sahel and Sahara.
  
The nomads of Niger –the poorest country in the world -- have thrived in the desert for over a thousand years but today live a marginal existence. These unique cultures are threatened by drought and climate change. The nomads’ fertile pastureland has been taken for farming; they are forced to live in the ever more arid desert regions.  In a region where little aid is available, RAIN is a consistent presence. Our staff is all local people, our programs are the result of community brainstorming sessions – we are revitalizing communities assailed by poverty.

Bess Palmisciano, an American lawyer, first met the Tuareg when she traveled as a tourist to Niger in January, 2000. She was impressed with their independence and resilience, as well as their eagerness to share with her their food, music -- and hopes for their children.
Those hopes include education. Once shunned by the Tuareg, parents now see schooling as vital. However, the state-run schools lack even the bare necessities, such as sleeping mats and adequate food, for the children who live there while their parents are in the desert with their herds.  Back home in New Hampshire, Bess raised a modest amount of money to help rebuild one school in one Tuareg community. She wanted to do more.

Today, RAIN partners with both Tuareg and Wodaabe communities across Niger,  installing gardens, supporting students, investing in school supporting businesses, and more.  Partner communities are transformed, coming together to create food security throug sustainable agriculture, learn new livelihoods, and ensure education for their children.

RAIN, with the help of a grant from Rotary International, transformed the nomadic community of Bon Feba in a few short weeks, from a community facing food shortages, unclean water, and a low school attendence, to one with a new well, drip irrigation

For more information call the RAIN Portsmouth office at 603-371-0676 or email us at info@rain4sahara.org.

We are always looking for volunteers to help in the office and to assist with sales or host one in their home.