Tamesna Center for Nomadic Life
The Tamesna Center for nomadic life began in 2008 with a well. Conceived to bring services and education programs nomads want and need, it is located on the annual migration route, accessible without having to settle down and lose their cultural and economic traditions. Since 2008 we have completed a medical clinic, adult education center...
Water
Water is life, as the Tuareg say. A well is the heart of a community, but during the dry season when temperatures rise and water levels fall, a nomad must spend as many as 14 hours per day hauling water for herds and family. Nomad Foundation has created cemented wells which require no maintenance, but many...
Education
Sponsor a Student After a decade of building and supporting schools in various scattered encampments, the Nomad Foundation has concluded that centralizing educational operations at TAMESNA is more efficient and more sustainable. As boarders, children can stay in school while their parents move in search of pasture for the herds. Nomads dislike cities and won’t...
Work
These are our current projects focused on bringing income producing opportunities to the nomads: Fighting terrorism with opportunity–microcredit for at risk youth When we saw the large groups of organized youth showing up to support our festival last November–all dressed alike–Sidi and I had an idea. If we provide them small loans to pursue whatever activity...
Mali projects
Mali, next door to Niger had been the most stable country in West Africa when in 2012 a coup deposed the existing president, ATT. State governance failed and Islamist militant groups filled the void, forming an extremist mini-state in northern Mali, resulting in sanctions imposed by other African nations. This chased away foreign investment, most humanitarian organizations and tourism. Through...
