Pastoral nomads in West Africa work from dawn until dusk tending to their herds, fetching water and firewood, and preparing family meals. One Fulani woman in Mali, for example, spends her days preparing the one daily meal of porridge-like millet for all the students at her community’s local school. She gathers the wood, fetches the water from the closest water source, then grinds the millet by hand using a wooden mortar and pestle, preparing the meal over an open fire.

Committed to provide nomads with opportunities to sustain their rural way of life, NomadHope focuses on community projects that are team oriented, community

sustained, and culturally sensitive. Self-reliance is achieved by engaging locally based partners and their community members, assisting them with the design, acquisition, installation, training, and maintenance of each engineering project.

Some simple examples of technology that can make a significant difference to rural communities and their schools are: water purification systems, water pumps, millet-grinding machines, solar ovens, and solar electricity.

Pastoral nomadism is a way of life in many developing countries, especially in Africa. There are 50-100 million nomads in the Western Sahara and stretching into other desert regions. Their need for education is urgent. The migrations of nomads are predictable, which has been conducive to establishing schools on their migration route.