The Warmth of Niger: More than Just the Weather
A report by Dustin Yee following his first mission to Niger.
According to the US government, travel to Niger should be avoided, citing security concerns. Yet, during my 10-day trip in the country, I felt no danger at all (besides the 40° C or 104° F heat!) On the contrary, I felt safer and more welcomed there than most of the countries I’ve visited, even more than the United States! Overall, that is my most lasting impressions of the country, one of a warm and welcoming culture.
My itinerary took me from the capital in Niamey, to the desert city of Agadez and to small villages and wells in the Nigerien desert. A majority of our travel was off-road, even as we went along the main highway, since the condition of the roads was so bad it was often faster just to drive in the dirt.
I was lucky and was able to travel with the well-known and influential director of the NGO, Tidene, Mohamed Ixa, and his English-speaking nephew, Ibrahim. Everywhere we went people stopped to greet Mohamed, as if I were traveling with a celebrity. Every time someone would greet Mohamed or Ibrahim, they would always give me the same amount of respect and hospitality. Never, did I feel alienated because I was not Nigerien.
Most of my time was spent in Agadez, shadowing my host, Ibrahim as he went about his work with Tidene. The NGO first started off as a tourism company. However, as the country’s security situation deteriorated, the tourism industry followed. Mohamed was able to turn his tourist business into an NGO and thus was able to provide jobs for his former employees and the larger community of Agadez, which relied on tourism for employment, and provide aid for the people in northern Niger.
Agadez is a city of about 90,000 people, but while I travelled around with Ibrahim it felt even smaller. Ibrahim would greet almost everyone on the streets, it seemed like everybody knew one-another. There was not a single time where we’d go from work directly to his house. A trip back home always involved stopping by the houses of friends and family and each of these stops usually was accompanied by a light meal. One day I counted eating four of these meals before noon! The genuine hospitality of the Nigeriens was wonderful.
The Tidene office is quite Spartan by western standards. The electricity strained to handle the office’s 3 computers while also supporting the Air Conditioning. Often, we’d have to forego the later, almost unbearable in the 40° C heat of the day. Often too, the Internet would cut out and we’d have to jump between the two different providers. The same is true for cell phones; in Niger people usually have 2 or 3 phones and SIM cards as a contingency against the unreliability of each phone provider. Nevertheless, through this adversity, Tidene is still able to carry on with their business. In truth, I expected to find cursory work, however I was surprised by their diligence and thoroughness in their projects and reports. A second thing I took away from this trip is the pride and honesty in the work of the Nigeriens. Even while buying souvenirs or food, I never felt scammed or cheated.
A second point, along the same lines as the Nigerien’s work ethic is their desire for work and service. It is true that the country depends on billions of dollars in aid from other countries, yet the common Nigerien does not want handouts or charity. They are eager to work and an NGO like Tidene provides them with employment. A principle idea of Tidene is to employ Nigeriens for their projects. On my trip to see one of the well projects I learned that these wells are chosen by Nigeriens, built by Nigerien small businesses, inspected by Nigerien government workers and ultimately used by Nigeriens.
The main focus of my trip was to familiarize myself with the projects that Tidene was involved in. My first trip included a two day trip in the “bush” where we drove for hours to see 4 new wells. We went along with a state worker, working for the hydrology department, the directors of the contracting companies who were building the wells and a representative of one of the donning companies (all of whom were Nigerien).
It was eye opening to see groups of Tuareg herders, moving their goats, camels, cows and sheep across thousands of miles of desert. The distance between each of the wells highlighted the importance of each well project. Without one of the wells, one would have to travel enormous distances to reach the next. The Tuareg herders themselves were also fascinating. They reminded me of cowboys in the American west. The Tuareg still use camels as their primary mode of transportation and carry swords for protection.
My next trip was a day trip through the Tidene valley, the namesake of the NGO. We visited a farm for former rebels, a village well, a clinic and a primary school, all of which were built with the help of Tidene.
The most interesting of these projects was the farm. Tidene has helped dozens of ex-rebel fighters find a better way to live. Instead of fighting, Tidene has set them up with land and education to start their own farms to grow food for themselves and to make money. Since the inception of the project, a little over a year ago, not one fighter has left his farm. I was glad to see a project that provided so many benefits – a sustainable livelihood, food, and ultimately peace for the country.
The village well provides water for not just the nearby village, but for everyone who lives in the surrounding area. These are unique as they are built enclosed, unlike the previously mentioned wells, in order to keep the water clean. Tidene assigns a managing group to each of these wells to assure it is maintained after it’s built.
The holistic approach for helping the people of this area goes beyond just providing water. Tidene was also able to help build a clinic to serve the population of about 2800 people. This clinic, staffed by a doctor and a nurse, is able to provide for 10-17 people a day.
Finally we visited the school, which is special in that it is geared towards serving the children of the nomadic Tuareg population. The school provides not just education, but also room and board for the children while their family is free to continue traveling with their herds. It provides a strong basic education for children 7-12 years old, important in a country where the literacy rate is less than 30%.
My trip to Niger opened my eyes to a world so different to my own. I was surprised to see that a country so poor in wealth was so rich in hospitality. Western cultures can learn a lot from the generosity of the Nigeriens. Furthermore, despite the struggles in finding jobs and money, I was happy to see the honesty and openness of the people of Niger. These characteristics helps me believe that although the country has fallen on hard times, with organizations like Tidene, its future looks promising.