Water Scarcity and Malnutrition: An Interconnected Challenge

By Tawanda Mukwekwezeke The global issues of water scarcity and malnutrition are closely intertwined. An exploration of this complex relationship reveals how lack of access to clean water perpetuates the cycle of hunger and poor health. In regions without reliable access to safe drinking water, people often suffer and die from preventable illnesses that can… Read more »

African Drone and Data Academy Empowers Nigerien Youth

By Amber Persson Imagine that a mother of five in rural Niger suddenly develops a fever, headache, and nausea; the diagnosis—malaria. She must receive treatment as soon as possible before the swift-acting disease develops further. Unfortunately, her community is largely inaccessible by road, and there are no hospitals in the vicinity. It could take several… Read more »

Niger Eradicates River Blindness

By Adhithi Sreenivasan Niger has recently made great strides in the realm of public health by becoming the first African nation to eliminate river blindness. River blindness is a disease that has plagued West African nations and other regions throughout the continent. Known formally as Onchocerciasis, the ailment is the result of a parasitic worm,… Read more »

COVID-19: A LEARNING OPPORTUNITY

By William Beeker Source: Wells Bring Hope The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted many systemic problems in societies around the world, but maybe none so clearly as those in our education systems. Here in the US, adapting to the challenges presented by the pandemic was difficult, but manageable. Many schools were able to implement some form… Read more »

Contraception and Family Planning

By William Beeker Source: Wells Bring Hope Modern contraception is a vital tool in women’s empowerment and the fight for gender equality. In countries like Niger, where gender inequality is still highly prevalent, contraception use for married women is about 14%, compared with 30% across Africa and 55% globally. This is troubling for a few… Read more »

Refugees and Displaced Peoples in Niger

By William Beeker Source: Mali Refugee The UN recently issued a report on the state of the humanitarian crisis in Niger that’s resulted from sectarian violence in the region. “The insecurity has forcibly displaced more than 537,000 people across the country,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. “It has also affected… Read more »

The Risk of Malaria During Pregnancy

By Amber Persson As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage around the world, there is a silent killer that claims the lives of thousands in countries like Niger. The plasmodium parasite in mosquitoes causes malaria, a potentially fatal disease if left untreated. Malaria is responsible for 50% of all recorded deaths in Niger. Pregnant Mothers… Read more »

It’s Hard to Imagine…

By Barbara Goldberg Since starting Wells Bring Hope 13 years ago, I’ve learned a lot about the impact of unsafe water in rural West Africa and how truly life-transforming clean water can be. Yet there was one thing I didn’t know until recently: many health clinics in rural Niger have no water at all. This… Read more »

The Long-Term Battle of Vitamin A Deficiency in Niger

With a special focus on women and children By Amber Persson Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD), the main cause of mortality in children living in areas that are considered at-risk, affects 20-25% of children in Niger. Vitamin A must be acquired through diet and plays a pivotal role in the immune system and visual system. Vitamin… Read more »

Empowering Women and Girls in the Fight Against HIV

By Amber Nicolai Source: NigerTZai, Wikimedia Commons As the global HIV epidemic rages on, young women and adolescent girls in sub-Saharan Africa are disproportionately affected. Although women between the ages of 15 and 24 only make up 10% of the region’s population, they account for one in five new HIV cases. Gender disparity plays such… Read more »