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 »
Water Access Can Reduce Violence
By Will Beeker Access to clean drinking water in Niger provides numerous benefits, one of which is a reduction in violence in its many forms. Studies have shown a connection between water scarcity and violence in the Sahel region of Africa, but also anywhere there is limited access to clean water. Even small variability in… Read more »
We Zarma Love
By Megan Campbell Niger has a wide variety of indigenous languages, which are usually majority languages that are natively spoken in a certain area. Hausa, spoken all over Niger, is the most widely spoken indigenous language. Zarma is the second leading language, and it is spoken primarily in the Southwest region of Niger, and… Read more »
Kossom Association Provides Employment for Women with Disabilities
By Amber Persson Female empowerment is one of the most powerful growing movements of the 21st century. Countries around the world are making changes, slowly but surely, to close the gender gap that exists professionally and culturally. For Nigerien women living with disabilities, the gender gap is even more pronounced. As a result of widespread… Read more »
Artificial Rain Could Create a Silver Lining
By Will Beeker Source: Wells Bring Hope Despite heavy rains and flooding this fall, ongoing drought continues to pose a problem for Niger, especially late in its dry season. Niger often deals with periods of drought, but the country’s southeast is currently experiencing its lowest rainfall in 30 years, exacerbating food shortages. In August 2022,… Read more »
Finding Hope for Wildlife Conservation in Niger
By Kayla Ruff While Niger provides habitat for some of Africa’s most notable wildlife species, such as the hippopotamus and Nile crocodile, the country is also home to many lesser-known yet critically endangered species. It’s clear Niger’s rare desert species are in dire straits: Only about 100 addax desert antelope are left in the wild,… Read more »
The Languages of Niger: Hausa
By Megan Campbell Niger is linguistically diverse, with over twenty languages spoken in everyday life! French is used for professional communication and official proceedings. Indigenous languages are a way for members of a specific ethnic group to converse, but they are rarely spoken outside that population. Hausa, however, is an exception to that rule. Hausa… Read more »
4 Easy Ways to Help Niger
By Vasti Carrion Source: Max R – ooyooy 1. Read One way to help Niger, the world’s least developed country, is to read news about the current affairs of the country. In Niger, “more than 10 million people (41.8% of the population) were living in extreme poverty in 2021” according to worldbank.org. Our awareness of… Read more »
Local Nigeriens Collaborate with Refugees in Ouallam
By Amber Persson When the sun breaks, the people of Ouallam, a refugee camp in Southwestern Niger, are already up and beginning their long days of working in a brickyard, garden, or another trade. They are 6,000 of the nearly 270,000 refugees from Nigeria, Mali, and Burkina Faso that have flooded into Niger to escape… Read more »
Green Hydrogen : New Frontier, Old Questions
By Will Beeker Source: DLR In July, German energy investment firm Emerging Energy Corp (EEC) announced it is seeking a partner to help determine the feasibility of commercially developing “green hydrogen” in Niger. Because of its extreme flammability, hydrogen can be a challenging fuel source, but its value is predicted to rise in coming years… Read more »