By Elsa Sichrovsky In the 1980s, a teenaged teacher would often entertain locals in the town of Tesker, Niger by playing the ngurumi, a traditional instrument with a calabash shell body and iguana skin head[1] that is often used by the Toubou people of northern Niger. The Toubou schoolteacher went on to become headmaster of a… Read more »
Causes of Child Marriage and the Bigger Picture
By Michelle Nelson von Euw A great deal of research has been done on child marriage in an effort to understand the causes, and effects, of this damaging practice. Child marriage refers to both formal and informal unions in which children under the age of 18 live with partners as if they are married. According… Read more »
So tell me again, why have we been panic buying toilet paper?
By Nick Baldry When it became apparent that the coronavirus had not only reached the shores of the United States, but was taking hold to such an extent that we needed to shut down society as we know it, there was one fairly universal reaction. Panic. That panic manifested itself in a number of ways…. Read more »
Clean Water: An Essential Resource in the Fight against COVID-19
By Chidiebere Aguziendu With the coronavirus pandemic currently threatening communities around the world, researchers across the globe are actively pursuing an effective treatment regimen and a vaccine, which could be more than a year away. While we wait for a vaccine, there are a few things we can do to try to slow the spread… Read more »
Food of Niger and Nutritional Health
by Caroline Moss According to 2019 Global Hunger Index, a report produced by the Irish humanitarian organization Concern Worldwide and the German aid organization Welthungerhilfe, Niger is the 16th hungriest country in the world. The causes of hunger go beyond a lack of available food to include population growth, drought, political instability, conflict, and lack… Read more »
Struggling Against Shame and Pain: Obstetric Fistula in Niger
By Elsa Sichrovsky Giving birth to a baby is physically painful and psychologically stressful for any woman, but for women in Niger, childbirth can debilitating as it frequently results in a condition that plagues them with chronic incontinence for the rest of their lives: obstetric fistula. Prolonged labor without medical interventions such as cesarean section… Read more »
The Market of Dandaji
By Caroline Moss Atelier Masomi, an architectural studio, is helping to grow the economy in the village of Dandaji in Niger. Led by lead architect Mariam Kamara, who was raised in Niger, the studio designs its spaces to socially empower individuals and provide a better quality of life. Kamara recognized that markets previously were temporary… Read more »
Niger : Work in Progress
By Talei Caucau Niger is the poorest country in the world. The country has a high fertility rate and low literacy rate. Before I conducted my own research for this article, everything I knew about Niger was negative. Magazines like National Geographic provided insight into the chaos that surrounds Niger. That is literally the title… Read more »
Malama Ouani: Empowering with Education
By Elsa Sichrovsky In my comfortable first-world life, information is just a swipe away. Whenever I want to know something, I just pull out my smartphone and start typing a question into Google. Immediately, a plethora of helpful information fills the screen. If I need counseling, support, or treatment, the internet makes endless resources available… Read more »
Humanitarian Response Plans and a New UN Office in Niger
by Michelle Nelson von Euw Humanitarian aid organizations and the government of Niger are scrambling to design more targeted relief plans to respond to the recent upsurge in violence at the hands of armed groups in Niger. Violence in areas that border Burkina Faso, Mali, and Nigeria has created yet another challenge for already vulnerable… Read more »
