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 »
Combating the Effects of Climate Change in Niger
By Kayleigh Redmond Every year, Niger experiences heavy rainfalls that often lead to high surges in local water levels. Last August, at least 45 people were killed and over 226,000 were displaced when torrential rains caused the Niger River to flood. In Niamey, Niger’s capital, entire neighborhoods were submerged. In addition to homes, more than… Read more »
Ouma Laouali: A Pioneering Nigerien Pilot
By: Adhithi Sreenivasan Source: U.S. Embassy Niamey Around the world, women are often severely underrepresented in aviation. The thought of a pilot typically conjures an image of a male in a uniform with epaulettes and insignia. Despite women having been involved in the origins of aviation and aircraft development, women represent a mere percent of… Read more »
A School for “Model Husbands” to Promote Maternal Health
(Excerpted from Le Monde, March 22, 2021, and edited for this format) In Niger, where the fertility rate is seven children per woman, men are called upon to change attitudes. At the end of February, about ten men sat cross-legged on a mat shaded by the foliage of a neem tree. These “model husbands,” were… Read more »
Water Scarcity: A Not So Perfect World
by Ruby Rodriguez As a teenager in the process of learning more about our planet, I have come to realize what some people go through on a daily basis in order to get something that is always available to me—clean water. About 844 million people lack access to clean water, which is close to three… Read more »
Empowering Women Will Change the World
By Caroline Moss Source: Wells Bring Hope International Women’s Day takes place on March 8th this year. On this day we celebrate women all over the world and highlight their importance and contributions. Wells Bring Hope’s commitment to providing safe, clean water empowers women in Niger every day. Fewer than a quarter of young women… Read more »
Passing the Torch: What a Peaceful Transition of Power Could Mean for Niger
By Kayleigh Redmond Unlike the turmoil surrounding the most recent U.S. presidential election, Niger is anticipating a positive political milestone: an election that could result in the first peaceful transition of power in the country since it gained independence from France in 1960. An uncontested political changeover could mark a new era of democratic, economic,… Read more »
Education in Niger: The Impact of COVID-19
By Lara Khosrovian As a current student within the United States education system, I felt overwhelmingly hopeless when classes were converted to an entirely remote curriculum due to the global pandemic. I felt as though my learning and overall experiences were compromised. However, my resources were never eliminated, support systems were always accessible, and my… Read more »
