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 »
Water is the First Step
By Caroline Moss Millions of people live in poverty due to the lack of available water resources. In developing nations, the task of retrieving water often falls to women and young girls. In rural Sub-Saharan Africa, women and girls may spend upwards of 3 hours per day, retrieving water that is contaminated and unsafe to… Read more »
The Women Revolutionizing Music in Niger
By Caroline Moss Every culture enjoys music regardless of its purpose. Whether it’s a tradition, used to sooth a child, or to tell a story, music is a part of our lives no matter where we live. Culture shapes music, and music undoubtedly influences culture. Music offers an outsider insight into unfamiliar cultures and into the… Read more »
Littattafan Soyayya: The Love Stories Hausa Women are Telling
By Elsa Sichrovsky Almost half of Niger’s population belongs to the Hausa ethnic group, so Hausa language and culture are essential to Niger’s ethnic melting pot. In recent years, a new and exciting genre of Hausa literature has been changing the lives of women in Niger and northern Nigeria. This new literary movement originated in Kano,… Read more »
Sarraounia Mangou: Niger’s Forgotten Princess
by: Elsa Sichrovsky During the “Scramble for Africa” of the late nineteenth century, where European colonial powers rushed to conquer, and exploit the African continent, a powerful queen emerged: Sarraounia (Hausa for “queen”or “female chief”), leader of the Anza people in Lougou, Niger. Although, French historical documents give little information about this fascinating woman, the information… Read more »
Divorce in Niger: Fear, Hope, and the Struggle for Equality
By: Elaine Wallace In a fascinating post last year, Wells Bring Hope writer Shayna Watson described how social media is changing marriage culture in Niger, in good ways and bad. One positive development has been the rise of new social media platforms that encourage women to pursue gender equity in their relationships and to consider… Read more »
Mariama Keita: The Remarkable Legacy of Niger’s First Woman Journalist
by Elaine Wallace As the end of the year approaches, I find myself thinking about some of the people we lost in 2018 whose lives and work touched and inspired us. One of them is Mariama Keita, who passed away on October 29 at the age of 72. Keita is best known as Niger’s first… Read more »
Voting Power: How Women Leaders in Niger Changed History
by Shayna Watson There are approximately 3.8 billion women on Earth. As roughly 50% of the world’s population, women are a powerful force across the globe – but what about in national-level leadership? As of January 2017, women accounted for only 23.3% of all national leaders globally. And these figures get even more disproportionate when… Read more »
Name a More Iconic Duo: Understanding the Relationship Between Women and Nature Through Ecofeminism
by Hannah Lichtenstein The association between women and nature is a long-recognized means by which societies have sought to understand an unpredictable and powerful earth. Looking to mythology, the Greek tradition describes the goddess Gaia as the personification of Earth. In Hindu narratives, she goes by the name Bhūmi or Prithvi. Secular discourse too, spanning… Read more »
