Thursday, April 9, 2015

Niger




Welcome back, reader.  For those of you keeping track, it's been a while since I last posted our trip to Western Africa.  Since then, I had the pleasure of returning to Dakar, but this time it was for work (and therefore not very interesting as far as this particular blog's intent).

Over the past month and half, however, I did spend my time in one of Western Africa's lesser-visited countries, Niger (living in the capital, Niamey).  Again this was a business trip, solo, working alongside the good folks in the embassy to both help the mission there and broaden my experiences as a Foreign Area Officer in training.  Being more of an actual business trip, I didn't get to go out and explore as much as I would if it were another cultural exposure trip like back in January.  However, I did get out of the city a little and I definitely got a strong sense of the city life in Niamey traveling everyday through it for work.

Niger, another of West Africa's former French colonies, lies in the Sahel region, a semi-arid transition zone between the Sahara desert in the north and the coastal forest to the south.  The word "Sahel" means "shore" in Arabic, which appropriately describes the particular physical geography of the country.  Niger is also one of the poorest places in the world--dead last on the human development index.  This is by no means a garden spot; however, the country is important for numerous reasons.  Niger is one of the world largest suppliers of uranium.  Unfortunately for Niger, economic agreements signed with western powers at the time of independence have pretty much ensured that most of that uranium money goes to foreign mining companies and not to the country itself that desperately needs it.  Another major reason Niger is important is its geopolitical setting between some of the baddest dudes in the world, Al Qaeda of the Maghreb (AQIM) to the west, ISIS to the north, and Boko Haram to the south.  Needless to say, a lot of countries have a vested interest in the security of this region and have paid a lot more attention to it for the past 3-4 years.

My first weekend in town, my colleagues had prepared a trip just outside of Niamey where we would ride camels across the Sahel then ride in a pirogue (long, narrow boat) down the Niger River looking for hippos and crocodiles.  I've never been as uncomfortable as I was for an hour on the tilted, rickety, wooden "saddle" affixed to my poor camel for over an hour.  We rode through scrub brush in to a village where we were warmly greated by children who loved trying to hold your hand (perhaps to check out what's in your pockets, but who knows).  The trail was hot and dusty, but most of dressed for the part with authentic headgear.


After our dromedary foray, we all piled in to the wobbly pirogue (cursing the fact that we brought electronics) and took off down the river.  The scenery was beautiful, dotted with the occasional village or fishing cooperative, and of course river wildlife.



It didn't take long for us to have some company in the form of a 3000 pound friend who was just checking out what we were doing in his neck of the woods (or water).  Happy to say hello, we stared at each other for a few moments until he started making towards us and suddenly disappeared underwater.  At that point, we all decided the best course of action was to continue on down the stream rather than let our new friend get a little more up close and personal.

"Hey, that rock just moved...."

Not part of our expedition, but this tortoise lives at the American school just adjacent to the embassy and I thought it was cool.

As for everyday Niamey life.  As I said, it's not exactly a garden spot.  Poverty is evident.  It is not uncommon to find fields of trash where sanitation services simply do not exist.  In the majority of places (even across Niamey), goats and chickens outnumber people.

I say Niamey is poor, however, only in the strictest economical sense.  Formal employment is low and many live on a dollar or less per day.  Rather than be kept down by these circumstances, however, the people in the city hold on to a certain industrious, and optimistic spirit as well as a pride of where they are from.  The majority of the people I was able to talk to did not feel sorry for themselves or feel the government (or the West) owed them anything (outside of one protest of college students who wanted a larger cost-of-living stipend....but they're college kids, of course they're going to complain).  The people I met were proud of their country, being "Sahelian," and developed a sustainable lifestyle and routine without complaint based on what they have in their life (something Americans can one day maybe learn)

"What are you looking at?  Haven't you ever seen a goat in a dumpster before?"



As I said, most of my time was focused on work withe Nigerien military.  My job gave me the chance to see first-hand how much assistance the US and other foreign powers provide Niger in the interest of common security.  The military still has limited capacity, but they are a proud and professional force to watch as they gain momentum in taking on forces that try to destabilize the region.

At a handover ceremony with the Nigerien Army.  I'm the awkward one in the back.