Nomadic Notes

From Bess in Niger: September 2009

Dear Friends,

I arrived in Niger last night for what I hope will be a month filled with travel, planning this year's programs and attending a traditional Wodaabe festival.

We're in the last weeks of the rainy season. It's untypically humid, and quite hot. We're saved by the cloud cover. In October it will be dry but hotter still. You probably wouldn't enjoy the weather very much. Luckily, I'm carried along by the joy of seeing staff and friends. READ MORE

From Bess in Niger: November 2008

From Bess in Niger November 2007
“Water is Life”

Today I walked alongside a woman as she pulled water from a well.  I paced, counting 190 yards from the well to the point where her three tired donkeys could stop -- the plastic bag of water they were pulling had finally reached the top of the well. It took over 10 minutes to make 1 roundtrip from the well and back.  She had a herd of about 15 cows and goats with her.  We continued on our way, but she would be dragging this rope to and from the well for a couple of hours more to get enough water for them. 

We see no other well in sight, people here must share this water with their animals and anything the wind chooses to blow down the uncovered well. They take their family’s water last, hoping any contaminants were carried away in the first buckets drawn.  The water is poured into goat skin hides that are tied under the bellies of the donkeys for the long walk home.

This nomad is not alone in spending hours each day seeking, pulling and carrying water.  She is lucky to have walked a short distance to this well.  There are millions, among the tens of millions of women and men in Africa fetching water, who must walk miles to perform this daily and life-essential task.