Un problème Niger

A Niger Problem

Sometimes when I hear about the stalemate in Congress I think what a problem it is.  There is no way out.  The economy could get hurt and people could lose money, jobs, and who knows what all.

Niger has a different problem.  Niger’s problem won’t result in just a bad economy; Niger’s problem will result in deaths.

The capital of Niger used to be in Zinder, a town about 535 miles straight east of Niamey, more in the center of the country.  As I have been told, in the early 1920’s some forward thinking people realized that Zinder was not going to be a good place, long term, to have the capital since there wasn’t much water in and around Zinder.  So in 1926, they moved the capital from Zinder to Niamey.  Niamey is by the river so all is well.  As a result, Niamey grew from 3,000 people in 1926 to a population center estimated at 1.5 million.  Niger as a country, has the 4^th highest birth rate out of 191 countries.  

While it is nice that Niger has a lot of new babies being born each year what is not so nice is that Niger has one of the lowest life expectancy rates in the world.  169 out of 191.  As my son said, “How’s it going to feel when you are in Niger knowing that you are already 28 years older than the life expectancy there.

There are lots of reasons people die here.  Poor living conditions in general, malaria, malnutrition, starvation, and poor medical care for starters.  But a highly contributing factor is simply the lack of water.  The more people you have the more water you need.  Not just cool clear water, any water.  Water for drinking, farming, and living.

I’m sure Chris Pope from World Vision or Jack Fortin, formerly from World Vision will have better facts than I but as a start here is what I have learned.

The prevailing thought is, if you don’t have water just dig a well.  There are several kinds of wells.  There are shallow wells that are 3’ or so wide and you dig it by hand if the water is not too deep then hook up a pulley system and fill buckets.  We have seen these in operation and they work quite well.  Drawback, the wells cave in, either while people are digging them or when in use.  Also, they are a common place for kids to fall into.  Another kind of well is machine drilled.  Not so big on top to endanger anyone.  All you have to do is drop a pump in the hole and “Voila” water.  Drawback is it costs a lot more, and when the pump goes bad there isn’t any money for another one.  They have lowered the cost by drilling shallow wells and this helps but often the water isn’t very good.  To go deeper costs more, a lot more.

My friend out in the bush, Steve, has learned about a new kind of well that can be dug by hand, is not wide at the top, and is drawn up by hand as well with material already available in Niger and very inexpensive.  This seems like the way of the future.

Only there is a problem in Niger.  A big problem.  The water table is shrinking.  The aquifers are drying up.  In many places there is enough depletion that the depth of many wells is not enough.  And for most people hand dug wells will not do at all.  There isn’t enough water above or below ground to sustain the population.  Result:  drought, a famine producing drought. 

If that weren’t bad enough there is another major problem.  Whatever the reason, the desert is moving south.  Niger is south of the desert and each year there is less rain and more desert-like conditions.  In many areas the rainy season isn’t any more and in others there just isn’t enough rain to grow crops.

I am told the good news should be that there is a huge Aquifer under the Sahara Desert in Niger; enough water to take care of everyone for a long time.  It probably won’t work getting the water out is a major problem from both an expense and technical standpoint. 

So what does Niger do?  More people, needing more water, but the water they do have is going away.  The UN anticipated this very thing in Somalia and Ethiopia.  They prepared for it and avoided a famine in Ethiopia.  But in Somalia their plans couldn’t be implemented due to the warfare.  Maybe someone with a lot of foresight can find a way to help Niger.  Pray with us for Niger.