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John Soloninka - President
Gabriella Maertens - VP Penni St. Hilaire - Secretary Larry Koff - Treasurer Jude Andreasen - Newsletter Editor John Baird - Membership Bob Jackson - At-Large Brian Kimmel - Projects Coordinator Steve Bushell - Webmaster
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Tuesday February 26, 2013 Visitor:
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Sannu! Fofo! Owyeen! Wushe!"Hello!" in Hausa, Zarma/Fulfulde, Tamajaq and Kanuri, the languages of Niger.
January 2013 Camel Express
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| Date: | Friday, September 23, 2011 |
| Time: | 3:00pm to 5:00pm, EST |
| Location: |
Embassy of Niger
2204 R Street, NW Washington DC 202.483.4224 |
The Embassy is about a 10 to 15 minute walk from the Dupont Circle Metro Stop on the Red Line. Exit at the north side and walk up to R Street, then walk west to the Embassy. We will be welcomed by the Ambassador, or her staff if she is not in town; there will be a presentation of FON activities and funded projects, and we will discuss what we can do to reinstate Peace Corps in Niger.
If you would still like to join us, please contact Penni St. Hilaire so that we can finalize our plans with the embassy staff.
- Contact: Penni St. Hilaire, tommyt@erols.com
Posted September 11, 2011
August 2011 Camel Express
Available Online
Click here (PDF, 2.5 MB) for the latest edition of the Camel Express, including stories and news, from and about Niger.
Full URL: http://www.friendsofniger.org/pdf/CEX_Aug_2011.pdf
Posted August 29, 2011
FON To Hold Strategy Meeting
In Washington, DC
Although Peace Corps' presence in Niger is on hold at the moment, 2011 still marks 50 years of promoting peace and friendship by volunteers in dozens of countries, and 49 years in Niger.
Friends of Niger will hold an important meeting on Friday, September 23, 2011, in Washington DC, to discuss a strategy for lobbying for reinstatement, as well as continued support for local NGOs in Niger.
The time and location are not yet set; if you would like to attend please contact Penni St. Hilaire and she will send you an email as soon as the details are finalized.
The time and place will also be posted here when available, so please check back before September 23rd.
Following the meeting, all are invited to a social gathering at the Penni's home in Northwest Washington. For additional information and if you would like to attend, please contact Penni.
- Contact: Penni St. Hilaire, tommyt@erols.com
Posted August 22, 2011
Come Join The Friends Of Niger For Dinner!
The 50th Anniversary Dinner for FON members will be held Saturday, September 24, 2011, at Bukom Café, a West African eatery in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, DC.
Come meet the Friends of Niger board and other FON members in a casual atmosphere.
Buffet starts at 7 PM and costs $20 plus tax and tip ($5.50) plus drinks.
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Bukom Café
2442 18th Street, N.W. (Adams Morgan)
Washington , DC 20009
Tel: 202.265.4600
RSVP: Penni St. Hilaire, tommyt@erols.com
- Friends of Niger Dinner on the official Peace Corps calendar: http://peacecorps2010.sched.org/event/d69f22f8d4a97e3ceb87cdfcea47a473
Posted August 22, 2011
Peace Corps' 50th Celebration Schedule
The Peace Corps 50th Anniversary celebration is barely a month away, and now is the time to plan your trip to Washington DC to join in.
- Landmarks Events Planned For September: http://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/resources/peace-corps-50th-anniversary/september-events/
- The official Peace Corps 50th Anniversary Events Calendar: http://peacecorps2010.sched.org/
And if you're not attending the big Peace Corps Gala on Saturday night, consider joining us at the Friends of Niger Dinner!
- FON Dinner on the official Peace Corps calendar: http://peacecorps2010.sched.org/event/d69f22f8d4a97e3ceb87cdfcea47a473
Posted August 22, 2011
April 2011 Camel Express
Available Online
Click here (PDF, 2.3 MB) for the latest edition of the Camel Express, including stories and news, from and about Niger.
Full URL: http://www.friendsofniger.org/pdf/CEX_Apr_2011.pdf
Posted May 3, 2011
Peace Corps' 50th Anniversary Is Here
Although Peace Corps' presence in Niger is on hold at the moment, 2011 still marks 50 years of promoting peace and friendship around the world by volunteers in dozens of countries.
The National Peace Corps Association is coordinating all kinds of events throughout 2011 to honor the past and inspire the next generation of volunteers. Come check out the calendar of events to find some near you.
Full URL: http://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/50/
Posted April 2, 2011
Nigerien Culture 101
Lesson #1: Gestures
A handy little YouTube video showing various gestures used to help get your point across in Niger.
Posted April 2, 2011
DVDs of Brother From Niger Now Available
Free of Charge
During this year of the 50th Anniversary of Peace Corps the Board of Friends of Niger would like to encourage Friends of Niger members to distribute copies of the DVD of Brother from Niger, which follows former Friends of Niger president Jim Schneider in 2002 as he returns to Niger, a country he once called home, a country that is still as poor as when he left it in 1966. In a 'Brother from Niger', award-winning journalist Andrew Younger brings a story of courage, hope, and struggle from one of the world's poorest countries.
This DVD would be very helpful for teachers of an African Studies Unit in elementary school or Global Studies teachers in high school, for Multicultural Studies Programs, or for Returned Peace Corps Speakers Bureau Programs. Friends of Niger will ship the desired number of copies free of charge to encourage members to bring the third goal of the Peace Corps: bringing knowledge of our country of service back to the people of the United States. Copies are also available in VHS format.
To request copies, send an email to current president John Soloninka at president@friendsofniger.org. For questions or more details, please contact FON Vice President Gabriella Maertens at gmaertens@earthlink.net.
Posted February 6, 2011
Peace Corps Suspends Program In Niger
Due to recent security concerns in Niger, the Peace Corps program has been suspended until further notice. All 96 Peace Corps volunteers in Niger are safe and accounted for. This notice from the Peace Corps web site has some more details.
Full URL: http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.media.press.view&news_id=1691
With similar concerns, Boston University has also suspended their Study Abroad program in Niger. It is not known when the program, which has been operating for some 20 years, will be resumed.
Full URL: http://www.bu.edu/today/node/12118
A Note From Friends Of Niger
After nearly 49 years of continuous operation of Peace Corps in Niger, this is a sad and sobering moment that will affect many lives. One of our primary goals has always been to help out those in need in Niger, and the Peace Corps volunteers have always been critical in-country liaisons. We can only hope that conditions improve as quickly as possible so that we can continue our work with as little interruption as possible.
We, the Friends of Niger board, will be assessing how we can best continue to carry out our work, and will report to our members as soon as possible. As always, your feedback and suggestions are always welcome.
Posted January 21, 2011
December 2010 Camel Express
Available Online
Click here (PDF, 2.1 MB) for the latest edition of the Camel Express, including stories and news, from and about Niger.
Full URL: http://www.friendsofniger.org/pdf/CEX_Dec_2010.pdf
Posted January 21, 2011
Some Good News From Niger
Policy changes are paying off for the environment.
This is a note originally sent by Jamie Thomson to the Niger III group. It is reproduced here to spread the good news about what's happening in the struggle against desertification in Niger.
It's a slightly long but very inspiring read.
It is nice to know that, as a result of a policy change, a reform of the forestry code that was in force in the mid-60s in Niger, which removed the institutional incentives, the old rules created for Mafia-like 'rent seeking' on the part of Nigerien foresters, the Sahara is having difficulty spreading in that country. The same policy problem was formerly worse in Mali, where the Mafia paragraph in the forestry code stipulated that 10% of all fines collected at the local level had to be pushed up the Eaux et Forêts hierarchy. Everyone knew the system was working properly if the Directeur National could annually afford a new Mercedes sedan (on the backs of Malian farmers). And the same system provided him an easy way to evaluate the performance of foresters in field-level cantonnements. That policy seems over and done with.
What difference has this made on the ground? There is satellite image evidence for Niger, subsequently verified by a couple of Sahel-seasoned geographers (Dutch [Chris Reij] and American [L. Gray Tappan]) that Nigeriens have 'produced' over the last two decades some twenty million new trees. Basically, they have stopped hoeing up Acadia albida (gawo) seedlings when they cultivate their fields, because now they know that they can cut gawo, trim them, do what they want with them when they want and no forester can extract a bribe from them for having committed what is no longer a crime. Free-ranging goats devour the nutritious gawo seed pods when they drop off the trees in the fall, thin out the tough seed coverings with acids in their G.I. tracts while recycling the nutrients in the seed pods, and then stochastically excrete them (enveloped in natural fertilizer) all over the Nigerien Sahel. The resulting natural regeneration isn't all lined up, but scattered-sited trees, if there are enough of them, function just as well as straight line windbreaks in braking the otherwise devastating impact of early rainy season winds on tender young millet plants.
All that vegetation on the sandy soils of the southern, agricultural section of the country has certainly slowed, if not stabilized or even reversed, the spread of the Sahara. Eric Eckholm's piece in the New York Times, forty years ago, reporting what he claimed was incontrovertible evidence that the Sahara was inexorably moving south at a rate of 35 miles a year should have meant that Lagos, by now, would lie on the southern edge of the desert. Not so. That same Acacia albida species, which drops its nutrient-laden leaves at the beginning of the summer rainy season (green manure), also provides the under sown young millet plants latticed shade (think American outdoor nurseries) during periodic short intra-seasonal droughts and so buffers the millet plants sown on all those now re-stabilized dunes from the impact of short water supplies. In addition those trees fix nitrogen, so that the gawo/millet combination turns out to be pretty powerful in terms of food production.
Fulani pastoralists, moreover, are pretty happy because they now have farmers in the agricultural belt who want them to climb up and lop off gawo branches during the dry season. Those fallen limbs provide one of the animals' rare sources of green vitamins during the dry season, as well as construction materials and firewood to keep the tuwo fires burning. Since the forestry code reform, when a Fulani asks a farmer if he can lop some gawo limbs the answer isn't invariably 'No!' as farmers no longer have to worry about foresters extracting bribes. So farmer/herder interpersonal relationships have taken a turn for the better. If the Fulani stay around for a time, as their animals clean up the crop residues on a farmer's field, the farmer benefits from the animals' manure. Herder/farmer conflicts have receded somewhat, since the gawo trees are no longer a bone of contention between the two groups, but a win-win situation. None of this means, of course, that lots of Nigeriens aren't hungry part the year. But they're not all constantly starving to death either.
Sahelians are a resilient people. Bad drought/poor harvest in Tahoua (or Tanout, or Zinder, Gouré, Tessaoua, Maradi, Filingue, Mayahi, Matameye, Magaria)? Better travel to Nigeria or some other coastal country for the dry season, to economize on consuming whatever millet remains at home and maybe put aside a little money for taxes. No point moaning; better get moving. In the face of bad droughts, Sahelians haven't reacted, however, just by fleeing. For quite a while now they have been seriously reshaping their local ecologies. Huge swaths of northern Burkina Faso (Yatenga), much of the area around Tahoua, southern Mali in general and lots of other places have been transformed by the installation of soil and water conservation works. These were built by farmers and their wives (extensive sweat equity). Outside assistance was pretty much limited to training farmers in the use of the water level, which enables them to build conservation works on the contour, reducing construction and maintenance challenges. What were formerly heavily eroded slopes are now step-terraced surfaces, where water doesn't run off but seeps into the soil, providing moisture and fertilizer to the millet and other field crops now produced in those places. And that water infiltration also recharges underlying ground water tables, so that there is water to bail throughout the dry season in wells that humans depend on for survival. Local streams continue to run for a while after the end of the rains, allowing domestic animals to get their own water for a longer time, without humans having to bail every drop for them.
None of the above means that parts of Niger, and other parts of the Sahel, have suddenly been converted into little Edens. But the experience of people in those places over the last few decades has simply not been one long, unmitigated disaster. There are ups and downs, as in most places. Niger's population has nearly quadrupled, from about 4,000,000 when we served in the Peace Corps in the 1960s to about 15.3 million now. There must be a limit, but a larger population means more people available to reshape physical environments, more money to create effective domestic demand for foodstuffs and firewood. Global warming, on the other hand, is projected to create some pretty disastrous consequences.
In that vein, Médecins Sans Frontières, Oxfam and a number of other organizations do contribute services that may well not be available locally and thus deserve support if you're so inclined. But lots of Sahelians demonstrate a pretty impressive capacity to convert useful external technical inputs into tools and techniques that allow them to produce enduring changes. And in-country policy shifts can sometimes prove pretty useful as well.
Jamie Thomson in Bamako
Jamie Thomson served in Niger from 1964-66. He has just returned from a consulting trip to Mali.
Posted October 13, 2010
September 2010 Camel Express
Available Online
Click here (PDF, 2.1 MB) for the latest edition of the Camel Express, including stories and news, from and about Niger.
Full URL: http://www.friendsofniger.org/pdf/CEX_Sep_2010.pdf
Posted September 21, 2010
A Unique Opportunity To Help A Worthy Niamey School
The April 2010 Issue of the Camel Express Showcased the Hampaté Bâ Middle School Competition to Win GlobalGiving's Open Challenge.
Now It's Up to Us!
Les Amis de Hampaté Bâ, the non profit supporting the Amadou Hampaté Bâ school in Niamey, has been selected to participate in the Global Giving Challenge for September 2010. During the month of September, the association needs to prove that it can raise funds, and if it succeeds, it will have the privilege of appearing permanently on the GlobalGiving web site, providing continual revenues from International donors and benefiting US donors on their tax returns.
Collège Amadou Hampaté Bâ is a private, coeducational, non-denominational secondary school in a popular neighborhood in Niamey called Dar-es-Salam. The school has a bottom-up professional development approach and a process of self-transformation to a progressive teaching/learning experience within a supportive, happy school atmosphere.
Now it is up to us all to help out with the challenge! Here are some important guidelines: Each of us needs to find about 10 people who are willing to give at least 10 dollars each. The challenge consists of raising a minimum of 4000 US dollars in one month (September 2010), which means the association needs to aim for at least 200 donors if each donor gives between 10 and 20 dollars.
The donations for the "Les Amis de Hampaté Bâ" project must be submitted by Internet on GlobalGiving's Open Challenge page between Sept 1st and Sept 30th.
This is a fabulous way for us to raise money for the Amadou Hampaté Bâ Middle School and at the same time help the association gain international recognition.
So, get ready and set to go! All it will take is a few clicks on the computer. Start thinking of family or friends who would be willing to help out with this kind gesture that could make such a difference in the life of secondary students in Niger by giving them equal access to affordable, quality secondary education. Just go to GlobalGiving and search for "Niger."
Full URLs:
GlobalGiving Open Challenge Page
http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/provide-low-fee-quality-education-for-students-in-niger/
Les Amis de Hampaté Bâ
http://www.amishampateba.org/home_en.html
"http://www.hampate-ba-school.org/Site_en/home.html
Posted September 3, 2010
Hard To Explain
A video compilation by Marisa Wong (Niger 2008-2010) that captures life in Niger pretty well. Set to the song Hard To Explain by The Strokes.
Posted September 2, 2010
MercyCorps Raising Funds For Niger Food Crisis
This year, as many as 7.8 million people - more than half of Niger's total population - face the grim prospect of months without sufficient food.
Sporadic rains during the last growing season have had a devastating effect on harvests and food supplies, leaving households with little to save for the long "hungry season" between harvests. There are already widespread reports of families - particularly women and children - skipping meals and having to forage for semi-edible grasses, leaves and other wild food.
They need help to survive until the fall harvest, and the Government of Niger has requested urgent assistance from the international community.
Mercy Corps - which has worked in some of Niger's poorest villages since 2005 - has plans to deliver food and other critical assistance to more than 211,000 people threatened by the hunger crisis. Through government grants, private support and partnerships with local organizations, Mercy Corps will supply nutritious food to vulnerable households, in addition to supporting community banks and early warning response mechanisms.
Read about how Mercy Corps is preparing a response to the growing crisis in Niger: http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/agriculture/21223
Click here to donate: https://donate.mercycorps.org/donation.htm
Posted July 23, 2010
May 2010 Camel Express
Available Online
Click here (PDF, 1.7 MB) for the latest edition of the Camel Express, including stories and news, from and about Niger.
Full URL: http://www.friendsofniger.org/pdf/CEX_May_2010.pdf
Posted May 22, 2010
Peace Corps Week: March 1 - 7, 2010
Celebrate the 49th anniversary of the Peace Corps
This year join the Peace Corps community nationwide and celebrate the Peace Corps' 49th anniversary with a third goal activity! Honor Volunteers of past and present and your host countries by bringing the world home. You can do this through a variety of ways such as organizing a cultural event, presenting an exhibit of photographs or crafts, or visiting a classroom.
Don't forget to register your third goal participation at http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/speakersmatch/! This is the only means we have to demonstrate the impact of third goal events to Congress.
Full URL: http://www.peacecorps.gov/thirdgoal
Posted January 27, 2010
December 2009 Camel Express
Available Online
Click here (PDF, 1.0 MB) for the latest edition of the Camel Express, including stories and news, from and about Niger.
Full URL: http://www.friendsofniger.org/pdf/CEX_Dec_2009.pdf
Posted December 21, 2009
Niger '66
A Peace Corps Diary
Five Returned Peace Corps Volunteers began filming their experiences during a return trip to Niger in 2008. Now they are hoping to turn these experiences into a full-length documentary.
Jic Clubb, Filingue 1967
From the documentary web site:
In the summer of 1966 a group of 65 idealistic Peace Corps volunteers headed for Africa and landed in the dusty, heat-scorched desert of Niger.
We stayed for two years working in agriculture, digging wells and starting health clinics for women and their babies.
In 2008 five of us returned to Niger to revisit the country, see our old friends and witness how our work has improved the lives of the people there.
The documentary also explores the culture shock of re-entry into the U.S. in the turmoil of 1968 and how our experience in Africa influenced our future work.
This is our collective story.
Come check out the Niger '66 web site to see the trailer and read about the progress of the film.
Full URL: http://www.niger66.com
Posted October 23, 2009
Africa Rural Connect
How do you connect over 200,000 current and returned Peace Corps Volunteers with the African Diaspora, development practitioners, scholars, technology innovators, and anyone who cares about Africa to change lives? Africa Rural Connect.
Africa Rural Connect is, quite literally, global collaboration, leveraging technology to enable anyone in the world to build upon the ideas of others. The ARC Project introduces and encourages a new form of collaboration. When you read someone's idea for Africa, not only can you comment on it and endorse it, you can rewrite it by adding information from your own personal experience and insights.
That's why Africa Rural Connect needs you. Your ideas could be helping someone now.
Full URL: http://arc.peacecorpsconnect.org/
Posted August 25, 2009
August 2009 Camel Express
Available Online
Click here (PDF, 1.2 MB) for the latest edition of the Camel Express, including stories and news, from and about Niger.
Full URL: http://www.friendsofniger.org/pdf/CEX_Aug_2009.pdf
Posted August 25, 2009
Niger On YouTube
Here are a couple of YouTube videos sure to bring back some good memories (if you've been to Niger):
And a few more related to Niger that you might find interesting:
Posted July 16, 2009
Contribute To The Peace Corps 50th Anniversary Digital Library
The Peace Corps is inviting former volunteers to submit stories and photos from their volunteer experiences to be used in the 50th anniversary celebration of the Peace Corps. From their web site:
The 50th Anniversary Digital Library provides a searchable collection of electronic Peace Corps materials from 1961-present, including:
- Photos and stories contributed by Volunteers and RPCVs, using an online submission form
- Digitized newsletters, speeches, annual reports and other key agency historical materials
- Contributions of photos and historical documents from country posts
- Brochures, posters, audio and video clips, and marketing materials from each decade of Peace Corps history
Peace Corps invites current and returned Volunteers to share a story and/or photos from your Peace Corps experience. Stories will be collected from Volunteers serving in each generation of the Peace Corps, from the 1960s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and on through to the present.
By sharing a story and photos that reflect your unique experience in the place and time you served, you will help enrich Americans' understanding of what it means to have been a Peace Corps Volunteer. Many of the stories and photos submitted to the digital library will be used to honor and celebrate our legacy of service during Peace Corps' 50th anniversary celebration in 2011. Digital library materials will be accessible to the public through the Peace Corps website, and will be shared with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
We are currently accepting electronic submission of stories and photos from current and returned Volunteers only. If you are a Volunteer or RPCV, please read the complete photo submission guidelines and story submission guidelines for details on what we are collecting and how to submit your materials.
If you are not a Volunteer or RPCV but would like to submit material to the Digital Library, please contact us at digital@peacecorps.gov.
Full URL:
https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.former.fiftieth.library.contribute
Posted July 16, 2009
YouTube Video: Niger RPCV Dr. Bill Miles Discusses His Memoir
Author and Northeastern Professor William Miles, discusses his memoir, My African Horse Problem on December 3, 2008.
Miles returned to Niger in 2000 with his ten-year-old son Samuel, to resolve an inheritance dispute over a horse. His experience captivated National Public Radio, and "All Things Considered" covered both his pre-departure story and follow-up after his visit. His account weaves together memoir, history and anthropology and journeys back to his days in Niger in the 1970s and 1980s as a Peace Corps volunteer and Fulbright scholar.
Posted July 16, 2009
After Nearly Four Decades Apart A Friendship Blossoms
In case you missed it, come check out our April 2009 Camel Express (PDF, 1.3 MB), posted directly below, for the heartwarming story about how a Peace Corps volunteer from the early 1970's reunited with his old Nigerien friend over thirty years later, and they continued to enrich each other's lives.
John and Idy reunite after 31 years
John Baird first met Idy Gondah while living in his village as a volunteer in the early 70's. John never thought that decades later he would help Idy's son Mourtalla make the dream of coming to America to further his education become real, but against long odds Idy is already one year through his education.
In addition to the Camel Express, you can find more information about John, Idy, and Mourtallah on two MySpace pages set up with information about their story and how you can help Mourtallah and others with their educations:
John's page dedicated to helping African students: http://www.myspace.com/supportafricanstudents
Mourtallah's Story: http://www.myspace.com/mourtallahsstory
Posted July 16, 2009
April 2009 Camel Express
Available Online
Click here (PDF, 1.3 MB) for the latest edition of the Camel Express, including stories and news, from and about Niger.
Full URL: http://www.friendsofniger.org/pdf/CEX_Apr_2009.pdf
Posted April 17, 2009
One Hundred Years Of Archeology In Niger
Niger has always been a rich country for archeological research. This blog post links to a research paper outlining some of the more notable archeological finds and their significance.
It's highly technical information, but it's interesting to get an idea of all the work going in in the country relating to the history of mankind.
Posted March 3, 2009
Niger RPCV Plans Cross-Country Fundraiser for World Food Program
Andrew Marinelli, a recent RPCV from Niger, is planning an ambitious "Third Goal" service project. Beginning in March of 2009, he will begin a 6,000 mile bicycle ride from Key West, Florida, to San Francisco, California, stopping at primary and secondary schools along the way to give talks about his experiences in Niger, and help spread awareness about global hunger, rising food costs, and areas affected by conflict, while raising money for the World Food Program
With a goal of raising $100,000 for the WFP, Andrew will cross fifteen states, and visit ten state capitals and dozens of college and university campuses. He will also be contacting local media across the country with the hopes of reaching a target audience of millions of people.
To learn more about how to help via sponsorship or other activities, you can contact Andrew by phone or email:
Andrew Marinelli
World Food Program - Fundraiser Event Coordinator
Phone: 803-443-9343
andrewmarinelli@gmail.com
Posted February 9, 2009
Peace Corps RPCV Career Event
To Be Held February 10-13 In Washington DC
Reconnect with the Peace Corps community and give your job search a jump start with four days of career-development workshops and discussions for recently returned Peace Corps Volunteers.
This is a FREE event for RPCVs. Pre-registration is required for all sessions, and attendees are responsible for their own travel, food, and lodging costs.
For more information, visit:http://www.peacecorps.gov/rpcv/events.
Posted January 11, 2009
December 2008 Camel Express
Available Online
Click here (PDF, 1.2 MB) for the latest edition of the Camel Express, including stories and news, from and about Niger.
Full URL: http://www.friendsofniger.org/pdf/CEX_Dec_2008.pdf
Posted January 1, 2009
NPCA Profiling Volunteers
Taking Action on Climate Change
Help Take Part By Contributing Your Own Submissions
The National Peace Corps Association is looking for Peace Corps volunteers, returned or current, who are taking action on climate change. The goal is to show how climate change affects their country of service, and to spotlight the activities that they are involved in to help reduce humanity's effect on the environment.
The advocacy team at the NPCA is calling for submissions in the form of videos or testimonials that you would be willing to share with others showing how climate change affects communities in Niger. This is a great opportunity to showcase how this important issue affects the fragile environment that so many Nigeriens depend on.
You can contact the NPCA advocacy office by email: advocacy@rpcv.org, or through the NPCA web site.
If you don't have videos, you can also contribute by submitting a Climate Change Profile, to highlight the work you do on a professional or personal level to fight climate change.
Please visit the NPCA's web site to submit your own profile:
http://www.rpcv.org/pages/survey.cfm?id=60
You can see the profiles that have already been submitted here.
http://www.rpcv.org/pages/sitepage.cfm?id=1412
Thank you for helping to raise awareness of this critical issue!
Posted October 27, 2008
EstroGenius Festival Presents
Voices Of Africa
Partnership With Peace Corps Niger And Friends Of Niger Supports Young Girls Scholarship Program
The Estrogenius Festival's Voices Of Africa (VOA) is a collaboration with Peace Corps Niger. This unique collaboration, featuring stories, poems and songs written by young Nigerien women, will be held on Saturday, November 1, 2008.
Ginger O'Neill, a former Estrogenius Festival volunteer, created the Pangea Festival in Niger along with co-creators Michelle Stoner and Sheena Washington while serving a two-year Peace Corps appointment in the country. Pangea brings together people from diverse villages and features events for girls and teens that help them to express their voices through music, poetry, prose, yoga, dance and other creative disciplines.
During the Pangea festival, young Nigerien women wrote poems, stories and songs that were translated into English and sent to New York City to be performed as part of Voices of Africa. 100% of the funds raised from the performances will be donated to the Young Girls Scholarship Program, which sends girls in Niger to school and the Pangea Festival in Niger.
The event will be held on Saturday, November 1st, at the Manhattan Theatre Source. Please visit their web site for tickets, or to make a tax-deductible donation:
Tickets are $15, and you can also make a tax-deductible donation here:
https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/store/931
All proceeds benefit the Young Girls Scholarship Program which provides academic scholarships to Nigerien girls.
Posted October 27, 2008
September 2008 Camel Express
Available Online
Click here (PDF, 1.6 MB) for the latest edition of the Camel Express, including stories and news, from and about Niger.
Full URL: http://www.friendsofniger.org/pdf/CEX_Sep_2008.pdf
NPCA Launching MorePeaceCorps Campaign
To Increase Support for Peace Corps
100 House Parties Across United States
Targeted For September 6, 2008
MorePeaceCorps is a campaign launched in 2008 by the National Peace Corps Association with the goal of increasing support for the Peace Corps, eventually doubling its budget and worldwide volunteer base by 2011, the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps.
MorePeaceCorps will begin by throwing 100 House Parties across the United States to rally support for this crucial goal.
You can help out by hosting a party, arranging for donations, coordinating publicity, writing letters and/or op-ed pieces, or simply attending your local house party!
If you are interested in becoming an official MorePeaceCorps local organizer or simply learning more about 100 House Parties, please contact May Wilkerson at MorePeaceCorps, or visit the official MorePeaceCorps web site.
Full URL:http://www.morepeacecorps.org/
newsevents/entry/100_house_parties_september_6_2008
Niger Documentary Filmmaker Wins
Golden Giraffe Award
Ingrid Patetta's documentary, At The Center Of The Earth - Of Wells and Men, has recently won a Golden Giraffe award at the International Environmental Film Festival of Niamey.
Honoring the traditional know-how of the Hausa well-diggers of Niger, the film reveals the pride, the tradition, and the determination of these Sahelian men who dig the earth with their bare hands in order to access water.
The film has also been chosen as an Official Selection the represent the African continent for the International Water and Cinema Events World Water Forum, taking place in Istanbul in March of 2009.
We congratulate Ingrid and hope she continues to produce more wonderful and educational films about Niger.
Nomadic Festival August 9 in Ojai, California
Leslie Clark and the Nomad Foundation are putting together a festival on a ranch in the hills above Ojai, California to help raise money for the Center for Nomadic Life.
The Center for Nomadic Life is designed to meet the basic needs of nomads living near Ingall as their life becomes increasingly challenging. Tickets are still available at the Nomadic Festival web site.
Come spend the day enjoying art, exhibitions, food, music, and more, all for a great cause!
Full URL: http://www.nomadfoundation.org/festival.html
Worldview Magazine Call for Submissions
The Fall 2008 issue of WorldView Magazine will center on the theme "Peace Corps for the 21st Century", and is looking for your submissions.
In three years, Peace Corps will celebrate its 50th anniversary. How has it fared in that time? What is its legacy-and its future? Can a bigger, better and bolder Peace Corps be part of an overall "smart power" effort to restore U.S. standing in the world to better help address pressing global problems?
Tentative topic areas include:
- Goals and Models: If Peace Corps was invented now what would it look like, how would it be organized? How does Peace Corps stack up with its competition?
- Partnership: How could Peace Corps be more open to and creative in working with other entities?
- Technology: How is technology changing Peace Corps and what can Peace Corps do to make better use of technology?
- Size and Scale: How could we scale Peace Corps and obtain the resources required to do that and still ensure quality?
Click here to learn more about submission guidelines and other details.
Full URL: http://www.worldviewmagazine.com/issues/dispatches.cfm?id=72
Note: Submission Deadline is July 14, 2008
Adventures In Service
Former Peace Corps director Jim Bullington has released a book about his service in Niger. In Adventures in Service with Peace Corps in Niger Jim gives the reader "an informed perspective on poverty, development, politics, culture, and security" in our favorite region of the Sahel.
Come check out this and other books in the Books section of our web site.
Full URL: http://www.friendsofniger.org/features/RPCV_works
New Photos By Irene Abdou
Come visit our photos page to see Niger captured through the eyes of different photographers.
"Confidence" - by Irene Abdou
This week we're featuring terrific new photographs by Irene Abdou, an RPCV who served in the Torodi/Tera area from 1995 to 1999.
Full URL: http://www.friendsofniger.org/photos
March 2008 Camel Express Available Online
Click here (PDF, 1.5 MB) for the latest edition of the Camel Express, including stories and news, from and about Niger.
Full URL: http://www.friendsofniger.org/pdf/CEX_Mar_2008.pdf
Fallen Peace Corps Volunteers
Get Online Memorial
The Fallen Peace Corps Volunteers Memorial Project is a non-profit corporation created by the sister and mother of fallen Niger Peace Corps volunteer Jeremiah Mack to honor volunteers who died in service.
The site was created in 2004, and has grown to include fallen volunteers from many countries, including five PCV's from Niger. In all, 271 volunteers have died while serving as volunteers.
In addition to the site, the organization seeks to create a permanent physical memorial honoring all fallen volunteers.
Full URL: http://www.fpvc.org
Friends of Niger: The Last Ten Years
Those attending the 35th Anniversary of Peace Corps in Niger in July 1997 were moved to revitalize the almost defunct Friends of Niger group, which had been started by Meredith McGehee; a balance of $6,000 remained in a bank account in Washington, DC. The process took almost a year and now ten years later seems like a good time to look back and celebrate the accomplishments of Friends of Niger as Niger has just celebrated the 45th anniversary of Peace Corps in Niger.
Please have a look at our About FON page to see the list of our accomplishments, from the beginnings of the web site and newsletter, to famine relief and fund raising for a variety of projects,.
The link is also found at the top-left of every page on our site.
Full URL: http://www.friendsofniger.org/aboutfon
Peace Corps Week 2008
February 25 through March 3
Peace Corps Week is an opportunity for returned Volunteers and their extended Peace Corps family - staff, friends and family of Volunteers, as well as friends of the Peace Corps - to partake in promoting cross-cultural understanding, world peace, and friendship by shining a spotlight on the important work of our Volunteers around the world and the continuing service that returned Volunteers bring to communities in the United States.
Go to the official Peace Corps Week web site:
2008 International Calendar Now Available
Produced by the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Wisconsin, the International Calendar is back for 2008 with another collection of beautiful photographs.
You can order the calendar for $12 each, or two or more for $10 each. Please see our order form on the Join FON page for details on how to order.
Proceeds from the calendar sales will support Friends of Niger's projects in Niger. Order now, supplies are limited and you don't want to miss out!
December 2007 Camel Express Available Online
Click here (PDF, 2.1 MB) for the latest edition of the Camel Express, including stories and news, from and about Niger.
Full URL: http://www.friendsofniger.org/pdf/CEX_Dec_2007.pdf
FON Petitions Congress to Save Surface Mail
In May of 2007 the USPS eliminated International Surface Mail which was used by many organizations and individuals to support important grass-roots humanitarian projects around the world.
Friends of Niger has joined the movement to petition the US Congress to reverse this change. Click here to see our open letter to the House Committee overseeing the Postal Service, pleading with them to reconsider this unfortunate change that will affect many small but important organizations.
Full URL: http://www.friendsofniger.org/features/mbagpet/
EstroGenius Festival Presents
Voices Of Africa
Partnership With Peace Corps Niger And Friends Of Niger Supports Young Girls Scholarship Program
On Friday, September 28th, and Saturday, September 29th, the EstroGenius Festival will present Voices Of Africa, a cross cultural collaboration with Peace Corps Niger, and Friends of Niger, to benefit the Young Girls Scholarship Program (YGSP). Voices of Africa features stories, poems, and songs written by Nigerien young women and performed by New York City teenagers at Manhattan Theatre Source.
The program was created by Ginger O'Neil, a former EstroGenius Festival volunteer currently serving a two year Peace Corps appointment in Niger, along with co-creators Michelle Stoner and Sheena Washington. Ginger teaches reading and writing along with music classes to young women in her village, Birni N'Gaoure, and throughout Niger. She has transcribed her students' words, poems, and stories and sent them to New York City to be performed by teenage girls.
Voices of Africa performances will be held Friday, September 28 at 6:00 pm and Saturday, September 28 at 2:30 pm at Manhattan Theatre Source (177 MacDougal Street, between Waverly Pl. & W. 8th St; Subway: A/C/E or B/D/F/V to W 4th St.). Tickets are $15 at http://www.theatresource.org or (212) 260-4698.
All proceeds benefit the Young Girls Scholarship Program which provides academic scholarships to Nigerien girls.
August 2007 Camel Express Available Online
Click here (PDF, 1.9 MB) for the latest edition of the Camel Express, including stories and news, from and about Niger.
Full URL: http://www.friendsofniger.org/pdf/CEX_Aug_2007.pdf
Young Girls Scholarship Program
Conference Photos Posted
Click here to see recent photos from the Young Girls Scholarship Program Annual Conference.
To read more about the Young Girls Scholarship Program, check out the August issue of the Camel Express (PDF, 1.9 MB).
RPCV Career Planning Conference
Scheduled for September 4-7, 2007
Next week, Peace Corps' Office of Domestic Programs, Returned Volunteer Services, will host an RPCV Career Planning Conference. The conference is a week-long series of free events focused on job searching and career resources for recently returned Peace Corps Volunteers.
The events will begin on Tuesday, Sept. 4 and will continue through Friday, Sept. 7. All sessions will be held in Washington, DC. Pre-registration is required for the sessions.
Click here for a flyer (PDF 502 KB) with more details about the event.
Please feel free to post the flyer and/or share copies of it with RPCVs in your network. More information on the RPCV Career Planning Conference can be found at http://www.peacecorps.gov/rpcv/events.
Peace Corps / Niger 45th Anniversary
Pagne Design Released
Please visit our Peace Corps/Niger 45th Anniversary Celebrations page for more information about the celebrations, and how you can participate.
Niger in the Movies
Independent filmmaker Daniel Balluff, a Peace Corps volunteer in Niger from 1986 to 1988, returned to Niger in 2005 to make three films.
You can see a four minute preview of one of the films, Niger: Living on the Edge of Survival, in this clip hosted by YouTube.
Visit our movies page to see more previews of Dan's movies and find out how you can see the entire movie.
Peace Corps Wiki is Up and Running
The Peace Corps Wiki is a collaborative project whose goal is to create a free, interactive, and up-to-date source of information about serving as a volunteer with the U.S. Peace Corps. Anyone is welcome to edit, add, or change any entry, or start a new one. So far there are a total of 260 pages that have been written and edited by (R)PCVs and Friends of Peace Corps from around the world.
Note that the contents of the Peace Corps Wiki are generated by the public, and do not reflect any official position of the U. S. Government or the U. S. Peace Corps. Nevertheless, the wiki has the potential for becoming an invaluable source of information for anyone seeking knowledge about the Peace Corps and the countries of service.
Check out the new wiki here:
Celebrating 45 Years of
Peace Corps in Niger!
The Peace Corps staff in Niger is preparing to celebrate the 45th year of Peace Corps in Niger, including a series of activities and events taking place in September.
Please visit our Peace Corps/Niger 45th Anniversary Celebrations page for more information about the celebrations, and how you can participate.
For questions or more information, please contact Christopher Burns in the Niger Peace Corps office at cburns@ne.peacecorps.gov.
NPR Explores Niger's Climate and Culture
National Public Radio has produced a few short but informative videos on climate change, with one video featuring Niger, and focusing on a recent well-known story about how trees are finally returning to the desert:
Another feature on NPR's web site looks at the effect of climage change on Tuareg nomads in nearby Mali:
Interested In Helping Out Friends of Niger?
Membership Coordinator Needed
We at the Friends of Niger are looking for someone who can volunteer their time to help build our membership base.
Join us, and be part of a small organization seeking to make a difference in the lives of Nigeriens. The more members we have, the more we can accomplish. We need your help now!
For more information, pleace contact president@friendsofniger.org
Mercy Corps focuses on Niger's "Silent Disaster"
Mercy Corps is giving special attention to Niger's ongoing cycle of hunger in their fundraising efforts, calling it one of the world's "Silent Disasters".
From their web site, http://www.mercycorps.org :
Long months of hunger between meager harvests hold Niger's families in a brutal grip. Mercy Corps is helping them break free.
Successive poor harvests put more than 3.5 million Nigeriens - about 20 percent of that country's entire population - at risk for chronic malnutrition and other dire health problems. Children, already Niger's most vulnerable population, have been most affected of all. Today, Mercy Corps is working to help determined Nigeriens build locally sustainable, resilient health and nutrition networks so that communities can cope with crisis - and mothers can provide a healthier future for their young children.
Please take some time to look at the work Mercy Corps is doing in Niger and around the world.
See Mercy Corps' focus on Niger here:
US Postal Service Eliminates
International Surface Mail
Grass roots organizations impacted by rate changes; sign the petition to bring back Surface Mail!
On May 14, 2007 the USPS eliminated International Surface Mail which was used by many organizations and individuals to support meaningful, humanitarian projects around the world.
A movement is underway to petition the US Congress to reverse this change. Please join us and sign the petition so that our collective voice can be heard.
April 2007 Camel Express Available Online
Click here for the latest edition of the Camel Express, including stories and news, from and about Niger.
Full URL: http://www.friendsofniger.org/newsletters/cex_apr_2007/
Tin-Hinan Update From The Field
Recently Boston University students Magali Carette and Sarah Garton spent some time with Habsou Aboubacar, who runs Tin-Hinan, a non-governmental organization supported in part by Friends of Niger.
Sarah sent us the following report, along with a few pictures, after their stay in Niger. Read the Tin-Hinan Update:
Nigerien Film Maker Seeks Niger RPCVs for Video Documentary
A Nigerien who was a language teacher for PC Niger (1990) is currently in the US on a fellowship for foreign journalists. He sends the following message - please contact him if you are interesting in helping.
Since 1990, I've been a journalist and a communicator, owning a communications agency called Les Echos du Sahel, and dealing [with the] rural world and development (printing, broadcasting, training, advising, etc.).
I arrived in the U.S. last June on behalf of the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program. One of the aims of this fellowship funded by the State department of the USA is to allow mid-careers professionals from the developing world a year of rewarding experiences and studies in the U.S. so that they can benefit academically and professionally.
One of my projects is to make a video documentary about RPCVs who are still involved with Niger in one way or another. But all my attempts to reach these folks have been unsuccessful.
The idea is: after 45 years of a successful presence in Niger, some RPCVs have kept contact with their host country, in the spirit of the program created by President Kennedy. Whether they work in civil society or as individuals, I want to portray them in their daily life and show how they continue to impact and improve the reality or the image of Niger.
My host university is the Philip Merrill school of Journalism (University of Maryland - College Park) where I am currently enrolled in Broadcasting and International Development studies. I will be staying in the US until next June. Please feel free to contact me for questions. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sai An Jima!
Ibbo Daddy Abdoulaye
Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow
Philip Merrill School of Journalism
1117 Journalism Building
University of Maryland-College Park
Maryland, MD 20742
Phone: 301-405-2003
Fax: 301-405-9385
Email: ibbo_daddy@yahoo.com
Welsh Teen Siriol Teifi Inspired Into Action After Visit To Niger
A welsh teenager was so moved by her experience in visiting a Médecins Sans Frontières project in the world's poorest country that she has set up an online account with justgiving.com so that people can finance the project.
18 year-old Ysgol Dyffryn Teifi sixth-former, Siriol Teifi visited Niger in February of 2007 to see for herself the situation 16 months after the terrible famine of Autumn 2005.
Back in November 2005, Siriol raised 2000 UK pounds for Christian Aid's Niger appeal by fasting for a week at school.
Now Siriol has set up a web page and an online account with justgiving.com so visitors can make donations online to Médecins Sans Frontières with all the funds raised going to the Project in Maradi in the name of the people of Wales.
Click here to read more and donate to the cause: http://cymorthniger.com/ (Click the "English" link on the new page to read it in English.)
Thinking of Joining Friends of Niger?
Now is the time! Friends of Niger is now offering a free year of membership for first-time members.
Together we can make a difference in the lives of Nigeriens. Click here to join FON today!
Niger Making Progress, Struggling With Population Growth
The New York Times has a nice article discussing the progress Niger has made against desertification over the past few decades, while continuing to deal with a fast growing population.
July/August 2006 Camel Express Available Online
Click here for the latest edition of the Camel Express, including stories and news, from and about Niger.
Full URL: http://www.friendsofniger.org/newsletters/cex_aug_2006/
Fund Raisers planned for San Francisco and Washington DC to Support Boarding House
Virginia Emmons is the co-founder and director of Educate Tomorrow, an international non-profit organization seeking to provide equitable access to education for all people
Virginia is also a Niger RPCV, and is helping to organize fundraisers in San Francisco and Washington DC whose main goal is to raise money for a boarding house in Kirtachi, Niger.
When the Peace Corps left the Kirtachi region, the Peace Corps and the Nigerien government agreed to donate the former Peace Corps hostel and land to the project. Now, money is needed to convert and operate the hostel so that middle-school students from the region who live in far away villages can stay in the hostel, enabling them to attend school regularly. Students from Kabey Fo, a village 25 kilometers away from the nearest middle school, will be the first beneficiaries of the project.
The fund raisers will include wine tasting and silent auctions. Items to be auctioned include a cruise, a week at a beach house, art work, wine, and more. Organizers are still accepting donations for the silent auctions.
Event Dates:
- San Francisco: August 18, 2006
- Washington DC: September 8, 2006
To volunteer, make a donation, or for general information, please contact Virginia Emmons at info@educatetomorrow.org.
FON Supports Micro-credit Projects in Niger
At the March 12, 2006 meeting of the Board of Directors of Friends of Niger, the board voted to allocate the sum of $500 to a newly formed NGO, Tin-Hinan. In the past year FON members have contributed over $1000 earmarked for micro-credit projects. RPCV Sue Rosenfeld will present the check to this organization on behalf of FON when she returns to Niger in late April.
Tin-Hinan is a non-profit registered with the government of Niger. The founder and president of this organization is a Tuarag woman, Habsatou Aboubacar. Rural women in Niger encounter enormous difficulties, among others, the lack of sources of revenue because of lack of means and time to take part in activities that will generate revenue and permit them to be financially independent. Our donation will help finance the micro-credit operation for the women of Goroubi in the Tillabery Region to enable the women of this region to provide for their needs and the needs of their children.
Project Information
| Title: | Micro-credit projects for women |
| Global Objective: | Improvement of living conditions for women |
| Location: | Village of Goroubi |
| Department: | Say |
| Region: | Tillabery |
| Country: | Niger |
| Budget: | 9,630,000 F cfa (14,705 Euros) |
| Number of Beneficiaries: | 20 women |
| Duration: | 14 months |
| Expected Start Date: | January 2006 |
| Project End Date: | March 2007 |
| Organization Name: | Association Tin Hinan |
| Official Contact: | Mme Habsatou Aboubacar
Tel: (00227) 88 42 04 BP 11470 Niamey Niger E-Mail: tinhinanniger@yahoo.fr |
For more information on this project, contact Gabriella Maertens at gmaertens@earthlink.net.
Niger Fundraiser a Success!
Lamine Touré
On February 25th, The Homegrown Coffeehouse in Needham, MA, a suburb of Boston, presented A Night of West African Music as a fundraiser for Niger. Three West African musical groups came together to play to a standing room only crowd.
The groups included the Agbekor Society playing high energy polyrhythmic traditional music from Ghana and Togo, The JAG Drum and Dance Ensemble featuring special guest Mohammed Kalifa Camara performing traditional music from his homeland of Guinea, and Lamine Touré and Group Saloum fusing Senegalese mbalax with elements of jazz, funk, reggae and Afro-pop. Drumming and singing filled the room as more than 250 people enjoyed the show and were moved to clap, sing and dance in the isles.
All of the groups donated their performances and 100% of proceeds, over $4300, were donated to Oxfam America.
Niger RPCV Sheri Kennedy Raising Money for Oxfam
After reading about the food crisis in Niger, Sheri Kennedy, a Niger RPCV currently working as a professional artist in the Boston area, was inspired to create a painting as a fundraiser. "The painting is done from a photo of my villagers outside Dossey, north of Birni n'Konni", Kennedy says, "and is called Tilling the Soil, Dossey, Niger."
High-quality giclée reproductions of the painting are available for $40 (plus shipping). Approximtely $10 of the proceeds of each print will be forwarded on to Oxfam. "The more prints are ordered, the more the printing costs drop, and therefore the more will go to Oxfam. Please pass this along to anyone you know who might be interested in buying art to feed Niger."
Prints can be ordered at Sheri's Art-Think web site:
A Call to Reopen Niger's USAID Mission
FON has begun a campaign to reopen the USAID mission in Niamey. Please see our letter to Andrew Natsios (the USAID administrator), then contact John Soloninka (FON's president) if you want to get involved in our efforts.
Tuaregs in Abalak Still Waiting for Aid
Ingrid Patetta, a filmmaker residing in New York, recently returned from the Abalak region in the northern Tahoua department. She has produced an excellent 7-minute video on behalf of Tagaste, a small NGO that is trying to bring the current plight of Tuareg nomads to the world's attention. She is making the film available on the Internet, and she is interested in partnering with Friends of Niger around the U.S. to organize public screenings of the film to raise funds for Tagaste's work with the people of Abalak, many of whom have yet to receive assistance in the year-old food crisis.
We encourage all to view the video, then contact Ingrid for more information.
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