Archive of the Republic of Niger (AREN) at Boston University

How it Evolved. By John Hutchison

The proposal to establish AREN (Archive de la République du Niger) has evolved out of the long term relationship between the Republic of Niger and the USA beginning after Niger’s independence, and the advent of the Peace Corps there. This was followed much later by the relationship, linkage, and then student exchange between the Université Abdou Moumouni (UAM) and Boston University (BU).

This latter relationship began in the 1980s, when BU Professor John Hutchison served as a Fulbright Lecturer in Linguistics and Kanuri Language Studies at the UAM during 1984-85. At the end of that year, he and the BU African Studies Center, with the assistance of Dr. Jennifer Yanco, a Nigerienist linguist and former Niger Peace Corps Volunteer, applied for and gained a 3-year USIS University Linkage Grant (1985-88) for the exchange of faculty members between BU and UAM. This exchange was rooted in the areas of languages, bilingual education, linguistics, and education. It linked faculties of education/pedagogy and departments of languages and linguistics.

Prof. Karen Boatman was one of the BU School of Education professors who visited Niger. She had the foresight and vision to recognize the importance of proposing student exchange and study abroad between BU and UAM. This next stage in our collaboration resulted in the Niger study abroad program which came to be directed by Susan Rosenfeld. It made it possible for BU students to spend a semester or more in Niger working in internships, coursework and the study of Nigerien languages and cultures in an international development context. The program endured for a quarter of a century, from 1987 until 2011.

The long-term relationships that grew out of these collaborative activities and programs have had an enormous impact on the lives and careers of the Americans and the Nigeriens who participated in them. Those who served as Peace Corps volunteers over its nearly 50 years in Niger, as well as the many BU students who did their study abroad there, have benefited from the wisdom of their co-workers, professors, colleagues and friends in Niger. The result is a body of human resources capable of facilitating change in a wide range of mutually beneficial ways. So today when we come together to join our two countries, our institutions, and one another, in this project of establishing AREN at Boston University, we are establishing a forum which brings together many stakeholders, and also which has the potential to facilitate collaborative efforts and the sharing of knowledge. From both sides of the Atlantic, AREN will make it possible to connect for example both Nigerien non-profit organizations and American non-profit organizations, and it will be conducive to collaboration in fundraising and project development that can be mutually beneficial.

This Archive was inaugurated by the Nigerien President in April 2015; photographs from that inauguration event can be viewed here:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/123460528@N03/sets/72157651729968556/

Check out that portion available online at: http://www.bu.edu/library/african-studies/aren/.  A link is available on that page to a form you can fill out if you are interested in contributing to the archive.   If you have any questions, please contact Beth Restrick, African Studies Librarian (brestric “at” bu.edu).  Consider looking at the larger African Studies collection at: http://www.bu.edu/library/african-studies/

Support For Relief Efforts In Eastern Niger With Kirker Foundation Of Niger, May 2019

Submitted by Phyllis Dichter Forbes.

In February, FON approved a project with the Kirker Foundation of Niger (KF/N) for $4,000 to help them deliver critically needed medicines and medical supplies, strengthen KF/N advocacy for health services in Niger, and increase local government inputs to promote long-term sustainability of KF/N efforts. These funds will help with the internal Niger costs of clearing the first MAP International shipment of medicines of 2019, over $20 million of medications including antibiotics, eyeglasses and accessories, vitamins as well as medicine for cancer and heart disease, and delivering the medicines to approximately 12 hospitals in Niger. It is due to arrive in Niamey in early May. Just to provide some context, two MAP shipments of medicines in 2018 provided one third of all medications used by the hospitals in Niger.

While we are supporting KF/N in this first MAP shipment through the FON grant, a number of former Niger PCV’s have been helping finance other shipments in earlier years. KAMRA, the US organization that arranges for US donors for the shipments, has been very proud of the RPCV response and wanted us to let everyone know that for each $100 donated, $280,000 in medicines will be made available to the people of Niger this year, a very impressive value for our contribution.

There is a lot of good news coming from the impressive work of the Kirker Foundation, but there is unfortunately still bad news. The good news is that KF/N is helping the local hospital and school in Maine organize kitchens that will serve one meal a day to hospital patients and one meal a day to school children using fortified rice-soy meal packets provided by Rise Against Hunger(RAH), another US organization that works in the poorest and most needy countries. The first two kitchens will have enough packets to provide one meal a day to 400 Nigeriens for up to six months. Once these kitchens are fully running, RAH hopes to expand shipments to set up other kitchens in the hospitals and schools in the Diffa Department and later elsewhere in Niger.

But equally impressive is the work KF/N and KAMRA have done to address health needs of Nigerien women by supporting a shipment of medical equipment and supplies from MedShare to equip a new operating room at the Maternity Hospital in Niamey. When the new OR is set up, Conscience International, a US NGO,very impressed by the seriousness of KF/N and the Ministry of Health, will be sending a team of surgeons to Niamey to train Nigerien providers from hospitals throughout Niger in fistula repair. Fistula is a devastating condition frequently experienced by Nigerien women as a result of early and frequent childbearing and a contributor to the high maternal morbidity and mortality rates in Niger.

The FON grant was also aimed at strengthening KF/N advocacy for health services and increasing local government inputs. KF/N has done well on meeting both objectives. In 2018, the Governor of Tillabery contributed funding to transport medicines from a shipment from Niamey to Tillabery. Transport costs were valued at US $1,000. KF/N is seeking similar local cost-sharing for the currently approved shipment, again from the Governor of Tillabery, as well as from other hospitals throughout Niger where shipments will be targeted.

The bad news is that no single week goes by without Boko Haram attacks in Niger, with more than 80 Nigeriens killed in the Diffa region in March alone. Just last week, Boko Haram attacked the village of Tam, only 10 miles from Maine-Soroa, decapitating the village chief and taking several hostages. Doctors Without Border office in Maine was burned to the ground on

April 27, 2019 and we are unsure how many casualties were involved. The situation in the Tillaberi area is also deteriorating.

The resilience of Nigeriens is amazing, and as disheartening as it is for all of us to see the reports of the continuing problems confronting this poor nation, we cannot give up on them. We should all take pride in the leadership that some Nigeriens are showing in the face of overwhelming odds, and to the extent that we can, we need to continue to find ways to support them.

Doctors Without Borders Office burned in Maine Soroa, April 27, 2019

Rail line may be coming to Maradi

A proposed rail line from Kano, Nigeria, to Maradi, Niger, is planned to cover 248 kilometers.

From the article:

The rail line, which will start from Kano, is to pass through Dambatta, Kazaure, Daura, Mashi, Katsina, Jibia and terminate in Maradi, Niger Republic.

It will connect at least three states in the North, which are Jigawa, Kano and Katsina.

It was also learnt that the rail line, when completed, would assist in the supply of crude oil from Niger Republic to the refinery being built in the border town between both countries.

Details are still being worked out, but it sounds like a very positive development for the region.

Read the full details here:

Kano to Niger Republic rail line to cover 248km

Team Niger Competing in “FIRST GLOBAL CHALLENGE 2017”

The International Robot Olympics is in less than one week!  Never before have the world’s many nations come together for a competition of this nature, and this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to take part in history.

A team from Niger is competing, and nothing would be more meaningful to them than support from their brothers and sisters abroad. A loud chorus of cheers from the community would make their trip to America all the more worth it, and we hope you can help us provide that for them.

The world’s future leaders, in the future’s greatest industry, are coming to Constitution Hall (1776 D St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20006) from July 16-18 to test their mettle against each other in the next great mental sport. They have worked hard to get here, some of them adjusting their designs under cover of darkness because the rain was too strong that day and the power cut out, some of them working from their homes because the only road in their village flooded and they couldn’t get to school. They have learned a lot on their way here, and they are ready to share their experience with the world.

Bring the family, make signs, and above all be ready to cheer for your team of choice! Our opening ceremony is from 5:30 to 7:00 the night of July 16. Prior to that, from 4:00-5:00, the teams will be available for a meet and greet with the community, and all are welcome to speak with any teams you wish to meet.

This event is a unique blend of science and culture, and we are happy to share it with the D.C. community. Day-of arrivals are welcome, but be sure to RSVP here: https://www.facebook.com/events/426907000980500/

You can also find a list of participating countries on our website at:http://first.global/fgc/attending/

Team Niger: Team mentor Moumouni Mounkaila Souley, Rafiqua, Abdoul-Aziz, and Aida Ibrahima Abdou

Team Niger

“Road Trip Niger” Film Premier to Benefit the NOMAD Foundation

Road Trip Niger

Sunday, February 5, 2:00pm, at the Ojai Valley Community Church, 907 El Centro St., Ojai, California.

Born to Play Productions presents a film about the adventures of the filmmakers in a country as far from home as imaginable, to discover the nomadic tribes of Niger, the vast, unforgiving and breathtaking Sahara desert, and the work of the Nomad Foundation.

Film, music, appetizers, no host bar & silent auction to benefit the Nomad Foundation.

Special Tuareg guests from Niger:  
Boucha Mohamed, Nigers minister of livestock & Sidi Mamane, Niger rep of the Nomad Foundation, & mayor of Ingall

And a live sampler of music from the film singer/songwriter, Ned Clark and guitarist, Bob Wright.

Get your tickets here: http://roadtripniger.brownpapertickets.com

Web site: http://www.roadtripniger.com

Online Donations

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For a printable form where you can donate to specific programs, or buy t-shirts, please go to Join FON.

Website of the Friends of Niger