Saturday, August 14, 2010

Visiting Niger - the floods after the drought

I returned to Niamey on Friday 13th August from a visit to a place called Zinder (east of Niamey). It is about 3 hours by air with a short stop in Maradi. On the return leg, we encountered some stormy weather as the rains keep pouring on this once barren land.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shsY1MtzzaA

I was also able to see, first hand, the damage caused by the floods in Niamey on the banks of the River Niger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpw76ACPTnw

Ramadan mubarak!

Muslims around the world have started fasting during this Holy Month of Ramadan. I believe, for the majority of Muslims, if not all, Ramadan started on Wednesday 11 August.

I pray that Allah accepts your prayers and fasting.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Visiting Niger - the Sahel food crisis response

I arrived in Niger in the early hours of this morning, Tuesday 10 August, after a stop-over in Casablanca (on transit) from Dakar.
Niger and most parts of the Sahel are suffering from a major food crisis, with close to 8 million people affected in Niger alone! This is a real natural disaster - resulting from failed harvest due to drought.
The World Food Programme and its humanitarian partners are in the midst of a massive emergency operation to save lives of those affected by this crisis.

This happens to be my second visit to Niger this year, as part of support towards this humanitarian response.