Niger is a beautiful country

My country is a great country. We are going through a difficult time at the moment with the food crisis and poverty, which are getting worse every day, but we still have hope and think that one day things will get better.

I love the peace here. The one secret here that keeps that peace is that we joke together.  I love the diversity of Niger, there are so many different ethnic groups but we joke together instead of fight.

Niger is a beautiful country. We have a desert and many traditions and many festivals. For one month each year we have a festival in Agadez (the largest city in the north of the country) called Bianou. It’s a sort of carnival for the pastoralists. Another festival is for the farmers where millions of people come together with their animals.

In Massalata Konni, we have a yearly festival where predictions are made for the coming year. The Tuareg and the Fulani also have a festival called Adli where they sing and dance all week long. You see 1,000 cows following one person, doing everything he wants them to do. It’s almost mystical to see.

Then there’s the Guenoual, where the male Fulani make themselves beautiful, wearing earrings, plaiting their hair and putting on make up. The women then come and choose who they want to be their husband.

I like my job. I like humanitarian work. For me it’s the only way to help other people. I think it’s the only way I can express myself. Even if there weren’t any humanitarian organisations in Niger, I would create my own so that I could help others.

Logistics is the backbone of any programme. Without logistics nothing would happen. Logistics is the way to make the situation comfortable for all the staff doing their jobs. With good logistics, when you pick up your bag in the morning to go to work, you don’t have to think about how to get there, you can just think about your work.

In Niger, 378,000 children face starvation over the next few months.

Please support our Niger appeal