Cattle, uranium and desertification

The marketplace of Tanout - Copyright Eden Foundation

When talking about Niger yesterday, I mentioned that cattle was Niger's second largest export, and considering the state of the animals due to the degradation of the environment that is taking place, it certainly calls for concern.

The country's largest export still comes from the uranium mines located deep in the Sahara desert. During the seventies, uranium brought in a considerable income, but that has changed during the past two decennials. My brother just forwarded me an article though on how foreign agencies are flying in to scan the desert area for more mines.

That might be great for the country - at least the statistics will look better - but somehow, I doubt that all this foreign involvement will benefit the poorest of the poor who try to make a living cultivating crops in a sea of sand.

Imagine if the Western World spent a small share of this 55 million dollars investment to help fight desertification in a sustainable manner. Ah, then we might be talking REAL progress!

Ishtar

"Make an effort, will you?"

Several weeks ago, I finally got my good friend Mariama on the phone. I had wanted to see her for a long time but didn’t know where she lived (she got married last year) and the phone number she used in March wasn’t valid any longer so I couldn’t reach her. Finally, she called me on the project phone and I invited her over one Friday afternoon, which she seemed thrilled about. I was really looking forward to seeing her again; after all, we were inseparable during all those teenage years and I consider her one of my closest friends in Niger. Last year, I briefly met her husband and I was looking forward to seeing their little son, Ahmed. So even though I had a lot to do, on Friday afternoon, I was there waiting. The coffee was hot, the cakes were on the table and I had a little bag of presents, both for her and for the baby. But Mariama did not show up.

She did not send me an sms either. Nor did she send a girl with a note (as she usually does), nor come by and see me and see if we could perhaps find another time. Finally, I sent her an sms myself a week ago, saying that I was sorry she had missed our rendez-vous as I was really looking forward to seeing her again, and perhaps she could get in touch and tell me when would be a good time. Then all of a sudden my sister-in-law phoned and said there was a girl at her door with an urgent message to me from Mariama. Here goes the note:

Zinder the 30th 2007

Many good things I wish you, my dear! First of all, please excuse me for missing out on your appointment the other day, I was sick. My husband and son greet you! Esther, please, I have a problem that I want you to solve for me. If possible, Esther, I need money and would like you to lend me 15,000 CFA (€25), it’s urgent. And you must give me a new appointment so that we can see each other. I am counting a lot on you. I’m sorry for having to ask you. I don’t know who else- Make an effort, will you? Or call me because I have no more money on my phone.

Mariama

Lol, now what is there to say about it? My only friend who has never asked me for money had suddenly found an “urgent” excuse to ask me for – what is in this country – a considerable amount, without either seeing me first or telling me what the cause of this urgency is. I wasn’t happy about it, nor was I surprised. After all, I am in Niger, and here, everybody thinks that I have infinitive sums of money stored away. After all, I have relatives, relatives in Sweden, relatives who work and who should be able to provide me with all the things that I lack, at the simple price of my independency. That’s the line of thought from this culture at least.

But I have no such relatives. I have no such family. I do not possess an infinitive amount of money. It is true that – from their perspective at least – I do have money, but the money I do possess is expendable and my only option is to make it last. I have money, but I do not walk around – in true Nigerian atmosphere – wasting it on all sorts of unnecessary material things such as new shoes, clothes, perfumes and handbags. Last year, Mariama had an over-paid job working for as a nurse for MSF, but although she earning twice what the state would be providing, she complained that the MSF were probably not giving them all their fair share. This is Niger in a nut shell. And yes, I am sure that more money will help this country. It brings forth such power of initiative and positive thinking. Not.

So back to my friend and I. I was disappointed by the letter, because Mariama was my only friend who had never begged me for anything before and this was one of the reasons why I felt so close to her. I didn’t feel that she was after me for my money. Now all of a sudden, she spills no time getting right down to business. She has not even been over to say “hi”, but she is already sure that I will feel obliged to “make an effort” and give her (which would be the equivalent of lending in this country) half a salary because it is “urgent”. Well, isn’t it always? I have still not made up my mind what exactly I’m going to say about the money, but I sent her an sms inviting her over on Tuesday afternoon, and then I’ll just have to take it from there. Handing her the money would by my way of giving up on our friendship, and even if I would be willing to do that, I’m not sure I care to spend €25 on doing that.

Mariama and I posing in front of the monkey cage (1994)

Mariama and I posing the Nigerien way (1996)

Mariama and I in "uniforme" (1997)

Maybe I’m just being overly skeptical and that she has indeed a legitimate problem for expecting me to hand over this money, but it’s like all things in Niger – they all believe in a quick fix and yet you have to learn that there is none. “Alternative strategies” is a good expression but translating it into something that they understand and want to listen to is another matter. Now, from all this I have learned one thing. In Niger, you have acquaintances, some of which you enjoy to bits. However, true friendship is hard to achieve because there will always be that little element of coming from different social environments and having difference skin tones. I’ll never stop being a nasara, but I will at some point, stop expecting that I will one day stop being one and that my friends will stop evaluating my monetary worth. It doesn’t make me cynical though, because after all, I am here for them and not the other way around. Unfortunately, help in my opinion is the contrary of handing out gifts and creating dependency, and so I lose my “friends” over it. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t joy in having relationships, because if you just managed to develop someone, then you’ve given your day some worth.

Ishtar

Motorcycle dream

The day after Arwen had won, Chinada came over with a translator. He handed me a bill while the translator talked about motorcycles and I simply laughed. What else was I supposed to do? Arwen earned 5€ on Sunday, her very first by the way. Not that I would have, with all the expenses involved, gained a single € on letting Arwen race, but I have done it just for fun. I did not seek Chinada, it was he who came to me in January before I had my accident. He had just ridden Arwen at the race track - the second jockey to do so - and meant that she was one of a kind, and wanted to be the only jockey to ride her. He talked about championships in Nigeria and Benin and I told him that was not my thing. Arwen was just a horse at that time, my little Berber mare that enjoyed galloping with me. Chinada however was persistent, and if I remember it correctly, quite cocky at the time. I told him I was a volunteer without salary and did not have much money. No problem, he replied: "You could not even afford to pay me what I'm worth even if you had more money." Fine, I thought with a smile, but I agreed. Chinada would be her jockey every time Arwen went to the race track, and if indeed she was as good as he said she was, I would sign her up, even though I hate losing money (and a race is always a gamble). Anyway... This happened a week or so before my accident, and it would be another three weeks before Chinada started working for me on a regular basis. Arwen was going berserk in the garden and I needed someone to ride her out; and Chinada needed money.


Now since January, I have got to know Chinada much better. He is a brilliant jockey but a tragic person when it comes to money and responsibility. Though Chinada is seven years my senior (has two wives and several children, at least two more have been born since march 2006) I often think of him as being fifteen years old. He is a great worker and will do anything is scoaring sun shine. However, waiting for his salary (or paying back what he owes me) is not his speciality. Neither is showing up at the times when I ask him to; instead, he will be absent one day and then make up for it the next day, by working 3 times more than I have asked.

The last few days however had been working pretty well and I was almost comfortably settling in some sort of routine, which you so rarely get to do in this country. And then he shows up and spends forty minutes of my time asking for a motorcycle, because Arwen's jockey cannot be seen riding a bicycle! Lol! I answered him that first of all, I was the wrong person to complain to (as I do not care about status and do not hesitate to take a "lowly" job in Sweden, at least seen with Nigerien eyes...) and secondly, if he was so concerned with what people thought of him, why did he keep bowing down to the rich elhadjes when greeting them? Oh Niger is a funny country and the frustrating thing is that you meet a lot of people that you want to help, but in the end, somewhere in the back of your mind, you are aware that no matter how hard you try, it will take several decades for them to change their ways. Chinada has never taken responsibility for his family and he does not know what saving part of a salary means. He has worked all his life for people who have decided over him - left and right - but who have taken responsibility for him when he has lacked something. Though poor people are treated with lesser value by the rich in this country, I have never been able to understand who one would willingly be the servant of another. But that is Chinada's life. When he first started working for me, he picked up Arwen's droppings with his bare hands, drank from her bucket and jumped out of his chair when he saw me sitting down on a mat on the ground (lower than him). Luckily, things have changed, but when it comes to being realistic and mature, it seems just to be too much to ask.

In the meantime, why not try to understand the equation, which Chinada after all shares with many other people in this country: Arwen wins one race insignificant little race, her owner earns 5€ of which 2/3 are given to me, and my conclusion is that it is now time for her to get me a motorcycle...???

Isthar

Sahara

Just one week after schedule, Sahara finally arrived! I ordered her as soon as I met Ali after arriving, but acquiring a mare in Zinder nowadays is a bit more difficult than it was before Arwen made her debut… At first, she was due on Thursday last week and Ali knew exactly what horse he wanted. He and the owner settled on a price, €5 more than I paid for Arwen, but when the mare was being taken to me in Zinder, a buyer from Nigeria set his eyes on her and offered the owner €150 more… Hence Ali came back empty-handed. His second search landed him many km east of Zinder, in the area of Gouré. His first choice proved too expensive for her age – she must have been around seven which is considered “old” in this country. Since I had asked for a mare between 3-4 years of age, he chose the one who finally arrived today.

She was not exactly what I had expected, but I after having ridden her today, I can see her potential. She’s young (just two and a half), thin and slightly underdeveloped, which makes her just blend in with all the rest of this country… J People find her beautiful though – even Anette has taken a liking to her.

Skeptical as always, I was not convinced until I had ridden her and only then did she impress me. I don’t care for all the “gudu” (speed) or potential in the world if the horse cannot be trusted to 100%, but Sahara, as she’s to be called, followed all my directions without hesitation. So I paid the remaining sum and have added her to my collection, which should end here with two mares…

As for her and Arwen, the great ”horse battle” that I had anticipated did not take place. Arwen put on quite a show when we were out and Sahara avoided all eye contact, giving us the impression that she was of a weaker nature. However, in contrast to Arwen (who is spoiled rotten when it comes to food), Sahara was thoroughly hungry and this made her the boss over Arwen’s left-overs.
It will be interesting to see what happens when they move into the new ”horse garden” which is being build as we speak. I don’t thing it will take that many days before it’s set up, because most of the work has already been done (thanks to my dad).

Now I’m off to have an evening ride with Anette, who is looking forward to her first galloping session today!

Ishtar