#5 - N i g e r

Today was a very stressful day at work.  We had a lock-down at school.  Nothing serious came of it but it was very tense for a few hours.  It happened in the two periods leading up to lunch so our lunch period was displaced and I did not get to eat my lunch so I just brought it home.  

Issues of violence are common themes in the countries with rampant poverty.  The question I have is why?  Why do these countries seem to be the ones most plagued by violence and economic disruption.  Could it be that there are greater forces at work to ensure some sort of dis-equilibration for their own purposes?  Especially when we consider the main export of our next country.

Today we have N i g e r.  N i g e r  is a land locked country in the Saharan region of Africa that struggles with 65.9% of its population living under back breaking poverty.  Near constant drought, political instability and lack of developed infrastructure continue to hinder the ability of the common people of N i g e r  from rising above their often meager existence. 

Since its Independence in 1960, N i g e r  has endured four coup d'etat's resulting in five different Republics.  The military has often played a huge role in the political instability with much of the countries wealth coming from the export of uranium.  Aside from a few urban areas and mining areas, the main export of the country is cattle and other animal products.  Much of the country lives in poverty.

In N i g e r , the infant mortality rate is 248 per 1000 live births with nearly 8 percent of the population languishing in forced slavery.  Those who exist in this state do so with little to hope for.  It is disturbing that Slavery still exists in this world and it is even more deeply disturbing that it continues to take place in Africa. This is just another reminder of the scars of European Colonialism.

Please keep the people of N i g e r in your prayers.