Famine Area

Days 55 – 58
Sept. 10 – Sept. 13
Zinder, Niger



Actual newstory:

==
Malnutrition, deaths on rise in eastern Niger-MSF
Tue Sep 13, 2005 10:07 AM BST


GENEVA (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of children in Niger are not getting enough food and an increasing number are dying of malnutrition, the aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) said on Tuesday.

A survey last month in the eastern region of Zinder showed "alarming conditions" and a worsening situation, with one in five children suffering from malnutrition, MSF said.

Mortality rates in the Zinder region for children under age five have risen to 5.3 deaths per 10,000 -- more than double the internationally recognised emergency threshold of 2 deaths per 10,000, according to an MSF statement.

"Unless children suffering from malnutrition receive massive care, this human disaster will be even more tragic," Christian Captier, general director of MSF Switzerland, was quoted as saying from Zinder.

The situation was even more critical for children less than 30 months old, with nearly one in three malnourished and 5.6 percent severely malnourished, it said.

MSF has accused the United Nations of being too slow to mount an emergency response in Niger, where the world body is now trying to feed 2.5 million people.

MSF has treated more than 30,000 severely malnourished children at emergency nutritional facilities in and around Maradi, Tahoua, Zinder, Diffa and Tilaberi.

Medical teams estimate that they will treat more than 40,000 children for severe malnutrition by year-end, it said.



==


I’m now traveling through a famine area. The region of Zinder is headed by the city of Zinder itself, which I stayed at and where the Red Cross Center was located. I didn’t know it was a famine area until I talked to the volunteers, and didn’t know the Red Cross was in town until I stumbled across them while walking around.

By the looks of international news it seems that everyone is lying on the streets dying. I saw children at Koran School (where they memorize the Koran) all share a foodbowl, meat being grilled out on the streets, restaurants opened, random Nigeriens inviting me to drink tea with them. I didn’t know what was fact or fiction. It’s hard to explain that you know hardships exists, but to the extent the media portrays it does not.

In the middle of town, I went to the best restaurant for lunch. For being the best it’s not that fancy (I knew that ahead of time). Plastic chairs and tables (four total), one room. Other, lesser expensive restaurants might be outside. This was on the second floor. While I was eating my bread and soup it occurred that maybe it was a money issue. Those with money get to eat while those don’t. That night I was able to test it.

The volunteers and I went out to eat, in the streets. The food was there, in fact plenty of rice and beans and soda. Nigeriens were crowding the stand to order their food. A bowl of rice for 50 cents, a common price. No mass hysteria or people fighting for other people’s food. Across the street kabobs were being served, at 100 CFA each, or about a quarter. We ate what they ate, at the price they paid, at the location they ate at. We sat and talked, drank tea with the residents of Zinder, and ordered more kabobs to go.

A mile down the road was the Red Cross center passing out free food, and across the street was a small restaurant where food was available to buy.