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Desert Faces: The Silent Witnesses of the Niger Drought. With UNICEF's assistance, a team of photographers - Anthony Dawton, Jim McFarlane and Giuseppe Aquili - travelled around the country recording what they found there. This extraordinary trip forms the basis of a new book, the latest in the Silent Witnesses series.
Click here to purchase your copy.
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Niger's Children
Why this country is left at the very bottom of the pile are questions beyond the remit of the three photographers Al Madad sent on a ten day 'trip' to Niger to support the work the Foundation is doing in conjunction with UNICEF. But some things are clear: all attempts to raise funds from global commercial concerns to support the trip and the subsequent book failed in an absolute way that we had not experienced in other 'poor' countries.
On the trip we saw children dying from dysentery (so easily preventable) because either they were days walk away from any health centres (there are no buses) or even if they got there in time, they were incorrectly diagnosed. They have doctors but at one regional hospital we visited the ratio was one doctor (and four nurses) to 240,000 people (you may want to read that again!). The west is not winning hearts and minds. Visiting a health centres costs a Nigeran 900CFA (£1.20) for an adult and 400CFA (50p) for a child, it costs a staggering 5,000CFA (£6.50) to be admitted to a hospital. Substantial sums for the people of the world’s poorest country. |
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