A few weeks ago I received an email from Bebe, or more correctly Mohammed Ag Mossa, an intelligent, enterprising Toaureg who operated within Timbuktu as a tourist guide. He had taken mercy on my brother and I when we had been stopped by the police for 'crashing' a road block and prevented an escalating misunderstanding. He gave us a whist stop tour of the city, the famous five Mosques and the houses of the explorers and even managed to negotiate and out of hours access to the museum. In his email he identified a growing disaster in the Sahel, in particular the Niger inner delta, the rains had failed and as a result the price of millet and rice has rocketed. This coupled with the reaction of the West to the perceived terrorist threat from both Al Qaeda in general and the AQIM, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb in particular has removed the potential to earn money from the tourist trade. I was somewhat surprised that the plight of Bebe and those in the region surrounding the Niger inner delta had not been promoted and a visible appeal started. Prevention is the best cure, right now a small degree of intervention and financial support from the west could stop this becoming more serious.
I would welcome any suggestions to raise awareness of this growing issue. I will of course look to find details of any organisation championing this potential humanitarian disaster. I have helped to Bebe and his village in the short term but the scale of this drought is growing. Having direct contact with those suffering in this region I have seen how much of an impact a small gesture can make.
No comments:
Post a Comment