FASHIONING HER DESTINY : In this photo, Fati sews a dress for me, while her niece Fati babysits her lastborn son, Abdoulkarim. This photo is meaningful to me in many ways. It portrays Fati, a strong, entrepreneurial Read more…
Category: Niamey
Little Angel
Fati is a tiny woman of 37 kilos, yet I have never seen such strength of will and vivacity in one person. Nothing phases or scares her… except making her little Mariama unhappy. Whenever I Read more…
A Burning Heart
Fatima’s family is originally from the Azawak and Sai. They lost most of their livestock during the successive droughts of 1973 to 1983, which forced them to abandon their pastures in hope of finding work Read more…
A Cosmic Encounter
Fati and I met one February morning in 2005 as I was walking to CARE’s office in Niamey, Niger’s capital. She and her cousin, Ouma, stepped out in front of me from a sand path. Read more…
Forgiveness
I obtained such a kind reaction to my last post on Fati, that I am now going to continue her story. In this photo, Fati’s aunt sits with Fati’s daughter, Mariama, after a devastating storm that Read more…
Born to Tragedy
Some of you may have already read the first post I wrote about Fati, but I felt it worth publishing again. She is the purest example of strength and ability to love, forgive, and be Read more…
The Family Portrait
In this photo, we stand with Abdoulkarim and Heini’s family, including their children Hamza, Arouna, Hassana, and Abdoulrazac. I really appreciate Abdoulkarim’s smile in this photo. As I mentioned in my last post, he is Read more…
Abdoulkarim
In this photo, Abdoulkarim, gives water to our donkey, Zorro, while his children Hassana and Arouna observe him. Behind him, Hamza and his other son, Momine, construct their home. I met Abdoulkarim in 2015. We Read more…
First or Second Husband?
By now you all know that I’m an advocate of polyandry, so you get to vote: will Indima marry Arouna or Hamza first? Seriously, I don’t mean to pile on the love photos of Hamza and Read more…