Niger is a country that few people set foot on, although Niger has a large area of 1.26 million square kilometers, but it is not well known, the environment here is very harsh, there are often cloudy sandstorms, so that no more than hundreds of people visit here every year.
Once I came to this place because of my work, it can be said that Niger is a forgotten corner, the locals cannot afford to eat, but they have a big meal of fish and meat, they earn two or three hundred yuan a month, but they can marry three or four wives. The capital here is built like a big village, and living here, in addition to being boring, has a certain danger factor.
First arrival in Niger
I studied petroleum in college, and after graduation, I was also looking for a job in a related major, and with several years of work experience, I was assigned by the company to Niger, Africa. When I first heard the name Niger, I didn't know where the place was. I opened the search app on my phone, trying to find some relevant information, but almost nothing.
The only bit of news was that Niger was living in a harsh, hot, impoverished landlocked country, and I set out with apprehension. It took an 18-hour flight to finally arrive in Niger. I got off the plane and found that the airport was very small, like a country bus station.
I myself felt like I had traveled through time and space, as if I had traveled back to the seventies and eighties. When I walk down Niamey Street, the capital of Niger, there are hardly any high-rise buildings, all low houses.
On dirt roads whose names can't be found by navigation software, there are two or three skinny wild dogs, scrambling for the bones that people have left behind. A path three or four meters wide winds its way, dark and watery, with rags, plastic bags and some firewood on the ground. When people pass by, they need to cover their nose and mouth to avoid discomfort.
Finally waiting for a taxi, still second-hand, this car except for the horn does not sound, other parts are sounding, almost falling apart, even the door handle is tied with a rope, this is indeed breaking my cognition, this is not comparable to the old era walking car. The driver brother was very talkative and asked me where I came from and what I came here for.
When he learned of my Chinese identity, he expressed his envy, he said that you are Chinese too rich, and a month's salary is worth two or three years of their income, but you don't know how to enjoy life, working so long every day, without us to enjoy. He also said that we Nigerien work two or three hours a day, but we are more dashing than you. Listening to him say this, I don't know whether it was praise or derogation, and I didn't answer him.
Sitting in the car, I looked out, and my intuitive feeling was that the standard of living in Niger was still stuck in the seventies and eighties. The condition of the car on the road is very bad, there are many potholes, the car feels very bumpy when driving on it, and I am actually hungry after sitting for a long time. On both sides of the road, there are people of stalls, selling all kinds of daily necessities, such as plastic cups and second-hand clothes. Women shouted with weights on their heads, as if they had experienced a rural fair.
The windows were ajar, and I smelled the barbecue, and upon closer inspection, I realized that there were many barbecue stalls here. Asked the driver why there are so many barbecue stalls, he told me that Niamey is also known as the barbecue capital, and barbecue is their staple food. Most of the people here are unemployed, so they can only set up stalls or work part-time, and common positions include manual workers such as drivers, nannies, repairmen, and construction workers. The monthly income is not much, only three or five hundred yuan.
My life in Niger
Life in Niger is actually very boring, and it is not as good as in China, and the living facilities cannot keep up. Only a small part of the area has a 4G network, the vast majority of places are 3G, 2G, especially in the desert, the mobile phone is a brick, there is no signal. Sometimes if you want to contact your family, you can only stare at your mobile phone and can't send any information. I also went abroad to know that life in China is a paradise day.
On our projects, there are also some Nigerien locals involved in the work, and I find that they are all the same work, but they are indeed happier than us, and I try to reach them. Through my observations, Nigerians are naturally happy and live in the moment, although they do not earn much, they are happy every day, they have a strong sense of rhythm, they like to sing and dance when they have nothing to do, a group of people get together, and forget any troubles.
At that time, there was a Nigerien who played well with me, his name was Nisei, and I often visited my home. Nisei's home is in a small village on the edge of the desert, the living environment is not very good, can be described as the four walls of the family, except for a few beds, there is not a single piece of furniture in the room.
The point is that he also has seven children, and the family of nearly ten people is crammed into these two houses, so when I walked in, I felt that the space was very small, especially when it was hot, and I could ask about the mixture of various flavors. I asked him, why do you have so many children if your income is not high? Nisai replied to me, we Nigerien are like this, there is no electricity, no entertainment, what else can we do?
Once, Nisse privately told me that he would marry his daughter to a man 20 years older than her, and the bride price was three cows, and I was incredulous after listening to it, her daughter was only 16 years old, but the man's family was not rich, and he already had two wives. Later asked why Nisse had made such a decision, he said that girls in Niger usually married early because their families had limited incomes and their parents could not afford to study and had to marry them early.
Life of the Nigeriens
Niger has a population of 20 million, a fertility rate of 7.8%, it is common for a family to have six or seven children, there are few old people here, there are many young people, the population under the age of 15 accounts for 45% of the total population, and the average life expectancy of Niger is currently 50 years.
The reason for the short life expectancy is that the locals like to drink raw water, which is prone to malaria, and the medical care here is also very backward, I once saw a person who lost vital signs after being bitten by a viper. There were all kinds of bugs and animals in the desert, such as lizards and scorpions, and one night when I went to bed, I had half a slap-sized cockroach crawling on my face, and I screamed in fright, waking up the entire dormitory.
Our people on the construction site do not move around at will to prevent being bitten by insects, and if they go to see a doctor, they need to drive to a small town 500 kilometers away, and even if they arrive, their medical level, we dare not compliment.
Niger's environment limits development, and although it is large, 80% of its area is desert, and in the event of high winds, it can be shaded by sandstorms. At this time, people can only hide in the room, close the doors and windows, and plug the gaps, otherwise after the wind and sand, the room will be full of dust.
Usually want to eat fresh vegetables in Niger, it is not an easy task, because the soil here is poor, so there are very few varieties of vegetables and fruits eaten, even if they are sent by car, they are almost bad, usually can only eat cabbage, carrots, potatoes, beef and mutton and other foods.
Even if you go to the supermarket in Niamey, there are not many items that can be bought, and they are expensive. In supermarkets, rice and flour can only be afforded by the rich, costing tens of yuan a pound. Tomatoes, greens and cucumbers sell for $8 per kilogram in the market, and if in the supermarket, the price doubles directly to $16 per kilogram.
wraparound
In general, the living conditions in Niger are very difficult, ordinary people after coming, I am afraid that it will be difficult to adapt, here only rainy season and dry season, the average annual temperature is above 35 degrees, if it is outdoors, can not be brought for too long, otherwise it will be burned by ultraviolet rays. Sometimes, when discussing life abroad with others, they only look at the salary of more than 20,000 a month, but this not very decent job requires the inner loneliness and the company of their families. Everyone envies someone else's life, but it's like a siege, only what suits you is the best.