Tahoua 2

I loved seeing the village life in the Tahoua region. I think I got to know a side of Niger that very few tourists ever see. Life has remained mostly unchanged for centuries, depending on millet, cattle, and the lowly donkey.

Here are a few cattle grazing in front of the huge onion shaped granaries - they aren't huts, but places to store millet, and in most villages they far outnumber huts. The design is fascinating as the walls are quite thin, but they're fairly sturdy. The straw cap on top hides the hole that millet is dumped into (and I assume, withdrawn from).

During the rainy season, water collects in numerous small depressions everywhere, and these areas are key watering areas for livestock and surprisingly rich in wild life, especially birds (and mosquitoes). These dry up midway through dry season, forcing migrations for water.
There are a few larger lakes that remain through out the year, and this one is beside the village of Sehia. No matter how big or small the water collections are, the muddy water is always full of kids!
There are surprisingly huge herds of cattle, and livestock are incredibly important to each family. The boys are responsible for herding them, and I saw the boys and their herds amazingly far from villages.
Cows are used not only for the meat and hides (Nigeriens do incredibly gorgeous leather work - I came home with a gorgeous leather rug and matching pillows), but also for pulling the ubiquitous carts.

Donkeys are actually the backbone of transportation - and these donkeys are tiny compared to American donkeys. When ridden, it's usually by children, though adults can ride if they seat themselves over the donkeys hindquarters but sometimes their feet drag. They pull and carry incredibly huge loads - sometimes you almost can't see the donkeys under their loads. These are pulling food aid (grain sacks) across a road over a wadi. One of my team said that donkeys go straight to heaven because they suffer so much on earth.
Children riding a donkey. I imagine Mary and Joseph had a donkey fairly similar to this one. Made it easier to picture the trip to Bethlehem, with a pregnant girl on a tiny donkey.