Niamey: The other face of Tuareg life

Old cement bags, plastic items, zinc sheets, sticks, mats and rope are used to raise these houses in which reside a group of migrant Tuareg from Tera in Niger republic. Not more than a hundred metres in length, the area is made up of forty hand built shacks. This part of Niamey is also surrounded […]

Old cement bags, plastic items, zinc sheets, sticks, mats and rope are used to raise these houses in which reside a group of migrant Tuareg from Tera in Niger republic. Not more than a hundred metres in length, the area is made up of forty hand built shacks. This part of Niamey is also surrounded by more solid buildings, and there is evidence of vibrant economic activities just down the road. But in this area of the capital, life seems to have frozen. All the men in the community are the architects, builders and designers of these dwellings, and they reside here with their wives and children. Each man is the true Jack-of-all trades, and poverty brings out the genius in every man. The children are many and enjoy playing hide and seek along the little alleys that separate one hut from the next. This is a form of entertainment for them, perhaps the only entertainment that they know.

Some of the households are polygamous, and so living in the dwellings is difficult. Each dwelling has just one low opening or doorway, and there is thus only one way in, and this can be problematic in an emergency. But you need to make a bow before you can enter any of the tents. These Tuareg are ordinarily tall and regal, colourful and refined, and it’s a bit of a puzzle that they have to stoop this way to enter their own dwellings. The children do not need to do the bow, as they are of just the right height.
Here, in these small  houses can be seen the simple  architecture of the poor in all its glory. You do not need to go to any school to learn this mode of architecture, and the houses are really very cheap. The materials needed to construct them can be found everywhere in Niamey, the capital of Niger Republic, and every single item used is bought at either second or fourth hand. Nobody needs or looks for brand new items in this community. Everyone is contented with any old item that could be used to make a home. This limits the expansion of the mind somewhat.

Poverty or a significant level of lack, is the basic inspiration for this form of architecture, and it gives a man all the ideas that he needs to construct his dwelling. All the dwellings adopt a fairly circular shape, and the sunlight falls upon the houses in a very friendly way, but the rays of the sun do  nothing to hide the vivid  poverty in the place.It is a kind of ghetto. A woman lies outside a dwelling, and shade is provided by old bags which form a roof above her. This  mind is far away,and  she looks at the visitors briefly and turns  to continue to  ponder. These people have been imprisoned by poverty, and they live in a place called ‘Liberte’ in Niamey, which means ‘liberty’ in English.An imprisoned people, living in liberty. The contradiction here is a powerful one.

Saidi Mahaman is the King or leader of the Tuaregs here,and  he is  sitting quietly with a group of them  when Daily Trust visits. He says that the lack of food in Tera, and the need to get money to feed their families, is the inspiration for the occasional movement of the group to Niamey. His words “There is not enough food in Tera. So, we come here to find jobs and to raise money to feed our families.” He adds that when the rains come, the Tuareg head back to Tera to begin to cultivate the soil. This allows them to reside there for a while.

At present there are some 40 families at the dwellings in Niamey, and because polygamy is a common  culture among the Tuareg, Saidi Mahaman says that the women there are about 80 in number, adding “poverty is a big problem here. We are just managing to survive.” The other men present add that they do all sorts of jobs which include selling tea, coffee and water in jerry cans on the streets of the capital city. There are no toilet or bathing facilities within the dwellings. Saidi Mahaman adds “My people go to a nearby public toilet when the need arises. It costs 50 CFA to use the facility there. Our children also go to the public toilet, and this too is very expensive for us.”
When any member of the community falls sick, all other members rally round to take him to the hospital, and they also assist by taxing themselves.The same applies when a woman is pregnant, Daily Trust is told.

Here children bath in the open, as this reporter saw during his visit. Saidi Mahaman says that the group has never had any problem with the police, or any of the security services, and they are quite thankful on that account. There is no electricity supply at the settlement. Wires conveying electricity to nearby houses are positioned just above the round dwellings. The women go to town to do jobs such as sweeping the market, which yields a little for the upkeep of the family. Also, the women cook in the open, as it is impossible to set up a kitchen in their little round dwellings, where they also sleep. Because life in the community is temporary, the children do not go to school.

But Daily Trust gathers that a few are Almajiri in the capital. Some of them go to places where they wash plates in order to get funds which they use to feed themselves. One man lives with his two wives and six children in one hut. He shows us the inside of the hut, which despite its cramped nature, still has space to accommodate a bicycle. Saidi Mahaman has three wives and eight children with him in the settlement. He says that each wife has a separate hut where she stays with her children. But the senior wife resides with him in his hut, he adds. His hut is just as small and as cramped as the one earlier seen. Saidi Mahaman is leader of all the Tuaregs in the camp. There is no leader of women here, as one may find in similar places elsewhere. Mahaman is leader over everyone, both male and female and he rules over a poor world that comes into being once a year, when the need for food forces his people to leave Tera.