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ONCE FERTILE AND full of crops, the soil outside the village of Koutoula-Yarce in Burkina Faso has turned to dust and sand. But the severe food crisis unfolding in West Africa means children and adults – some of whom have walked more than 100km to get here – desperately dig deep holes in the hope they will find a scrap of gold to help them survive.
There I met Sana Abdul Fataw, 9, who is missing school to dig for gold. He is one of the lucky ones as he didn’t leave empty-handed that day, mining an amount worth €3. Many are not so fortunate.
A woman we came across had just found a piece of gold no bigger than a small crumb. It was her first find in a long time and would fetch her a few cents. Amid the dangerous conditions and baking heat, there is very little gold to be found.
This is not the only such gold mine in Burkina Faso. In the Sirguin region, Moussa Koboura, 12, searches for gold in pit that is 5ft deep, while little Balguissa Simeam, 7, walks from school to the gold washing site to help her mother, Zana Zonema.
Balguissa looks after her baby brother, Abdul Rahuhi, so that Zana can concentrate on searching for gold.
“We are looking for gold here. We are doing so because of lack of food. We cultivated the land, but it hasn’t rained so we haven’t been able to harvest,” says Zana. “So we come here because we don’t have anything to eat. We haven’t any tô [a kind of dough made from sorgum or millet] … We began to miss meals three months ago.”
Back in Koutoula-Yarce, I saw the now dry and sandy soil being dug by children and adults in a desperate attempt to find gold that people believe exists here.
Young children and adults alike carry out the dangerous tasks in handmade pits, hauling rocks to surface and washing them in a pan in the slim chance that they will find a scrap of precious metal beneath.
It is a real sign of how desperate people are that they risk their lives for a lottery chance of finding enough to feed their families.
I’ve been spending the past week travelling in Niger and Burkina Faso, where I’ve met brave people doing everything they can to try and cope with the very difficult situation that they now face.
Across the countries of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal, 15 million lives are at risk as the food crisis worsens.
These are extraordinarily resilient people who now need our support more than ever.
The rain never came, meaning that the soil dried up. Once alive with crops and livestock, the drought and insect infestations have now destroyed this vital source of food and income.
I’ve seen babies so weak they can no longer cry for food, children digging in vain for gold, parents forced to find tiny grains in anthills and farmers losing the crops and livestock their communities rely on to survive.
In Sarou, Niger, village leader Ayouba Wakasso told me how the men have left their homes in the uncertain hope of finding work in other countries. The women remain and are forced to seek out grains from anthills to make a weak porridge called fonio that has little nutritional value. This is difficult work and they may have to visit four or five anthills before they get any grain at all. Some come home with nothing.
Sarou is one of many villages where malnourishment and infant deaths are increasing. If support for the people of Sarou and other affected villages across West Africa does not arrive, we could face a catastrophe and thousands of needless deaths.
A delay in responding to the crisis will see a repeat of last year’s East Africa emergency.
Oxfam is working in the affected regions of Niger, Burkina Faso and across West Africa to provide vital food aid, cash-for-work schemes, water and sanitation and support for farmers’ crops and livestock.
We urgently need the support of people at home. It’s not too late to stop this food crisis from becoming a full-scale humanitarian disaster.
Jim Clarken, the CEO of Oxfam Ireland, is in Burkina Faso. You can donate to Oxfam Ireland through oxfamireland.org or by calling 1850 30 40 55 (Republic of Ireland) or 0800 0 30 40 55 (Northern Ireland).
I heard a report on radio saying it would cost €700million to build a proper water works system for West Africa. I heard that on the same day that Mark Zuckerberg became one of the wealthiest people with a fortune of some $19bn.
It’s a no brainier really, such personal wealth is wrong while people endure such hardship.
That’s true, but in fairness to him he is also one of the few who have pledged to give the majority of his wealth to charity, another problem is the percentage that goes to the charity itself rather than directly going to the cause.
That figure of 700m sounds a bit unrealistic. It cost the Libyans $20-30 billion for their water project.
African dictators would eat 700 million for breakfast
Puts everything into perspective, I’m proud that we are still a very generous donator to third world countries when we could choose not to be
I’m sure it’s terrible, but throwing money at the problem every time it arises isn’t going to help. It only serves to ensure that even more people are affected next time round.
I know that may sound callous to some, but it really isn’t meant in a callous way.
Yes mart_n.
I fully agree with you.
Leave pitty and compassion aside for one moment and look at the circumstances.
If you donate in the belief that these unfortunates will have a better life then you could not be more wrong.
To begin with. How much of every euro you donate actually goes to the needy?
Only a fraction as most of that donation goes toward the administration of the charity.
The amount that actually gets to where it is needed is very little.
The solution to starvation and famine is education.
Not to educate them how to grow their own produce as these regions are subject to severe climatic fluctuations.
Birth control should be at the forefront of any aid these countries recieve.
Until such time that charities fail to address this, I would not donate.
So easy to say what isn’t the answer. How’s about some constructive suggestions and an expression of compassion for those struggling to find food now. ..
Cant even imagine what these people are going through daily……just terrible….
The amount of money that goes to CEO’s in charitable organisations, still rankles with me. The grossly inflated salaries, costly advertising, bloated administration and other questionable costs, is sucking the life out of the intended recipients of the generous donations. Unfortunately, but true in many cases, there are many charitable organisations that are just industries, created on the back of a combination of human suffering and human goodwill, to the detriment of both those in need, and those willing to give. While CEO’s such as those employed by Rehab, continue to get payed just under a quarter of a million for their services, nothing will change. To finish, is it charitable to take nearly a quarter of a million from donations to the poor, to help the poor?. I think not.
It’s not just the CEOs, unfortunately. It’s an entire industry, built on the back of donations and volunteerism.
250k excessive certainly. But what’s REHAB got to do with development aid?
This my second time trying to respond to your question Michael. You’re right, Rehab has got nothing to do with development aid. I went off on a tangent, but for a reason. Of course Rehab is not involved in this area, but the point that I was trying to make was, that in so many charitable organisations, so much badly needed revenue is absorbed by these very same organisations, and never gets to the intended recipient. I repeat , the salaries paid to these CEO’s is discracefull.
Fair enough. As far as I know organisations like REHAB are largely funded by the HSE and other state agencies. They also have funding streams from the enterprises they’re involved in. So they are different from o/s development NGOs who don’t pay such high salaries…
heartbreakingly sad, sometimes i think we have it bad when we pay a bill a little later than usual out of neccessity. But this really puts it into context : (
People shouldn’t live in areas where there’s no water. Plus, I resent the fact that these African countries spend millions on weapons every year and yet expect us in Ireland to feed their populations
Hmmm. Could be wrong, but always thought the ‘population’ were humans. Wonder what they expect?
Get off your fecking high horse will you, he is making a valid point. Whats the point of sowing seeds in a area when hardly rains there, isn’t that Einstein’s definition of madness? And it’s well know that guns have a higher priority than food for the masses in parts of Africa.
Sooo predictable lamp lover. Sure didn’t the tories say the same in the 1840s? Why do those silly paddies sow spuds in a blight zone? Anyhoo. Isn’t it better that NGOs provide development aid direct than funds being donated direct to cleptocrat, war-mongering despots?
@ Michael
Comparing lamp lovers view ‘to that of the British administration on Ireland during the famine trivialises what we’re trying to discuss. It’s like calling people in favour of tighter immigration controls NAZIS.
If I’m donating money to a cause I have a right to demand value/bang for my buck. Otherwise I’m just throwing money away to make myself feel better.
Personally I donate money directly to small locally run charities. By cutting out the middle man you are guaranteed to get more impact for your donation.
Thanks Brian. You’ve given this some serious thought. Maybe it’d be better for you to take issue with lamp lover’s question about why people live in arid areas. Seems the question is founded in C19th laissez faire political philosophy. Interesting that you look for a ‘bang for your buck’. Is that an articulation of contemporary citizen as consumer philosophy, grounded in 80s neo-liberalism? Are the subjects of this issue the NGOs, the donors (us) or the people scratching around for food? We need some hard facts here. Someone claims REHAB CEO is on 250k. Someone says Oxfam CEO is on 90k. Does that seem more reasonable? What ratio of income actually goes to the aid/development projects? Do you have stats for the small charities you donate to, for comparison? Can you name them. May like to support them. ..
Hi Michael,
If you’re suggesting that I think it’s a waste of money encouraging/supporting people to live in an area of land that due to global warming or whatever is now a desert, you’re right. That’s not me beating my chest to a neo-liberal drum. I just think that is’s stupid to spend money on something that is not going to provide again benefit/will only be a stopgap measure. At the risk of sounding as condescending are you were in your last post I would have thought that this would be considered common sense?
If you’re looking for somewhere to donate to try http://www.magicbus.org/. A mate of mine works for them in India. About 80% should be the minimum amount that goes on actual front line services IMO
Thanks Brian. I’ll have a look. India is a relatively wealthy country with nuclear arms. Surely they could solve their own social and economic problems. What proportion of Oxfam’s income goes to their projects? And what is the answer for those in poverty in drought-stricken areas where the state can’t or won’t address their situation?
Based on figures published by the Irish Examiner, the CEO of Oxfam Ireland received a salary of just under €190,000 last year. This included a stipend of almost €6 for every thousand euro of income received by said organisation.
Your figures are incorrect – this is the section of the article you quote from the Examiner. The salary is €90,000 and the €6 you quote isn’t a stipend, it’s a ratio.
OXFAM IRELAND
International humanitarian agency.
Chief Executive: Jim Clarken, also executive director of Oxfam International and non-paid chair of Dóchas, the umbrella organisation for the development sector.
Salary 2010: €90,000 is set by Oxfam Ireland’s board and is not linked to organisational income.
Salary 2011: No change.
Expenses 2010/2011: Vouched travel expenses. No figures supplied.
Bonus payments: None.
Pension entitlements: Defined contribution pension scheme.
Company car: None.
Charity income 2010: €15.5m.
No of euro paid to chief executive per €1,000 of charity income: €5.80.
The real issue here is not really corruption or inability of charitable agencies to address the needs…it is actually the oppression of the Western so called civilised world.Just consider where does this gold go? I bet it will be sold in European jewellery stores for hundreds of euro but people who dig it out in horrible conditions will have nothing from it.It will benefit very particular business people who don’t give a dam that someone is dying in making them richer…
Regardless of the fact that only some of our money is delivered, is it not good that we have a way of getting ‘some’ aid to these people? If their countries overspend on weapons, is it the children’s fault? If their parents live in areas affected by drought, is it the children’s fault? We do not know the true circumstances which force families to remain in areas without water but I’m sure you will find that it is out of necessity. These charities are educating these countries to invest now for the future. I don’t care how much the CEO of any charity makes, these organisations are not perfect but they are a means to getting food into babies mouths, I thank God for that despite their flaws. If the situation was in Ireland, if we were living life like these people, I’m sure we wouldn’t be interested in the wages of Oxfam workers or how much tax goes to the government. The fact is we are nowhere near the plight of these countries. We are privileged and in my opinion we should never delay in lending a hand, even if only 20c of my euro is received by them, it’s still hope.
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