Word: tuareg
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Your correspondents missed one vital point concerning the political aspects of desertification. The peregrinations of the Tuareg in Niger, Mali and Upper Volta and the nomadic Masai in Kenya and Tanzania frighten their respective governments, who would prefer to see them sedentary and hence politically under control. So to keep them in place, we have the permanent pumping stations in the Sahel and the "ranches" of East Africa, destroying irreplaceable elements of the human mosaic and creating new deserts, all in the name of "progress...
...reports TIME Correspondent Lee Griggs, "many are young children, their bodies already so malnourished that they are easy prey to diseases ranging from measles to meningitis to pneumonia. Often they find it too difficult to eat or drink with out assistance." At least 3 million nomads-mostly Fulani and Tuareg tribesmen-have lost their entire herds of cattle, sheep, goats and even camels. Though many nomads have begun returning to their traditional grazing lands, it will take them at least five years to rebuild their stocks...
...cattle and seed grain, thus condemning themselves to total dependence on outside help. Unless they receive aid, they will be unable to plant new crops or raise new herds even if the rains do come. The Sahel's flat savannas, which once supported the blue-and black-robed Tuareg and Fulani warriors, are now empty, save for the thousands of reddish brown mounds that mark the graves of those who starved. At least 100,000 have died...
...measles, influenza and cholera. Reports TIME Correspondent Lee Griggs, who has logged 7,000 miles touring the drought area: "There are experts with many years' experience in the Sahel who see no end in sight to the cycle of drought, famine and death. The Sahel's Tuareg nomads have a saying, 'When the camel collapses, the game is over.' For them, now clustered in refugee camps and having seen their camels die of starvation, the game is all but over...
...evaluate his guides and companions along the way. He confronts the colossal reluctance he felt at having to haul himself into the saddle each morning for another day of pain. Thirst reduced him to almost incoherent terror. Every chance encounter - whether with a lone sheepherder or a cold-eyed Tuareg tribesman - knotted his insides with anxiety...