Daniel Slomka

Political Science Major, Class of 2009

Knowing about the poverty I assumed that I would see many sick, malnourished, poor, and unhappy people. One of the biggest surprises was how happy everyone seemed. While many of them had next to nothing, I only saw a handful of people who seemed miserable… An elderly looking man was walking down the road stooped over with an enormous pile of sticks on his back. I said “Sannu” to him as he passed and he gave me a gigantic, mostly toothless grin and repeated the greeting back to me.

I half expected us to be the ones ogling them and it was the other way around. We were fascinating to them.

I was also surprised by the stereotypes that many of the Nigérien university students held about Americans. I knew that Americans have not been looked upon favorably in the eyes of the world for the last few years but some of the things the students told us shocked me. We were told that America is seen as a dangerous nation with lots of gang violence, shootings, and murders. Several of my family members had been concerned about my safety in going to a country like Niger - if the Nigérien students ever came to the US their family members and friends would be concerned for their safety as well. While America is obviously not the violence-rich country that is frequently seen in American TV shows and movies, the real irony for me is that I felt safer the entire time I was in Niger than I have ever felt in Boston.

Almost every single person we encountered showed us nothing but warmth and generosity. People we didn’t know at all welcomed us into their homes and lives without so much as a second thought.