In the early 1990s, rebel desert warriors of the Tuareg tribe clashed with troops of Mali's army, and government health workers fled from vaccination centers and medical dispensaries. Until a recent peace treaty, children there were dying for lack of any available treatment. In all the Gao area life is unbelievably hard. May. Rarely is the searing air cooler than 90 degrees. For five months sand storms appear, sweeping in like great tan walls to rake the terrain with gritty blizzards.
Most people are wretchedly poor.
With unemployment running about 80 percent, many families are unable to feed their children adequately and malnutrition is commonplace. Sanitation is almost nonexistent. So are latrines. Access to clean water is a luxury. With the milky-brown Niger River coursing through the region, mosquitoes swarm everywhere and malaria claims many lives each year.