Once a landscape of oases and greenness, area of comfort after the hardships suffered through the Sahara, Sahel is today nothing but cursed soil eaten by the relentless progress of the desert. Trees disappear, rivers dry up, vegetation dies. In the course of 20 years, Sahara conquered 600'000 km2 of land, which represents a little bit more than the surface of France. This is what Sahel represents today: extreme poverty of an arid beach, eroded year after year by a sea of sand ever more greedy.

The consequences of this drought are catastrophic for 40 millions of Africans who barely survive.

90% of the population being composed by peasants, consequences of this drought are catastrophic. Agricultural production is markedly insufficient to nourrish the 40 millions people living in this area.

Some periods are particularly difficult for the poorest people, especially the one called "welding period" which is the interval between the exhaustion of food supplies and the next harvest. The famine years become more common whereas they were relatively apart cyclic events a few decades back.

Less than 50% of the Sahel population has the possibility to get permanent health care; same goes for schooling access, affecting girls especially. Millions of children suffer from malnutrition or else die before the age of 5. The lack of financial ressources puts most African governments in a difficult situation. The populations' access to the minimum vital grows more precarious.

Why having chosen Sahel?

It's a question that was asked a lot. The explanation is quite simple. This part of the world was abundantly discussed during the 70's. Some of you might remember the shocking images, widely spread in the media, showing population beset by an important famine. Children were the first victims, and it's something recurrent each time a new catastrophy or conflict happen. This horrible vision of bruised children, devoid of the essential and of any future, deeply left its mark on us. We looked at them in the first place.

This is how Morija's medical, sanitary and educative calling was born.