Location of project villages, Yardaje and Yekuwa
ABCD-PDN builds on the financial assistance provided by Northeastern undergraduates enrolled in Politics of Developing Nations (POLS 3487)(PDN), and graduate students of the International Development Administration and Planning (POLS 7326) seminar, to two neighboring villages separated by the Nigeria-Niger international boundary in West Africa. Three major premises undergird ABCD-PDN:
- That students learn best about third world development when they are directly connected to, and involved with, specific communities overseas;
- That populations in low-income countries are better served by people-to-people initiatives than by “foreign aid” funneled through governments;
- That peace between African nations can be fostered by simultaneously aiding neighboring communities in their shared borderlands.
Capsule Summary of Project to Date
Letter to Northeastern ABCD-PDN from Yardaje, Nigeria
Yardaje (Nigeria) and Yekuwa (Niger) are two rural Muslim Hausa villages separated by the international boundary superimposed by British and French colonial régimes at the turn of the twentieth century. Today, most villagers live on less than $2.00 a day. Thus far, using their own funds matched by seed money from the Department of Political Science, Northeastern students have provided: bulls and carts; goats for widows; emergency medical transport assistance; high school scholarship funds; school supplies; new latrines; and a women’s microcredit project. Visit the Projects page to learn more.