Meet Mary + Dauda

They passed through Burkina Faso by bus, then arrived in Nigerien capital Niamey where they expected to work.

“They are making roads,” Dauda said. Seeing the infrastructure he thought this was a place where he could earn money from its construction. But as he observed it more closely, he noticed a steady stream of people traveling across it.

“Where are these people going?” he wanted to know, and indeed he got his answer.

“Libya. They are going to Libya,” he said. The rumors resounded. “There are jobs there,” he was told, “If you go in Libya and find a job, you have money. So I tell my wife, ‘Let’s go to Libya.’”

The couple assumed there was little value staying in Niger for work that could be done at a higher rate in the country next door. Just a few days more on the road and they would have their chance to finally earn and settle peacefully.

And so the next step in their journey that would soon become luckless and gruesome beyond either of their abilities to anticipate began.

Mary and Dauda passed through Agadez, Niger, then crossed the Sahara desert in a car with five people, themselves and three other young men, on a trip that took two weeks.

The car suffered mechanical problems and they were forced to cross the remainder of the distance on foot. At various points they were chased by armed robbers. There was minimal food and water. They heard gunshots and would scatter, hide in the bushes. One young girl they met was shot and died. They had no sense of how many other trucks or cars would pass by on a regular basis, because any noise would send them hiding.

Mary saw dead bodies along the way. When water ran out, “You just pray for God,” Mary said, “for God to forgive you.” Sometimes they were given water from passing trucks.

They arrived in Bani Waled, Libya, and were put in prison where they were held, brutally, for two months. They were given salty tap water to drink, a minimal amount, barely enough to survive. They could not wash, there’s “no shower!” Dauda burst out, “You don’t have water to drink, there’s no water to shower.” fThey received a single plate of spaghetti once daily, pushed to them, they said, “like dogs.” He was flogged every day for money. They were both asked to call home to have money transfers arranged, but neither of them had anyone to call.

One day, a lucky opening occurred at the prison compound, a door or something like it was left ajar. They ran, among a group of others, escaping. Some of the others were not as lucky, and at least six people where shot and killed before them.