Ripple effect

Someone makes a film in America and uploads it to the internet.

Protests against the film erupt in Egypt.

The American consulate is attacked in Libya and the US Ambassador and three others are killed.

Protests spread to Yemen and a few other countries.

At 06:12 a.m. this morning I am forwarded a text suggesting that there will be demonstrations in N'Djamena later today.

At 06:33 a.m. I am having a conversation about whether the children who live on the compound will go to the American-run school they attend today.

At 06:45 a.m. I leave for work - everything appears 'normal' as I drive across the city to the airport.

On arriving at the hangar I ask the staff if they have heard anything about possible problems today. They seem more concerned about demonstrations that have been talked about for several weeks in relation to a Government workers strike over a dispute about salaries.

The general feeling is that it could be 'un probleme pour les blancs'  so I decide that we will close the office at 12:00 noon in order that everyone can get home before any possible demonstrations might take place.

Everyone seems very happy that we are finishing 2 hours earlier than we normally do on a Friday...

At 12:15 p.m. I drive back across the city. A colleague left an hour earlier saying he would phone if he thought there were any problems. As I haven't heard from him I take my usual route, which goes past the US Embassy. It is probably the most heavily fortified complex in the city, even more so than the Presidential Palace (if you don't include the armed soldiers). There are a few more security guards outside the Embassy but other than that everything still appears 'normal'.

I spend the afternoon working at home and get so much more done than I would have done at the office.

The neighbourhood is quiet as evening approaches. The ripples may not have reached N'Djamena but they still had an effect.

Flights

This week we had a full week of flights to the south and east of Chad for a variety of different reasons. The south of Chad is currently inaccessible by road as the recent rains have caused quite extensive flooding and a journey by road to the east of the country can take a couple of days.

  

• On Sunday we flew a group from a Chadian sugar company to Banda (south of Sarh). The pilot waited at the airport while they had meetings and then brought them back the same day. We would not normally fly on a Sunday and we do a limited number of these 'commercial' flights but Jakob (who is currently here as our relief pilot) was happy to do the flight and after a relatively quiet month of flying in August we were very pleased to get the booking.
• On Monday we flew a missionary family to Am Timan, after they had spent nearly two weeks having a break in N'Djamena. They had taken the opportunity of being in the capital city to stock-up on supplies for the next few months so we also had over 200 kgs of freight. In Am Timan we picked up three Americans who had been in Chad on a short-term trip, helping to install solar and battery power at the compound of another mission organisation.
• On Tuesday we flew a group of five leaders from the Chadian church to Moundou for meetings with local church groups. The meetings were scheduled to take all afternoon and evening so the pilot stayed overnight and flew the group back to N'Djamena on Wednesday.
• On Thursday we flew to Guereda (east of Abeche) to collect a missionary family who are having to leave Chad at quite short notice because one of them is sick and cannot get the treatment they need here.
• On Friday we flew to Banda again so more employees of the sugar company could have more meetings.

It was a busy but satisfying week...



Preparing the plane for a flight on a stormy Sunday morning



Banking

Getting cash from the bank to pay for our programme expenses is a task that is normally handled by Tresor, our Finance Officer. It is something I have done in other countries I have worked in although it is not one of my favourite tasks. I am usually the only white female in the bank and so I feel quite conspicuous and vulnerable walking out with, what to most people in there is, a substantial amount of cash. But today Tresor is sick and we needed cash.

To cash a cheque requires the individual to present their Identity Card so it is something that can only be done by a Chadian. The only person in the office who was available and also had their Identity Card with them was Justine, the Office Administrator. But she doesn't drive and I was the only person available to drive her. (Are you starting to get a picture of the sort of day it was...?).

On arrival at the bank Justine walked confidently up to one of the bank tellers and handed over the cheque and her ID card. The person behind the window looked something up on his computer and started writing something on the back of the cheque. I was just thinking 'this is going to be quick' when the cheque and ID card were handed back to Justine and she walked across to another line of 5 cashier booths on the other side of the bank. There were groups of 4 or 5 men crowded around two of the windows, with the other positions being unoccupied.

I gradually figured out the 'system' for getting your cheque cashed. You stand around until the moment that you decide the group around a particular cashier is not too large and then you push your way to the front and place your cheque and ID card on the counter. You then stand around for a bit longer, but a bit closer, until the cashier picks up your cheque and ID card and at that point you can move forward to be served. Once you are handed your money you then have to count it without moving away from the counter but whilst the next customer is served. When you have counted the money and nodded to the cashier you are handed your receipt and can leave.

From arriving at the bank to leaving again took nearly an hour so at least I now understand why Tresor is away from the office for so long when he goes to get cash.

Of course, as a British person, I couldn't help thinking that the whole process could be speeded up by having a few more cashiers and insisting that everyone forms a queue and waits their turn to be served...