Food Miles

This morning I had to go into the centre of N'Djamena to do my weekly grocery shopping. I went to four different shops and this is what I came home with:

It doesn't look like much, considering it cost me just over 20,000 CFA (which is about £25) but according to a recent survey N'Djamena is apparently the 8th most expensive city to live in if you are an expatriate (down from the 3rd most expensive city in 2011).

Of all the things I bought only two were 'Made in Chad'. The mince beef is 'viande locale halal' (local halal meat) according to the sign on the meat counter that is a new feature of one of the supermarkets and helps resolve my usual meat-buying dilemma. The small pot of yoghurt, which I will use as a 'starter' to make more yoghurt, was made at the French patisserie although probably not using local ingredients.

The majority of my shopping came, not surprisingly given the historic links, from France but I also bought cheese from Holland, biscuits from Spain, oats from Scotland (although obviously packaged specifically for the export market given the Arabic writing on the tin), UHT milk from United Arab Emirates, Pepsi from Saudi Arabia and fruit juice from Lebanon.

My journey into town today was a round-trip of 5 miles. Most of my food has travelled considerably further.

Floods

Last week I joked on Facebook that I had experienced 'a flood' when the water heater in the apartment above me malfunctioned. The water was several centimetres deep upstairs and was starting to come through my ceiling.

Whilst I went through this minor inconvenience that, with the help of three colleagues, took about an hour to sort out many other residents of N'Djamena have not been so fortunate. Following the rains further south the Chari river that runs through the city has broken its banks and flooded large areas. Estimates suggest that over 25,000 people have been displaced as a result and included in this number are two of our guards.

Zam and Jean are related in some way that no one seems able to explain and lived in the same neighbourhood until their homes were flooded last week. Along with their immediate families they are now living with other relatives. As the waters start to recede they are planning to return to where their homes once stood to rebuild and start again. As I talk to them with my limited French I am struck by their different responses. Zam who is older seems accepting of the situation and determined to rebuild his home, whereas Jean who is younger and recently married has lost much of his usual 'sparkle'. He has a great smile that lights up his whole face but I haven't seen that for a while now.

It is apparently not an unusual occurrence for the river to flood, although this year it has been particularly bad. Each time it happens the President says that the people must move away from the river but a permanent solution has not yet been found. Zam, Jean and the majority of those affected by the floods have lived in this area all their lives and as much as they don't want to live somewhere that is so susceptible to flooding being forcibly relocated to another part of the city is not what they want either.

Footnote: The French word for flood is 'inondation' - Zam and Jean certainly know what it is like to be inundated by water.

Travel Agent

The last part of my journey to work each day involves turning right at the terminal building of the international airport here in N'Djamena and driving for about 200 metres along a dirt road to reach the MAF hangar. On one side of this road there are a series of buildings, which are occupied by different logistics companies involved in importing and exporting goods via airfreight. Normally when I arrive for work this area is very quiet - there are a few cars about and the guards sit around looking bored - but for the last two weeks it has been pretty chaotic.

On my first day back in Chad after my time in the UK I went into the office slightly later than normal. About half way along the dirt road I came across a huge number of cars parked seemingly totally at random around an area fenced off with large metal barriers. Inside this fenced off area tents with sides that came about half way down to the ground had been erected and inside them, sitting on mats, were large numbers of people. As I negotiated my way around the parked cars I noticed several signs advertising what can only be described as a 'package holiday' or rather I should say a 'package pilgrimage'.

If you were in possession of a passport that was dated before 30th September 2012 and were willing to spend 1,645,000 Chadian francs (about £2,000) you would be able to buy a return air ticket (including accommodation) to Saudi Arabia to participate in The Hajj - the annual pilgrimage to Mecca that all Muslims are supposed to undertake at least once in their lifetime.

As I drove past this temporary travel agent each day I soon realised that this area of waste ground was quickly becoming a mini village - there were people selling food, water was available in large earthenware jars (presumably for drinking and for ritual washing before prayer times) and latrines had been put up (although there still seemed to be a fair amount of open defecation going on...).

Each day this week the crowds seemed bigger than normal as people arrived for the flights to Saudi Arabia. It seemed as if every person travelling also brought along various family members to see them off and there were police around to control the crowds.

And then this morning the tents and all the people were gone. Apart from the metal barriers, the latrines and a lot of rubbish very little remained to show that this had been such a busy place for the last two weeks.

The Hajj takes place next week and I am just wondering if it will be as busy at the airport when everyone returns...

Finally Flying

Today was a very exciting day for Mission Aviation Fellowship in Chad. We had our first operational flight for our new airplane - the Cessna 182.

The plane arrived in Chad in March and it has been a long-journey for the whole team to get to this point. Registration, modifications, approvals, training and seemingly never-ending paperwork have all had to be painstakingly worked through in order to get the plane operational.

It is a journey that seemed well worth the effort today as we flew Dr Ann and her Chadian colleague Doumi to Ba Illi (a village about 150 miles to the south-east of N'Djamena) where they were to spend the day treating patients who otherwise would not get the chance to see a doctor. Tomorrow we will fly them on to another village where they will treat more people.

At the moment these villages are unreachable by road due to the recent heavy rains that have caused extensive flooding in the south of Chad. This type of flying is at the heart of what MAF does - enabling others to reach isolated people with help and hope.

Doumi and Dr Ann with the C182 at Ba Illi

Back in Chad

I returned last Tuesday evening to Chad after just over two weeks in the UK. It was a bit of a whirlwind trip, which didn't give much time for blogging or any other form of social networking.

I spent four days travelling (either by plane to and from the UK or by car from the north to the south of England), nine days in Carlisle, three days with my mother and five days in meetings. I slept in four different beds, went to the hairdresser, the dentist and the optician, enjoyed meeting up with friends and reconnecting with my church and did a lot of shopping for things to bring back to Chad.

On Tuesday morning I was in Cumbria scrapping ice off the car before heading to the airport. On Tuesday evening I was standing in the crowded arrivals area of N'Djamena airport sweating profusely as I waited in line to get through immigration. The relative coolness that the rains brought during August and into September have been replaced by daytime temperatures around 40C and high humidity. Even the Chadians are saying it is hot and it is quite a contrast to the autumnal weather of the UK.

Since getting back I have been catching up with my colleagues; finding out what has been happening whilst I was away, trying to get on top of the backlog of work and attempting to remember the French I had learnt. Thankfully it has not all been forgotten but communicating with the Chadians remains my biggest challenge. C'est la vie!