WHAT IS CHAD LIKE?

When we told people we were moving to Chad, most people either looked at us blankly (do you mean Chard?) or with a look of “why would you want to do that?” Most people clearly didn't know much about the country other than its history of civil war and that it would be fairly hot. It didn't help that we didn't know much about it either and had doubts of our own at times about whether we should have accepted this assignment of 4 years in one of MAF's hardship programs. How will we cope with the heat? Will our children be safe? Does it matter that we can't speak Arabic and our French is still quite limited! It is fair to say our expectations as we arrived in N'Djamena for the first time weren't very high.

The good thing about low expectations are that they aren't difficult to exceed and since we arrived in the modern, efficient airport, we have continued to be surprised by how easy it has been to live here. Yes, we are probably still in the honeymoon period where everything is new and exciting but at the moment we are really enjoying it. We have running water, electricity and air conditioning, our temporary house is spacious and comfortable and most importantly, the people we have met here are really friendly and have helped us to find our way around and get to grips with life in Chad.

It is hard not to compare it to living in Madagascar as there are many similarities. Speaking French, hot weather, colonial buildings, mosquitoes, banana trees, rubbish tips by the side of the road all remind me of Mada. Power cuts (although we have a generator here), being part of a close-knit team, being part of a minority of expats, employing house help and providing hospitality for visitors to the program are all things that are very familiar to us.

Road blocked by Cows - reminding us of Madagascar and Devon!!

In Madagascar we were on a large gated compound with local and expat families of many different nationalities as well as a large factory, which employed many people. Each house had its own large garden and it was completely private. Here, MAF owns a compound which has 4 houses as well as a guest house and a large communal area in the middle for the children to run and play in as well as a 4m x 2m swimming pool. Having spoken to people who had lived on compounds such as this, it seemed that you either love it or hate it. We saw the compound as a massive advantage of this program but until we arrived we didn't know for sure that we would enjoy compound living. We needn't have worried because it has been great. We are enjoying being able to socialise outside and it is well shaded so you don't get the searing heat that hits you when you leave the gate. Bethan has made friends quickly and is hardly ever bored. Luke quickly learned to stand at the door pointing to be let outside and loves it just as much.

Having fun outside

Driving around the city takes some getting used to as there aren't really any rules (except don't stop outside the presidents palace) and there are motorbikes everywhere so you need to expect the unexpected. Traffic flows much better than Tana as there are wider tarmaced roads, less potholes and hardly any cattle pulling carts to contend with. Like in Tana, drivers entering the roundabout have right of way so this causes them to clog up easily and then needs the police to intervene. Traffic is a lot faster here so roundabouts can be a bit scary and need lots of concentration. We've been using a MAF vehicle until now but today we agreed to buy a 4x4 from a family who are leaving Chad and Becki has bought a motorbike to get to work.

One very expensive Scrabble set - price tag £100

According to one article I read before we came, Chad is one of the most expensive places to live in the world. Some of the costs are subsidised for us by MAF, for example electricity and internet but we really notice it in the supermarkets. Imported food is about twice the price as it was in Madagascar, for example 5 apples cost nearly £3 and a small jar of pesto costs around £4. We had to laugh when we saw this box of scrabble for 75,000 CFA, which works out as £100! Modern Market and Bonne Marche are no Tesco or even Shoprite (Madagascar) in size but with fruit and veg from the market there is enough food available that we can make 10 different meals (that we've tried so far) that we like.

There's a great little cafe shop which sells good ice cream and pastries and hotels nearby with swimming pools that we can use. There are also weekly events going on (coffee morning at our compound, ladies Bible study, kids football, volleyball and church) so there are lots of opportunities for us all to socialise.

We know that lots of people in England are praying for us and have been thinking of us over the last month, which we really appreciate. After a tricky first week, it has settled down and we are enjoying life here very much.

Becki's motorbike, it came wrapped up like a Christmas present! 

10 days in Chad

if it can go wrong, it will go wrong!

The start to our time in Chad has been anything but straight forward. In recent months people coming into the program have been able to obtain an entry permit at the airport that was later turned into a visa, on the Wednesday before our departure we were informed that this procedure is no longer allowed and we would need to get a visa from either Paris or Brussels. As Paris required 3 working days to obtain and we were due to fly out to Chad early Tuesday morning we opted for Brussels and after a few phone calls to the Embassy ( a good chance for Matt to revise his French) we had an appointment to obtain a visa in one day, on Monday. Thankfully everything went smoothly for Matt and he made it back from Brussels with all four visas ready to meet us at Heathrow on Monday evening. For Matt it worked well as he got to avoid travelling to Heathrow with two small children, two car seats, eight pieces of checked luggage and a plethora of hand luggage items and teddies!

Chadian Embassy in Brussels

Arriving on Tuesday evening it felt like we hit the ground running, in fact most of our luggage did hit the ground as the porters at the airport insisted on piling two trolleys high with all our belongings and no amount of telling them we would rather take some ourselves made any difference. Even boxes falling 6ft to the ground every time the trolley hit a bump didn't stop them completing the task they had set themselves! To our surprise the rest of the terminal experience was very first-world - no long queues, clean air conditioned arrivals area and efficient staff made for a pleasant journey to the awaiting MAF team. 

Due to time constraints of the visiting training captain, my initial flight checks all had to be completed within a week of arriving so Monday and Tuesday were to be busy days for me, with three flights practicing skills, remembering procedures and getting my head around the Chadian radio, followed by a base check (a flight where all those skills are tested). This turned into two further busy days when it was realised that the pilot who was supposed to do my second flight check a few weeks later wouldn't be able to do it so that also needed to be fitted in. Coupled with a technical problem with the engine, which resulted in a hole appearing in the cowling, this meant it wasn't until Thursday morning that all the flight tests were completed, just in time for the visiting pilot to make his international return flight home. 

Meanwhile at home things had also not been straight forward. On the Saturday evening we noticed a little bit of a leak in the bathroom, which quickly became a flood when the leaking pipe snapped in half. While Matt got one of our neighbours to help him locate the cut off valve, Bethan came to help me, slipped on the floor and banged her head resulting in mild concussion, her short term memory was gone and she kept having the same conversation on loop. We also had no water in our bathrooms, but two years of water shortages in Madagascar meant that wasn't really a problem! 

By Sunday Bethan seemed much better, she went along to children's work at church and swam with her new friends on the compound. She could recall most of what happened on Saturday apart from the fall itself, but by Monday she was vomiting, lethargic and didn't leave the sofa. We called out the paediatric doctor that evening who was concerned that it could be a consequence of her fall that was making her ill as she had no temperature. By Wednesday evening Bethan had probably watched more TV programmes than she had in the rest of her life put together but she was alert and eating again. The following days both Matt and myself came down with a sickness bug, which whilst unpleasant for us gave us relief that Bethan being so poorly just after her fall was coincidental. 

One of the highlights so far

Through those difficult days we were thankful that we had friends living around us that supported us as much as they could, bringing us meals, helping with Luke and helping us to get around town. You could say we landed in Chad with a bump but things are much easier now and we're enjoying it.

Enjoying the pool at the nearby hotel