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! |
