Standing on the Border: A Chad Diary
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DAY 1
Welcome to Chad: Thursday March 8, 2007 11:00 pm
N’DJAMENA — It smells of honeysuckle here. It was unexpected at first. Stepping off the plane and taking my first steps in N’Djamena, Chad, I expected to get a whiff of something completely different—I’m not sure what, but each place I visit has its own specific smell and it usually isn’t floral. The breeze smells of flowers and I am easily getting used to the warm weather of Central Africa after leaving frigid and cold Boston.
As I write this it is about 85 degrees and nearing midnight. During this time of year it is 95 degrees during the day here, a dry heat that slowly creeps up on me and steals my energy. Even at night it makes me toss and turn, looking for a “cool” spot on the mattress that doesn’t exist. The mosquito netting doesn’t necessarily help with the ventilation, either.
I complain about the heat now, but when I got off the plane two days ago it was a beautiful reminder of where I was, the beads of sweat instantly welcoming me back to what we in the aid business call “the field.” Sarah—my traveling companion and an Oxfam policy advisor—and I immediately met up with three Oxfam staffers based in Chad and headed to the local hotel for a beer and logistics planning.
The five us sat at the bar chatting, the language moving from English to French (the official language in Chad) and occasionally lapsing into the Spanish of our colleague from Oxfam Spain. Although none of us were Chadian or spoke French as a first language, two of the women had been working in Chad so long that French kept spotting our conversation. We sipped cold Chari beers; talk was of plane flights, hotels, papers and other formalities that could potentially become a bureaucratic nightmare. Sitting at the table we avoided the obvious questions of why we were here, what we would see in the coming days, and how this would change us favoring the solid subjects of papers needed to travel, police registration, permits for photos. Talking about logistics was comforting somehow to my jet-lagged brain. However I’ve learned a few things since starting with Oxfam, including that in Africa you can plan all you want but the reality is never as organized.
I find that having a sense of humor is important.
However, I do know that despite copious amounts of paperwork, Chad is relatively easy to go to and the bureaucrats I dealt with were friendly. The attention on Chad is relatively recent, which may account for the ease in visitation. Chad was not in the spotlight, eclipsed by other humanitarian emergencies in the region but due to an increase in media attention Chad is seen as a pivotal player in the stability of the region.
This evening I had drinks with Belen Diaz, a program officer with Intermon Oxfam (Oxfam’s Spanish affiliate) based in Chad. Until now I had been thinking of Chad in the context of other countries. However Belen pointed out that Chad must be seen in its own right, to be seen for its own potential and not just how it affects the stability of the region. Chad needs the support of the international community for the sake of its own development—not simply because of its geography.
True development is as basic as traffic lights and garbage trucks and as complex as how a country is viewed by the rest of the world.
When I look around the streets of N’Djamena I see just how much needs to happen. There are no rules of the road (and drivers are even worse than in Boston!), there are no sanitation services and garbage is pilled up everywhere you look. Outside my room kerosene lanterns shine on the night vendors and as I get a whiff of the fragrant honeysuckle and realize how much potential there is, I cross my fingers and hope that Chad will have the opportunity to grow in its own right.
