Arcab- a Chadian ABC

Arcab -is a very useful Arabic word that despite its nautical connotations is very useful in landlocked Chad. It means ‘get on board’ and can be used for all types of transport.
Boats- the pirogues, dug out canoes, that criss cross the river on the way to Cameroon ferrying people, motorbikes and the odd goat.- Arcab?
Camels- this one was grazing on the land outside the hospital yesterday. They are here for the dry season, but will all leave before the rains. Today we saw two men, heads and faces swathed with cloth against the dust, heading north to the desert. Each was riding one camel and leading another laden with sacks of millet.Arcab?
Donkeys- these seem to like it here and look very healthy, reminds us of the beach at Skegness when the tide has gone out. One lives nearby and brays all the time. I had rather expected to be awoken by the call to prayer from the mosque,no doubt that will come. For the moment it is the cockerel and the especially the donkey. Arcab?
Everything else on the road. Yellow taxi, minibus, UN landcruiser , or motorbike. But not either ‘Klando’ that is motorbike taxi or ‘Racksha’, motorcycle rickshaw. These have been banned in N’djamena by Presidential decree, to ease the congestion on the roads. ( so that’s 2 words of Arabic that we shouldn’t have bothered learning) Despite that motorbikes, presumably not for hire, are still plentiful and pass on the inside all the time which is especially hazardous at roundabouts. Often there are two people, often a 3rd, a child strapped on the mothers back, sometimes a horned sheep! Arcab?
Enjoy your ride,
Love Mark and Andrea

Chad is hot- Official

You would expect us to think that it is hot, our last entry didn’t say much else! Now the Chadians are all saying it is hot, ‘haami’ , one of the few words we’ve picked up in local Arabic. It is so hot that more children than usual are falling ill and the Ministry of Education has decreed that Primary schools should finish at 11:00 rather than the usual 12:30
We got our Chadian driving licenses this week, they took 2 weeks and 4 visits to the office by N’dilmbaye our administrator, rather than the 2 days that it is supposed to take. Interestingly they are both stamped 28/04/2010, just 2 days after we applied. Does this mean that they were really ready all that time? Or do they post date things to make it look efficient?
We are now eating Chadian food, as Rebecca , a widow from the local church, is now cooking for us. The food is delicious and we can benefit from all the food at the markets, maize flour boule, rice, and locally grown veg.
This week saw our first Chadian Arabic lessons. It is one of the 2 official languages and is much more widely spoken than French. Local officials can often only speak greetings in French so mastering Arabic is essential. Three mornings a week we have a three hour lesson at a development centre. Our teacher, Aboukar, has a masters degree in linguistics from a French University and can really teach well. So now it is up to us to do the hard hours of homework each day.
Bye for now, stay cool,
Mark and Andrea

Living in the heat of the day

You know that it is hot when you take the plates out of the cupboard in the shady kitchen and they feel warm, not hot but definitely warm. By day it is about 42C outside in the shade, I know its cheating but it measures 54C in direct sunlight! Inside it is about 37C. By night the outside temperature eventually falls at about 4am to 28C inside it stays at a warm 32C. Humidity is low, a slice of fresh pineapple looked remarkably like it had been bought dried after 24 hours and the ground drinks up the water put on the recently planted citrus trees. One plus yoghurt is really easy to make just take water at ambient temperature, milk powder and a spoonful of live yoghurt and leave for 6 hours on the side!
So how would you like to go to school in all this heat. Ruth and Rebecca start tomorrow at 09:00 and though they will have an air conditioned classroom it will be hot as they try to do a general test in French on their language and mathematics ability. The results will determine which year group they will be assigned to. This is the hardest bit for them , so please pray for them as they adjust to school that starts at 07:30 each day and is entirely in French.