Days of honey and onions

Cows hoping to get a lift on the way to Amtiman

Travelling in Chad can be tiring, long dusty roads in the baking heat and slowing for villages, sometimes there's a school, you can tell by the yard with a flag and collection of temporary shelters of rushes or perhaps they have a school building. Some will have a health centre and a few lock up stores. They all seem to have donkeys , dogs and goats.

Typically the small flock of goats scatter as the vehicle arrives, the dogs turn and run after the car barking, unless its midday, in which case they are sleeping. The donkey, well he was slowly crossing the road, but as the car comes, he stops and turns slowly to look at the car, and causes us to slow right down or even stop, whatever is he thinking of? Its not like he's an elephant and he's showing his power.

Well Ahmat our language teacher shared a tale with us that explains it all, (it also made me feel better as I wondered how he coped with our anthropomorphic children's illustrated books and the talking frogs).

A donkey, a dog and a goat wanted to travel to the next big town to go to market and so they went to the taxi stop and got into a bush taxi. The donkey paid the right money 1000 francs, the dog gave a 5000 franc note and the taxi boy promised him his change as he got off. Finally the goat said he had no money but his brother was meeting him and he would pay later. Once they were all on board they set off and pretty soon they were whizzing along enjoying the breeze, stopping off at villages and eventually they were there. The donkey just sat there, they asked him to get out but he simply said that he was comfortable, had bought the seat and still wanted to sit in it, and so he did. They dog got out and was waiting for his change when suddenly the goat made a run for it, joining his waiting brothers and skipping away without paying. At this the taxi-man put his foot down and shot off after the fast disappearing goats and the dog ran after him barking.

And to this day they do the same, when they see a car the goat runs off, to avoid paying the fare that he owes, the dog runs after it, to get his change and the donkey, he blocks the road so that he can climb on board and sit back down in the seat that he has already paid for.

Well that was the first story that we ever understood in Chadian Arabic, is it useful? As a marker of progress in language learning ,yes, otherwise probably not I tried to make this into a parable and failed miserably.

On another day Ahmat was amazed looking at our calendar of Yorkshire, it was so beautiful and I told him that it wasn't a land of milk and honey but there were problems there too. 'Laban and asal'  (milk and honey) is not an Arabic phrase so it had to be explained to him and he then said that in Chad they say 'Yom asal, yom basal' (days of honey, days of onions). It really has the sense of sweet times are followed by tears an all to frequent reality in this country where children die all too often and life is hard. 

A taste of Amtiman

Sunset from our front gate at Amtiman

Question: Why does living in Amtiman make Andrea think of a Sunday School outing in Penzance?   
(Answer at the end of the blog)
So does Amtiman make us think of  anything else?

Yes Amtiman- the name itself means mother of twins- 
Wikepedia says the reason for the name is unknown but it seems pretty obvious to us. In the neighbourhood where we live we have visited 2 sets of twins and another had recently left for a nearby village. The first set were nearby and one was sick so Mark has done his best to treat the little girl but she is still not fully better- it’s strange not having a hospital to take her too. The local one here sent her back home when we sent her there for further tests. The other twins were at the hospital as they were small and we visited and then were able to take part in the naming ceremony when they came home.



Drinking sweet tea- an essential part of life  -

At 6 am wrapped in our laffees our American neighbour and I arrived  for the naming ceremony with our knives at the ready to help prepare the food .We were too early so we were offered sweet milk to drink and biscuits and then tea and donuts and finally sweet peanut  porridge which you drink  so I guess we were very early .We then got to cut onions and they were all amused at the need for a board and provided a stick and then when that was a bit wobbly a bigger one! Mark and her husband went later and joined then men (including the dad who is himself a twin) to eat.


 Living separate Lives -men and women



Over 150 children were treated under this tree



The official photo, we slept in the hut in the background

When we go out visiting - the women visit the women and the men the men and lives are lived very much apart. This was really noticeable when we went out in a village to help with a Schistosomiasis  treatment programme it’s a disease where  worms cause  you to have blood in the urine. We did not see each other all day being in different parts of the village and eating separately a massive platter of meat for men and sweet potato stew for the women . After exceptionally being allowed to sleep in the same hut we separated again and Andrea was fortunate to be  present at a delivery when a healthy baby girl was delivered while Mark helped with the treatment programme. Here in Amtiman Mark has found some men to talk to (including some adult  twins) when he goes to buy phone credit they are always ready for a chat in Arabic as limited as it is and Dianna and Andrea visit the women in their houses.


Jalabeers and Laffees


Rebecca visited at New Year with her friends

No going out visiting without wrapping up- Andrea in her laffee and Mark in his jalabeer (he is allowed out occasionally in T shirt and jeans) it’s good to get used to wearing them and Andrea is surprised that you can shop in one without it falling off all the time.

Watching a film under the stars

Preparing food, vegetables only please

The Christmas celebration at church on the 24th of December involved  women preparing from early morning onions again- this time 100s and a sheep and cow and chickens to go with them. Men helped with the meat and plaited the intestines into a sausage , but most arrived  later to eat!!

 All sorts of local dignitaries and others are invited and the meal is followed by a sermon and songs from the choir and bible verse reciting until early evening when we were able to show the Jesus film in Arabic under the stars. Maybe 300 people were    watching from all round the church quarter. 

Choir singing, the screen for the film is behind

 Donkeys and Camels - Giraffes and Lions

Amtiman is full of donkeys carrying people or wood or market goods of one sort or another. Camels too are frequently seen on the streets as there are many nomads nearby. Not in town but in the near by safari park we enjoyed seeing lots of  giraffes and even five lions lying down together  over the New Year.

Melons and Saffron buns-
Although there are many things that are harder to get here than in Ndjamena the melons and tomatoes are plentiful and cheap and have dried well filet steak is £3  a kilo  and then the saffron buns  sold by Marks local phone credit  man are what make Andrea think of Sunday school outings -although they are sadly lacking in sultanas and half the size they still make a nice breakfast at 7p each !