Chad - day one

03 Nov 2011, Thursday- day one in Chad

Founded by the French in 1900 as Fort-Lamy, the Republic of Chad’s premier city was renamed N’Djamena by the Chadians with independence from France in the 1960s. In Chadian Arabic, N’Djamena is translated as We Rest.  The city is a complex and complicated mix of attitudes, emotions and images.  Paved streets, clean roads, new buildings suggest positive change in a city marked by poverty, chaos, and constant turmoil. The young professionals – the Chadians on the move -  best define the city of N’Djamena.

We interviewed three young men on Thursday; this morning we talked of camel farms and computer stores and language schools. We plan to identify five Chadians before we leave on Sunday who will come to the U.S. in the summer.

Other contacts of the day included Embassy personnel who helped brainstorm future projects and gave support for our current program, bank clerks who were selective in the USD currency they would accept for exchange (only the bills with ‘red marks’ and none that were ‘too old’), police authority who shared information about what not to photograph (this includes taking pictures of the country of Cameroon from the Chad side of the Chari River), and most importantly the graciousness of Africare. We were provided car and driver for our use throughout the day. And for dinner at the Le Carnivore “located on Charles de Gaulle near Cow Heads Rondpoint” the Senior Country Director of Africare-Chad joined us.  The meal was delicious, the company enjoyable, and the conversation engaging. 

Now Chad enters the first days of the dry season; we are glad to be here.