Chad - day three

At the rear of the hotel is a large open-air dining/meeting area. From here we begin each day with breakfast and stay throughout the morning and early afternoon to conduct interviews. The meager pool of Chadians who had applied for the program was a concern. We needed to identify five applicants from Chad for this year’s program but doubted we could recruit more than one or two. In addition to the one Chadian selected for last year’s program, five would give us the total number of six applicants from Chad as required by the grant.  To our surprise, by the end of the day we had identified five strong candidates and two alternates. Their business plans ranged from farming co-ops to centers for computer training.  Chadians had set the new standard; and we were pleased with the outcome. 

The view from this dining area is across the Chari River.  The river defines the border between Chad and Cameroon; barbed wire separates the hotel property from the river bank. From our vantage point, the country of Cameroon appears as an alluvial stretch of undulating low hills. Small groups of people move unhurried on the banks of the river. Long boats, steered only by an oarsman or two, ferry people, fish, and even motorcycles – across the Chari. 

This river is one of only a few through the Sahel region of Africa.  Chad is beautiful from here and, so too, Cameroon on the other side. For both countries the violence and unrest of the recent past lies buried for the moment...if only in a shallow grave.  The sights, sounds and visual impressions of the market place provide a vivid contrast.

Artisans of every kind and of varying degrees of talent offer their wares from narrow vending stalls in the market place. The street scenes-tempting but forbidden for a photographer- are alive with color and movement. A thousand photographs and miles of film would not do justice to capturing and preserving the visual excitement and the rich experience of the afternoon in this part of Chad.   

Claudia from the Chad office of Africare and former colleague of Julius’ joined us for dinner at EL Carnivore. Tomorrow we leave for Niger a neighboring country to the west; the day’s journey is scheduled to begin at 7:05 a.m. from N’Djamena’s airport and end at 6:10 in Niamey via stops in Cameroon, Benin, Togo, and Burkina Faso.   And tomorrow we should see a glimpse -at least- of the Atlantic Ocean!