Sweaty and Weary in N'djamena

A long trip to N’djamena, Chad. The only noteworthy moment was in a Charles de Gaulle airport bookshop where in the travel section, and to my absolute astonishment, there was a Chad guide! Leave it to the former colonial power to promote and protect its enclave of French-speakers en Le Tchad. Somehow I think the only people interested in such a guide, as this isn’t exactly a tourist destination, are the crazies like me who come here for work.

I arrived in N’djamena late in the evening on Wednesday and was immediately overwhelmed by that smell that I come to call the smell of Africa. Within moments I was ushered into the hot, overcrowded terminal, choking on the cigarette smoke of the Frenchies fresh off the plane. To my great fortune, there was a young Indian man there to greet me who ushered me ahead of the customs line, though that did me little good, as we had to watch the airport staff manually toss our luggage through the window, as the conveyer belt was apparently broken. About half way through this operation, the luggage belt suddenly started moving and progress was ours. Always a relief, my luggage arrived in tact and, already with clothes soaked through with sweat, I was ushered into a strange van and whisked away to the guesthouse/office. I quickly realized that I was a bit spoiled in Uganda and was a bit disappointed in my Spartan accommodation, but whatcha gonna do?

I’ve been in the race to get acquainted with my new surroundings and get caught up on the goings on with work, which apparently includes another set of baggage equipped with gossip, drama, and whole lotta hearsay. I’m trying to get the necessary information without getting myself mired in the mess. I will fly out of N’djamena on Monday to Abéché, which is the hub for all humanitarian action in Eastern Chad. There I will meet some of my colleagues and get acquainted with all of the major actors in the area. At some point I will board yet another plane and make the journey to Iriba, a little village near the border of Sudan where I shall be based. I’ve been pre-warned on the state of affairs in Iriba but choose to await all lamentations until I see for myself…

N’djamena is one crazy place, not to mention the most expensive country I have ever been to - yes bypassing the UK! I am under no circumstances allowed to walk on the streets, whether broad daylight or what have you. Too many staff have been mugged in broad daylight, not to mention the US Ambassador’s wife getting shot dead when her car broke down outside the presidential offices. Today I was walking with a colleague from a café to an internet café, which was literally next store, and we had to request that a guard escort us the 15 feet to our next destination. Tonight, after finishing a dinner at Le Bistro at 8:30pm, I felt I was taking the biggest security risk yet, as we had to cross the street to hop into the MSF vehicle which had come to pick us. Is this Africa or Iraq?

Ah, already so much to describe, let alone the social and political developments. Deep breaths. While I may find the time to write about this all, postings may be few and far in between due to complete lack of communications in the town I will be based. I’ve only gotten ankle deep into the Chad dynamics, but with frequent conflict with Libya, the complications brought on by Sudanese conflict, and the general contention between different groups in Chad (primarily North versus South), this place is one complicated “state” delicately balancing the scales between façade of stability and total collapse. I am told that President Derby pretty much has no liver and may keel over at any moment, in which case I will either be elated to be isolated on the Eastern border with Sudan or ecstatic to have my “emergency” bag backed to be evacuated the hell out! At a minimum, I can already attest to Transparency International’s ranking Chad as the most corrupt/least transparent country in the world.

So much more to say, just don't know when I will get to say it all!