It has been a while since our last entry and we are struggling to get everything into our latest blog entry before current events make what we have written seem outdated! We want to get better at writing smaller more frequent entries, but for now make yourselves comfortable and we hope you enjoy reading our latest instalment! (we have left out things from the last few days so we could get something up, so keep an eye out for another chapter coming soon...)
2 Weeks
Since writing last, we've been introduced to a little more of the N'Djamena outside our SIL walls. We've sampled cuisine from a local Chadian restaurant (bbq meat and veg skewers, chips and bread), shopped at some local markets and 'boutiques' and Katie has been with some of the other SIL girls to a tailor, all within a couple of blocks of the compound. It has been great to walk the streets and not only gain insight into Chadian way of life but also practice our French. John, the bargain hunter that he is, even started to learn Arabic at the markets (the other main language of the town) so he could barter properly for fruit and vegies.
Reactions of people on the street are interesting. While some people greet you as you walk by, it seems that not everyone is overly happy to see white people in their area. Although most people will of course look at you, greetings are not as frequent as you might hope. There is definitely a reserved air about the people and this has reinforced to John the need to learn more of the language and more about the culture before he ventures out with a conspicuous DSLR. We do not feel unsafe on the streets and we try our best to be friendly, ever mindful of the fact there is in effect a bigger spotlight on our witness for Christ being white people in an African country. Fortunately the children love to come and greet the "nassala" (white people) walking their street and shake our hands. One little boy seemed so excited to touch white skin that he hung on for as long as he could!
Guinebor II
In true African style, the dignitaries arrived an hour or so late, although we were told this was pretty good for Chadian officials. We were honoured to be in the company of the mayor of N'Djamena and the Chadian health minister as well as quite a few other important people. The ceremony was about an hour long, with all the speeches in French, interspersed by summaries translated into Arabic. Apparently the health minister actually spoke very well (thanks for the running translation Uncle Dave!) expressing a genuine interest in the work being carried out at the hospital.
After the cutting of the ribbon and tour of the hospital (for the dignitaries), we shared some locally prepared food and of course, a Coke. As Chad is a predominantly Muslim country and Islamic people are not supposed to drink alcohol, apparently, Coca Cola is the drink to have. Coke is served at every important function, and it is superior to Fanta, Sprite and other softdrinks (which are also served). We also experienced African music for the first time with a Chadian musical group playing and singing both before and after the ceremony. There's definitely something about it that just makes you want to dance!
Library ConstructionJohn is continuing to supervise the construction of the new library building which has required him to brush up on his structural engineering skills, with help from contacts back at home (thanks Reubs!). With the time difference, the internet connection speed (or lack of) and the internet dropping in and out all the time, this has proved difficult at times.
Communication on the construction site is mainly through drawings and the identification of associating French vocabulary. John's notebook, pen and pocket dictionary are never far away during the working day. As he continues to build relationships with the French-speaking construction workers, he has found some help from one or two of the workers who can speak a little English. Both parties are willing to learn and they seem to be able to find ways to communicate effectively enough for the most part.
Although he seems to manage ok with the simple things, when more complex explanations are required John often needs to call on the translation services of Uncle Dave or another SIL employee who has some involvement with the project. It has been a challenge to achieve the implementation of anything that is different to what the workers know, no matter whether the outcome would be greater efficiency, or higher quality results. This only makes life more interesting and overall John seems to be enjoying his work.
This last week, the reinforcement for the foundations was laid out, the formwork erected and the first section of concrete was poured (all with hand tools and hard manual labour) on Saturday Jan 23. There were issues with each of these elements and John has happily got his hands dirty in order to show the workers with his actions what he has tried to explain. It turns out that this has helped to better establish relationships with the workers as they can see that he is willing to work as hard as they are, especially if what he suggests is actually making work more difficult for them (like using less water in the concrete mix). John's office hands are now blistered and worn from steel tying and mixing concrete (with shovels) but he thinks it has been worth it. He was invited to eat lunch with the workers on Saturday, so he must be his way ok!
Wellspring Academy
Katie spent her first 3 days helping at Wellspring Academy last week. The school is small in number but growing already after being open only for a short time. There are around 12 expat children in the 2 classes who all seem to enjoy being at school and even find it fun! The day starts at 7.30am with a half hour break for morning tea at 10am before ending at 12.50pm. With the early start the day seems to go very quickly, but home time is definitely welcomed as it also means lunch.
It is obviously a very simple system, however being such a time consuming task, no one at school has had the time to put it together properly. Both teachers and children have expressed how good it will be to have this system finally in place... and that's been enough motivation to help Katie chug through such an enthralling task!
SIL Chad Orientation
This week we have also met with the SIL Centre Director and the doctor to discuss some housekeeping issues for orientation. The Director gave us a very informative rundown of SIL's history in Chad (dating back to the 1950's) and we were able to see the regions in Chad in which SIL has had varying levels of involvement in local projects. These projects include language survey, orthography (creating a symbol/alphabet from sounds from the local language) literacy, and finally translation (in roughly that order). Feel free to ask us to explain more about each if you are interested and we'll do our best to enlighten you!
The doctor gave us her general health and wellbeing spiel which included many interesting pieces of medical information. Did you know you can fold up eucalyptus leaves and stuff them up your nose to alleviate stuffy noses and help settle asthma troubles? Yes, John demonstrated...using the leaves from the native Australian gum trees that are planted around the SIL compound (they love it here!). Did you know some parasites or hernias can give you such bad diarrhoea that what should come out the bottom can come out the top? Gross! Thanks for the details doc, we hope we don't end up recounting a first hand demonstration of that one!
We meet the person in charge of employee and public relations next week. He is a well educated Chadian man that speaks English and has a good hold on the crossovers between our cultures and the cultural dynamics in Chad. We actually visited his home the first week we were here to see his gorgeous new baby and meet the rest of his family. When he first found out we were from Queensland, he greeted us with a huge smile and exclaimed, "Ah, you know my home village!" It turns out he once visited SIL folk at the Gold Coast and loved his time there. [side note: Chad is roughly 3/4 the size of Qld :) ] We anticipate an intriguing meeting with him.
We have driven through N'Djamena to a few places now and on Friday 28 Jan we are scheduled to take an hour's taxi tour of the city. This should be a help in further familiarising us with our surroundings!
Life at SIL Chad
There are many opportunities to socialise with staff and visitors here at the SIL centre. During the working day, many gather for a quick cuppa and chat at morning tea. On Thursdays, you can meet over a cooked lunch which costs $4 and again at the weekly prayer meeting in the afternoon. Friday night is movie night and there is always somewhere to go with someone on the weekends. Of an afternoon, after siesta, John and Uncle Dave have been working on their table tennis and football (both the round and oval types) skills. Every Sunday afternoon other local missionaries come to the SIL compound to play volleyball. We have quickly learned that you must bring much energy and enthusiasm for the half fun, half serious event.
We will also be joining a handful of SIL children for French lessons on Wednesday afternoons. This is taken by one of the SIL mums and will be a big help to us in understanding French vocab, phrases and pronunciation.
God has definitely had his hand on us and even though we've been here for less than 3 weeks, we seem to be settling into life well. We consider ourselves blessed to have so many family and friends thinking of and praying for us. It's a huge encouragement when we hear news from home, so feel free to write anytime!
Au revoir!
2 Weeks
Since writing last, we've been introduced to a little more of the N'Djamena outside our SIL walls. We've sampled cuisine from a local Chadian restaurant (bbq meat and veg skewers, chips and bread), shopped at some local markets and 'boutiques' and Katie has been with some of the other SIL girls to a tailor, all within a couple of blocks of the compound. It has been great to walk the streets and not only gain insight into Chadian way of life but also practice our French. John, the bargain hunter that he is, even started to learn Arabic at the markets (the other main language of the town) so he could barter properly for fruit and vegies.
Reactions of people on the street are interesting. While some people greet you as you walk by, it seems that not everyone is overly happy to see white people in their area. Although most people will of course look at you, greetings are not as frequent as you might hope. There is definitely a reserved air about the people and this has reinforced to John the need to learn more of the language and more about the culture before he ventures out with a conspicuous DSLR. We do not feel unsafe on the streets and we try our best to be friendly, ever mindful of the fact there is in effect a bigger spotlight on our witness for Christ being white people in an African country. Fortunately the children love to come and greet the "nassala" (white people) walking their street and shake our hands. One little boy seemed so excited to touch white skin that he hung on for as long as he could!
Guinebor II
The doctor based here at the SIL compound spends the first half of the week working at a local hospital which is about 30 minutes drive north (just outside N'Djamena) in an area called Guinebor II. Medical professionals from a variety of countries have come to Chad as missionaries to facilitate the management and running of the hospital. They work with a selection of local Chadian nurses who have been trained at the hospital. Although the hospital has been unofficially operating for the last 5 years of so, the official opening was held on Thursday Jan 13. Along with a few others from the centre, we travelled out to Guinebor II for this special event.
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| The hospital entrance |
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Listening to African music while waiting for the dignitaries to arrive |
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The hospital facilities |
The drive was also enjoyable, though we think if you were a patient being transported to the hospital in an emergency you would think otherwise! The roads are paved for the majority of the drive (as long as you stick to the main roads), but toward the end of the bitumen, the roads are unfinished and there are several large unavoidable bone-jarring bumps before you hit the dirt...the dirt section is then another story altogether. Sitting directly above the rear wheels of a Toyota Troop Carrier, it is not an understatement to say we came close to hitting our heads on the ceiling many times! In the wet season, it is likely you wouldn't be able to make it to the hospital without a full blown 4wd. You also need your wits about you just to get to the hospital as when the bitumen finishes the dirt track/s into the hospital are not obvious.
While the roads are the issue out of town, the traffic in town keeps the whole adventure exciting. Cars and motorbikes get extremely close to each other giving bumper to bumper traffic a new meaning. On the way out to the hospital we even had a motorbike bump into the back of our Troopie! He was following so close and couldn't brake in time when we braked thanks to the weight of the two big bags of millet (seed) he had draped across his fuel tank! We weren't travelling very quickly, so the Chadian rider managed to keep the bike upright, although the millet fell off and as we continued to beep our way through the traffic, the local looked up with a smile before receiving help from nearby pedestrians to reload his motorbike (our driver didn't even realise she had been hit). Never a dull moment on the streets!
Library Construction
Communication on the construction site is mainly through drawings and the identification of associating French vocabulary. John's notebook, pen and pocket dictionary are never far away during the working day. As he continues to build relationships with the French-speaking construction workers, he has found some help from one or two of the workers who can speak a little English. Both parties are willing to learn and they seem to be able to find ways to communicate effectively enough for the most part.
Although he seems to manage ok with the simple things, when more complex explanations are required John often needs to call on the translation services of Uncle Dave or another SIL employee who has some involvement with the project. It has been a challenge to achieve the implementation of anything that is different to what the workers know, no matter whether the outcome would be greater efficiency, or higher quality results. This only makes life more interesting and overall John seems to be enjoying his work.
 |
| These photos span nearly 2wks work - the bottom photos are today's |
This last week, the reinforcement for the foundations was laid out, the formwork erected and the first section of concrete was poured (all with hand tools and hard manual labour) on Saturday Jan 23. There were issues with each of these elements and John has happily got his hands dirty in order to show the workers with his actions what he has tried to explain. It turns out that this has helped to better establish relationships with the workers as they can see that he is willing to work as hard as they are, especially if what he suggests is actually making work more difficult for them (like using less water in the concrete mix). John's office hands are now blistered and worn from steel tying and mixing concrete (with shovels) but he thinks it has been worth it. He was invited to eat lunch with the workers on Saturday, so he must be his way ok!
Wellspring Academy
Katie spent her first 3 days helping at Wellspring Academy last week. The school is small in number but growing already after being open only for a short time. There are around 12 expat children in the 2 classes who all seem to enjoy being at school and even find it fun! The day starts at 7.30am with a half hour break for morning tea at 10am before ending at 12.50pm. With the early start the day seems to go very quickly, but home time is definitely welcomed as it also means lunch.
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| Wellspring Academy |
Katie's first task is in the school library. You may remember seeing borrowing cards at the back of library books before barcodes and computer systems were implemented for borrowing? Each book's title and the name of its author are supposed to be written at the top of the card at the back of the corresponding book. Katie has begun filling in these details for the 2000+ books in the school library! Once these details have been filled out for every book, the library will be able to operate as follows: the borrowing and return dates as well as the reader's name are written on a book's card at the time it is borrowed; the reader takes the book and the book's card is then filed away until the book is returned; the card is then placed back in the book before being re-shelved on it's return.
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| (L) Katie found this in the school library! (R) The famous borrowing cards |
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| The Wellspring library in one of the downstairs classrooms |
SIL Chad Orientation
This week we have also met with the SIL Centre Director and the doctor to discuss some housekeeping issues for orientation. The Director gave us a very informative rundown of SIL's history in Chad (dating back to the 1950's) and we were able to see the regions in Chad in which SIL has had varying levels of involvement in local projects. These projects include language survey, orthography (creating a symbol/alphabet from sounds from the local language) literacy, and finally translation (in roughly that order). Feel free to ask us to explain more about each if you are interested and we'll do our best to enlighten you!
The doctor gave us her general health and wellbeing spiel which included many interesting pieces of medical information. Did you know you can fold up eucalyptus leaves and stuff them up your nose to alleviate stuffy noses and help settle asthma troubles? Yes, John demonstrated...using the leaves from the native Australian gum trees that are planted around the SIL compound (they love it here!). Did you know some parasites or hernias can give you such bad diarrhoea that what should come out the bottom can come out the top? Gross! Thanks for the details doc, we hope we don't end up recounting a first hand demonstration of that one!
We meet the person in charge of employee and public relations next week. He is a well educated Chadian man that speaks English and has a good hold on the crossovers between our cultures and the cultural dynamics in Chad. We actually visited his home the first week we were here to see his gorgeous new baby and meet the rest of his family. When he first found out we were from Queensland, he greeted us with a huge smile and exclaimed, "Ah, you know my home village!" It turns out he once visited SIL folk at the Gold Coast and loved his time there. [side note: Chad is roughly 3/4 the size of Qld :) ] We anticipate an intriguing meeting with him.
We have driven through N'Djamena to a few places now and on Friday 28 Jan we are scheduled to take an hour's taxi tour of the city. This should be a help in further familiarising us with our surroundings!
Life at SIL Chad
There are many opportunities to socialise with staff and visitors here at the SIL centre. During the working day, many gather for a quick cuppa and chat at morning tea. On Thursdays, you can meet over a cooked lunch which costs $4 and again at the weekly prayer meeting in the afternoon. Friday night is movie night and there is always somewhere to go with someone on the weekends. Of an afternoon, after siesta, John and Uncle Dave have been working on their table tennis and football (both the round and oval types) skills. Every Sunday afternoon other local missionaries come to the SIL compound to play volleyball. We have quickly learned that you must bring much energy and enthusiasm for the half fun, half serious event.
We will also be joining a handful of SIL children for French lessons on Wednesday afternoons. This is taken by one of the SIL mums and will be a big help to us in understanding French vocab, phrases and pronunciation.
God has definitely had his hand on us and even though we've been here for less than 3 weeks, we seem to be settling into life well. We consider ourselves blessed to have so many family and friends thinking of and praying for us. It's a huge encouragement when we hear news from home, so feel free to write anytime!
Au revoir!
Remember Sharpie, the maximum bending moment on a simply supported beam is WL^2/8. And if you have any trusses, use the method of sections to determine axial forces. Good to hear you refreshing your structural skills.
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