Dear
folks,
Ubi Village Girls
|
The
Guera is full of mountains like these |
Can
you believe it’s nearly March already?! That means
I’ve been here for almost 2 months and am still surviving!
Today, after three weeks in the dorms (think camping, but
you sleep indoors), I moved over to an apartment for my
last few days in Ndjamena before I go back to Mongo. What
luxury!
First of all, let me apologise to those people who received
my last email 5 or 6 times. I only sent it once so don’t
really know why that happened, but thanks for your patience.
However, it certainly made sure I got lots of replies which
I was very glad about.
If you’d like to see a few photos that I took for my
mum’s primary class, as well as a few others, you can
see them at the following website: http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolinetyler/
So after
2 months of orientation and conference both here in NDJ
and in Mongo, what are some of my first impressions of Chad?
- It’s
hot and dusty and I’m getting used to having dirty
feet nearly all the time!
- A
visit to the isolated Ubi people of the Guera was a real
eye opener. The occasion was the setting up of their language
committee, which will oversee linguistics and literacy
work among them. Many from the 8 Ubi villages gathered
for the event and we were greeted by singing and dancing
women and a cavalry of turbaned horsemen – quite
spectacular! I said ‘Yes, please!’ to the wild
honey, but ‘Not today!’ to the camel’s
milk – maybe next time!
- Road
trips in this country are something else! However, I now
know what 4WDs are really for! Thankfully, the main road
between NDJ and Mongo is under construction so is quickly
improving.
- Amandine’s
is a legendary French patisserie where you can get the
most amazing pain au chocolat and café au lait
– a great Saturday morning treat while in NDJ!
- I’ve
also enjoyed several lively trips to the markets in Mongo
and in NDJ.
|
I’m
heading out to Mongo again this week and will be there till
the end of May. There are several things I’ll be looking
forward to including setting up my house and learning to
live there as well as learning Chadian Arabic and being
able to get to know more Chadians as a result. I’m
also keen to find out how I’ll be able to support literacy
work in the Guera. The first thing I’ll be involved
with is helping put together a teacher’s guide for
a pilot preschool literacy programme which has been started
among the Dangleat people group, aiming to give the children
a better start to their education. If the programme proves
successful, we are hoping to increase the number of classes
and languages involved in coming years.
There are many things I’ve been grateful for over the
past couple of months - above all the people who have welcomed
me here and have helped me start finding my feet in a very
different environment. Your encouragement has also been
a lifeline! I appreciate your thoughts and prayers as I
settle into life in Mongo and also for the security situation
here in Chad, which has been more unstable in the past few
months.
Take care, love Caroline :O)
|
