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| The terrace where I sleep with Ophelie, it's much cooler outside though quite noisy sometimes! |
A few weeks ago I
wrote a blog about what I do during a week. It ended up being very long so I
have split it into three parts; here is the first part of “a week in Moursal”
(the area of town where I live).
Monday
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| The balls and lessons |
My week starts at 8
o’clock when I go out to play with children in the neighbourhood. These are children of the vulnerable women
who we are trying to reach who haven’t taken part in the program. The children
go to school every other day and otherwise they just play by themselves. They
are always very excited when I come (shouting Naomi, I hope that in a few weeks
it will be Rebecca!). They love playing
duck duck goose, singing He’s got the whole world in his hands and are very
keen to teach me Head Shoulders Knees and Toes in Gumbaye, the most common
language in the South of Chad. A new favourite which I have just taught them is
the Hokey Kokey; they never know when to stop going ooohhhhh!
I play just outside of
the house of Lisa*, one of the ladies who is in the new group at the Acacia
centre. She is very lively and plays with us she often has more energy than the
children! After we have played for about an hour, Lisa and I walk to my house
and I have a lesson with Lisa. I have just started teaching her how to read and
write. She speaks French well and knows the alphabet as well as a few simple
sounds. I’m doing my best to help her be able to read. It’s not easy but she is
very willing to learn.
After that I sometimes
go on to visit Lisa and Sarah*, the two ladies in the new program but if not I
head home to rest and read a bit!
Around 11 O’clock Elizabeth* one of the ladies
from the first group at the centre comes to sweep and get rid of all the dust
that accumulates in one week. We quite
often chat for a bit first and drink cold water together. It takes her about an
hour to come from her house, walking and then taking public transport which in
the 40 degree heat is tiring in itself! Elizabeth has been working in our two
flats for the past few months, she comes three days a week to clean and cook. As
at the beginning of the year I was at home most mornings so we have become good
friends.
Then at about 12.30
Ophelie, my house mate comes in from her morning activities with street
children and we have lunch which could be fried sweet potatoes bought from the
lady across the street or a sandwich with French bread.
I spend the afternoon
at the centre with the first group, getting in at about 6.
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| Beignets, mmm.... |
Tuesday
The next day I am up
at 6:20 again! We have breakfast- obligatory coffee and French bread with
peanut butter and laughing cow cheese- a great combination or marmite.
Sometimes we have beignets which are kind of like unsweet small doughnuts which
we buy from a lady across the street.
All morning we are at
the centre with the second group.
Once we have finished
(how long we go on for changes every day), I go home and have lunch with my
neighbours, Ophelie and Elizabeth. Elizabeth cleans our flat
on Tuesdays and then cooks Chadian food, boule (a paste a bit like playdough
made with rice/ maize flour and water) or rice and sauce for us. My favourite
sauce is peanut butter sauce with beef. We eat sat on a mat outside as it is
supposedly cooler.
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| Eating boule and sauce with Elizabeth, my flatmates and one of my flat mate's brothers |
At 2:30 every two
weeks, Laure (a Belgian missionary who works with street children) comes by and
picks Lucile (one of my French neighbours) and me up to go to an orphanage
where we organise a club for about 10 3-5 year olds. The orphanage is quite
small and was set up by a Chadian Christian who basically started welcoming
orphans and abandoned children. The children (like all children) need love and
often the youngest ones don’t get much input. We tell them a bible story, do an
activity and sing songs with them. For the past few months we have been talking
about how we are all precious in God’s eyes based on Isaiah 49:15-16 :
Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.
It's good
fun and it will be hard to leave these children.
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| Playing a game at the orphanage |
On Tuesdays when we
don’t go to the orphanage, Lucile and I are trying to visit different friends
from our choir.
At 4:30 we take a bus
either from home or the orphanage to our church for choir practice. On Tuesdays
we only have one hour during which we are meant to practice songs for the album
which we are preparing. Most of the songs are in Nanjere (the language of the
church) which is proving interesting especially for Lucile who has been asked
to sing a solo!
We walk home after
choir as it is still light and get in at about half 6.
Wednesday
On Wednesday’s I get
up at 6:20 and actually leave the house with Ophelie to go to work! I help out
with the street children project on Wednesday mornings. We take a taxi to a
church in a different area of town. We start by chatting and saying hello to
all the children waiting outside. Then we pray together as a team before
starting the activity. We have a team of 9 including missionaries and short
termers working with the project as well as Chadian volunteers. We welcome
about 30 children and give them water.
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| An activity |
We each take it in
turns to tell the bible stories (using the same books as the centre) in French
translated into Arabic and then we have a short lesson. We are teaching them to
read and write in Arabic but using roman script. After the lesson they have a
small page of exercises to complete before they wash their hands and get
tickets which they can exchange for a meal with a lady who has a road side
restaurant. It is often fun with the children and a good opportunity to improve
my Arabic but it is also quite sad as they lead very difficult and dangerous
lives in the streets and are addicted to drugs, glue and alcohol.
After the activity
Ophelie and I take the bus home. At 11 I have another lesson with Lisa then a
lesson with Sarah who I am also helping to read and write. And I just about
have enough to time to have lunch before I have to be at the centre again with
the second group. We finish at about 6.
Once home I have time
to rest. Ophelie and I cook tea, sometimes chat to our neighbours about the day
and spend the evening either resting or preparing things for the rest of the
week which I’ll tell you about in my next blog!
*Names have been changed to protect identity.
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