2 coach trips, 44 train tickets and 4 flights



 

Hi, I’m sorry for not writing for a while it’s been a busy few months. I had a great Christmas ( it seems a very long time ago now) in N’djamena celebrating with my church, choir and flat mates.


Boxing day dinner with friends

Over new year one of my flat mates brother’s came to visit and we all went to Am Timan to see my parents. We also got to go to Zakouma, Chad’s amazing safari park which is right next to Am Timan. It was brilliant, we got to see giraffes, lots of different deer, lions rather too close up, marabou storks, pelicans, the interesting secretary bird...

 



 

 










It was also a fun experience travelling as we took a Chadian coach. It was very nicely decorated on the inside with blue and white curtains on the way there and on the way back red, blue and yellow curtains to go with the Chadian flag. On board entertainment was a lot of Arab music videos and some Chadian films which were quite interesting though hard to follow as they were mostly in Arabic!



On the bus- curtains in the background

When we got back to N’djamena I just had 3 weeks left at the centre before I had to come back to the UK to do my medical school interviews. As you would expect the time flew by as I had to do some preparation, getting up to date on medical news and I wanted to finish going over the translation of the Acacia project’s course. It had been translated from English to French but Naomi asked me to take a look and try and make the French more natural. I managed to get through all 21 lessons which are now ready for the new course.  Whilst I was gone Naomi, Anne and Annie have been trying to find the right women to join Acacia and take part in the new course. They started this Thursday and I will be joining them tomorrow! 

 

I was in the UK for about 6 weeks which is where the first two flights and the train tickets come in (unfortunately there are no trains in Chad). I had to do quite a bit of travelling as I had interviews at King’s College London, Liverpool and Bristol and also visited Edinburgh ( I have applied there but they don’t do interviews for medical school). On the whole I think they went well, it’s hard to tell but hopefully I will hear back from them soon.

So I travelled back to N’djamena on Friday, it was a 7 hour flight to Ethiopia then a further 3 hours to Chad. I’m glad to be back and happy that now my interviews are over I can really concentrate on work with Acacia.

So what will I be doing now that I’m back in Chad?

Hilton soap drying

Well I’m going to be helping as much as I can with the new course which is three mornings a week from 8 till 2.  Naomi has suggested that I may be able to help with telling Bible Stories. Also as Naomi and Anne will be busy preparing the teaching I will probably have more to do with Annie running the more practical side of the centre making soaps, cards and bags. The centre has been very busy recently as we have just got a contract with the Hilton hotel in N’djamena. They want to use our soaps in the hotel and would like us to make 2000 a month! We have got some special smaller moulds and more of their chosen essential oil- lemongrass and when I left we had made our first 3 batches. It’s hard work making sure they all look perfect and trying to get the soap into as many moulds as possible before it gets too thick- I’m sure they have worked out some new techniques while I’ve been gone. I’m also bringing back more lemongrass oil- it’s taking up 9 kilos of my luggage allowance. It’s a brilliant opportunity for the centre as it will mean the women have a regular income and publicity, we are very excited.

Our special Hilton moulds

Just before leaving for the UK I also got to visit some women in the community with Naomi and I spend some time playing with their children. Now that I have been introduced to them I will be able to go and play quite often.

I will also be back to choir practice and helping with the street children project.

I’m also going continue running a children’s club at an orphanage with a missionary friend and one of my French neighbours. We have been doing it for a couple of months and just before I left we worked on making it more structured, it’s good to be back so I can take part in all that we planned. Our theme for the month was you are precious.



Abeche is close to the border with Sudan

Finally in a few weeks’ time I will be flying again, but this time in Chad. There is going to be a course on psychiatry in Abeche a city on the other side of Chad. I am very interested in psychiatry especially in developing countries. A missionary doctor working in Abeche has invited 2 American psychiatrists who are living in Cameroon to come to Chad to do a two week course. She has kindly allowed me to take part and I will also be doing some translation work. It’s a shame it’s so soon after I come back but is an amazing opportunity for me to gain experience.

So I’m back in Chad, it’s nice to feel warm though today at 41 degrees it did feel like a bit too much! It’s really good to be back with my friends at the centre, at the choir and at home.

Camel riding with my neighbours Lucile and Estelle, my flat mate Ophelie

And Lucile's brother!