The First Few days

We have safely arrived and started to adapt to our new life here in Chad. The travel arrangements and flights out here all went really well with all bags arriving without needing to be opened or checked at any point, which was a blessing. The views from the plane as we flew over North Africa were stunning, so much desert area with few signs of habitation but with the odd road or track leading to a town or village. We landed in Chad during a violent storm with huge lightening flashes illuminating the area as we descended, but thankfully was a relatively smooth landing. Arriving in rain wasn't quite what we expected, however the accompanying heat was and we were soon soaked in sweat as we passed through passport control and into the baggage hall. Waiting for our bags was a long and slow process, with the vehicle transporting the bags from the plane twice crashing into the arrivals hall, before the bags all finally arrived. Once collected each bag had to be manually checked against our baggage slips given in Birmingham before finally being allowed through to the X-Ray machine for the final check. Then for some bizarre reason each person and individual bag had to go through a revolving turnstile type gate to get out of the airport , which again caused long delays and further soaked the already sweat drenched clothes. But we had safely arrived and were warmly welcomed by Mark and Rebecca, who scooped us up and transported us out to the hospital in the desert. This turned into an eventful journey as we managed to get lost but did finally arrive at the hospital, but did make me wonder if we would ever master the trip from town if those who had been here a while could still get lost!

Hospital Football Team

We spent the first few days trying to get used to the heat and dust, but seemed to be constantly drenched in sweat particularly at meal times. We tried not to do too much too soon and to simply observe and take in our new surroundings and get to know our new friends. The following week Malc started to shadow Rob, the administrator, to gain an insight into the work of the hospital and his future role. Sue also managed a few ward rounds and visits around the hospital helping out where she could. As the rainy season is imminent we managed to help out by assisting in putting up the much needed mosquito nets over every bed in the hospital. As the week progressed the weather changed from the intense heat to sand storms followed by huge rain storms which turned everywhere to mud and slime. We have never seen such intense rain and lightning, has been stunning to watch but does make getting around much more difficult. Getting to African church on Sunday was an eventful drive, but well worth the effort to experience the service. It was a very vibrant service, lots of energy ,beautifully dressed colourful ladies, great singing and dancing, much needed hand fans, masterfully used by the locals to keep the temperature comfortable. It was a privilege to be part of the service and there was over 635 people attending, so God is clearly at work here.
The time seems to have flown by and we have now moved out from the hospital where we were initially living and are now staying in a mission house in town so that we can commence our French language training. We shall start by having intensive learning at the summer school for 2 months followed by regular lessons starting in September. The trip to school each day involves 2 separate taxi trips and a walk through the main market to start at 8, so early starts are now needed, but at least the days are a little cooler with the onset of rain. We shall still be going to the hospital 1 day a week for Malc to continue with his administrative role.