Arrival and Family

The trip from N’Djamena took about 8 hours in an air-conditioned coach bus. We stopped two times for about 15-20 minutes for people to pick up food and go to the bathroom. I was very nervous when I left that I would feel carsick so I took a carsick pill and that helped me to sleep for the first 4 hours of the journey. There were parts of the road that were in great condition and we would drive very fast. At other times we would go very slowly to avoid big puddles and potholes from the rain. We are in the middle of rainy season now and so many of the roads are a bit difficult to navigate for vehicles and people alike. We were greeted in Moundou by Gene (a 3 year MCC service worker) and Sem (a respected elder of the community and my boss at CENTRAM).

We went to Sem’s house where I met my host mother Nénodji Mbaïgoto as well as Salomé a cousin who is 20 years old. Salomé has helped me out a lot these past few days. We have gone to the local market, a prayer time, and she has shown me how to get to Maddie and Gene’s house. She is also always around to answer my questions.

Ornella is my host sister. She is 10 years old. She wanted to braid my hair. We got about half way through my head. It was her first time and apparently the braids were not very tight, but they still hurt my head!  Here is a picture of Ornella with two others fixing a few braids. (This picture took about 15 minutes to load so I will only be able to post pictures every once in a while.)

 Right now there are many people in my coumpound as it is vacation so people are visiting. There are also some that come to work in the rice fields near by. I am still trying to figure out who people are, their relationship and if they are visiting or if they live permanently in the compound.

I call it a compound because it is a gated area with a large open space for lounging and preparing meals. There are then a number of different buildings with a couple rooms in each. My room is attached to the kitchen. There is a living room with a couple rooms for Maman and her children. There is another building for others to sleep with a room to keep dried goods. The final building has a latrine and a place to shower.

In the coming months I hope to provide more information about my host family, as well as my life in Chad. Stay tuned!