The first week in February my parents
came to visit! Along with two friends from my home church in
Torquay. It was great to have them here. Visitors always have a
fresh perspective on things that have become 'normal' to me, so I asked my Mum
and Dad to document some thoughts on their time here in Chad at Guinebor II
Hospital. Below is their account. Enjoy reading about life here
from a different perspective!
We are Steve and Marilyn, Claire’s parents, and
we have just returned from an amazing week at the hospital at Guinebor ll (G2). We went as part of a team of four – Rachel
and Ailsa, who are from Claire’s home Church in Torquay, went too. What follows are our impressions of the
country, the people and the hospital itself.
Upon landing we were met by Claire and Kalbassou
(a Cameroonian mission worker surgeon at G2 – it is unsafe for Claire to travel
alone at night) outside the airport building, as non-travellers aren’t allowed
inside. The heat at this point was not
too bad as it was 10.30pm, but it was quite warm. We travelled in the BMS 4x4 to G2 and were
shown into the hospital guest house, a very nice two bed building on the
site. Getting under a mosquito net to
get into bed was a new occurrence for us, but necessary, and having windows
open and curtains open at night seemed the ‘wrong way around’ to us Westerners!
Sleep was a bit more of a difficult
commodity than at home, what with the heat and a call to prayer from the local mosques
at 4.30am.
We were up at 6 am each morning to join some of
the hospital team who gather for prayer.
This was interesting as it was in French, which neither of us speak. Claire and Rachel kindly interpreted for us.
On our first morning - Monday, we were taken to
the police station as apparently we needed to get our passports stamped and
ourselves registered. Claire seemed to
know a lot of the people there!
Travelling around was a unique experience –
lots of motorbikes, and folks just seemed to appear from nowhere! The horn is used a lot in Chad!! Drinking lots of water – at least 3 litres
per day was impressed upon us by Claire, or we would soon become
dehydrated. With this heat it was easy
to do, and carrying around a bottle of water soon became the new norm for us. A tour of the hospital site followed.
After Tuesday morning prayers, Pastor Djibrine,
the hospital Chaplain, invited Steve to go around the wards with him, praying
with the patients – very few declined.
He also heard Pastor Djibrine’s story of becoming a Christian, which is
so different to our Western one. Marilyn
was invited to go into the operating theatre and found this experience very
different from in the UK. Many of the
operations were the same as at home, but the equipment and treatment seemed
very out-dated. However, the care,
expertise, respect and dignity afforded to each individual patient was to be
admired. What this hospital does with
its resources is absolutely AMAZING, they do a fantastic job with such limited
resources. Rachel and Ailsa went to the dressing clinic.
In the afternoon we went to a ladies meeting.
It was a social event and we met with ladies who had come from many different
countries to either work as mission workers themselves, or to support their
husbands in their jobs in Chad. One of
these ladies was the head teacher of a school for mission workers’ children,
others worked for MAF and AIM among other organisations. Steve stayed outside with other men and kept
an eye on the children.
Wednesday morning is different – no prayer
meeting as such, but prayers on the wards with all the patients instead. This was a very interesting experience, and
no one refused prayer. A litter pick
outside the hospital then followed – there is minimal refuse collection in
Chad, so there is a lot of litter around everywhere.
In the afternoon we were taken to the Acacia project,
where Claire’s friend Naomi works with vulnerable women. This project offers a Christian rehab
programme for the women and once they’ve successful completed it (it takes
around 3 months), they become part of a group that makes goods to sell – soap,
bangles and bags mainly. What they
produce, to a very high standard, from a rented room is remarkable.
On Thursday morning Steve had been asked to
speak at the morning prayer meeting.
Claire had to do the interpreting for her Dad. There was a strike in Chad by the public
sector workers on this day, as they had not been paid for 5 months. The temperature hit 41 degrees today – seriously
hot! In the evening we were invited to supper at the home of Elisabeth, who
works in pharmacy and lives in Guinebor II.
We caused quite a local stir as there were five white people walking
about in the evening! This was an
interesting evening, as we had not visited a Chadian home before. It was a concrete construction, with a tin
roof, so very, very hot. After washing
our hands Chadian style with soap and cold water poured from a kettle, we were
given a typical meal of boule, okra sauce and goat meat, sat on a rug on the
floor and eaten with the right hand.
When we had finished our meal the remaining food was given to her
children, who were outside. This appears
to be part of the reason that children are sometimes malnourished, as sometimes
they only get to eat what the adults leave.
The older female children also clear up and wash up afterwards – in
preparation for being married in later life.
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| Eating boule and sauce at Elisabeth's house |
Friday, after prayers, Steve went with Pastor
Djibrine to the wards, and Marilyn went on the ward round with the Chadian
Doctor. We saw children with malaria
(and it’s not the season for it yet), and fractures from falling from a
tree. Adults and children had many of
the same problems as we have at home, but because of the local cooking
facilities, burns from stoves as well.
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| Steve with Pastor Djibrine |
We went to arguably the best coffee shop in
town for lunch, followed by a visit to the artisan market, where all manner of
things are sold – art work, jewellery, key rings, furniture, and various
crafts. All stall holders wanted you to
see their wares, so we had to visit them all so as not to cause offence.
On Saturday Claire took us to the local golf
course for a camel ride – yes, a golf course!
Complete with golfers and at one point, a flock of sheep! This is very different to what we are used
to, and a wonderful, if uncomfortable, experience. After this we went to the mission school and
met the head teacher again, and were shown around the premises. It appeared that the children of mission
workers were getting an excellent education at this facility. After this we went to visit one of Claire’s Chadian
friends in the town. It was interesting
to see another Chadian home – this one was a little more salubrious, with
carpeting, a fridge and television.
They were eating when we arrived and we were invited to join them in
having bread, okra sauce and fish.
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| Camel riding on the golf course! |
Sunday was our last day in this hot, dusty
country. We attended the International
Church in the morning, where Steve had been invited to speak. Thankfully it was all in English! What an experience that was, with so many
nationalities represented, doing so many different things.
Our overall impression of this visit? We were told before we left about the value
put on family life, but to see it in practice is something else. We often noticed a shift in attitudes when we
were introduced as Papa Claire and Mama Claire.
We were held in high regard and a few times given gifts just for being Claire’s
parents. I wondered if the kind people
doing this could afford to do it, but it would have been classed as rude to
refuse. What a friendly, family
orientated people they are and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit.
Most of all it was a pleasure to see Claire in
her now ‘home’ environment, to savour a piece of the culture of the country and
its people, and to see Claire in her role at G2.
