Postscript

Photo by Zeke Du Plessis

The team that is working with the Masalite on the literacy program is quite multicultural–German (Angela), Chinese Malaysian (Eunice), and South African (Marthinus).  An Australian couple also works with this team, but they are away right now.

Together with Jennie, Zeke and I, five nationalities were present and South African was in the majority with two!

Everyone on our team has been able to spend time along the way with someone from their home country.  Not only has this helped me to learn a little more about Taiwan and South Africa, it’s also  meant that in addition to French, Arabic (the trade languages of the areas we’ve visited) and English, I’ve also heard conversations in Manderine Chinese and Afrikaans. I’m loving it.

Popularity: 33% [?]

Photo by Zeke Du Plessis

The name of the town we’re in is Hadjer Hadid–named after these heavy iron rocks that you see all over.  I picked up a small rock to keep.  I nearly lost it when Zeke found it in my camera bag and almost chucked it.  He asked me about it, and I rescued it.

My heart is heavy here. The people here have been through things I can’t imagine.  It’s the DarFur refugees you hear about on TV.  They have been forced from their home villages by the Janjaweed militia who burned their homes, raped their women, and killed people indiscriminately.  Actually violent acts have happened to the Masalite community on both sides of the boarder, so it’s not just the refugees that have suffered.  The local community has suffered, too.  I’m thinking–what does all this mean to me.  I’m expecting to see so many people that look like they are suffering.  But, life seems quite normal, aside the occasional passing UN tank–there’s at least two of them here.  It feels safe here.  The presence of UN peace keeping troops keep it that way.

I feel an incredible sense of community here.  People seem to take care of each other.  Our co-workers told us about how the refugees shared their burdens together and helped each other in their recovery from what they experienced.  The people here are resilient.  When we talk to them, they don’t talk much about how much they have suffered.  They are talking about the future–about growing in their knowledge, about helping their children to have a better life–and they are looking towards their return to Sudan.  How could they even think about returning to Sudan?  I can’t imagine.  But, it’s their home.

On sort of a side note, this sense of community is demonstrated also in how they talk.  When you greet a small group, very often everyone in that group responds to you–in UNISON.  I’ve never seen, er heard, anything like it.  Of course, the greetings are all in Chadian or Sudanese Arabic or Masalit, but if the conversation were in English, it might go something like this:

You: “How are you?”

Group: “We are fine.”

You: “How are your children?”

Group: “They are doing well.”

You: “What are you doing?”

Group: “We are here for a ceremony”

…and on and on…I mean, eventually, you do get individual responses, and this group response thing doesn’t happen all the time.  It reminded me of the chorus in a Greek drama, without a script!

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Dehydration has been a major issue for us ever since we came into the Sahel.  This is a transition area between tropical areas in the south and the great Sahara Desert to the north.  I don’t think I’ve ever been in a place this dry.  Three liters of water today…still getting dehydrated.  It’s not even the hot season here, and we still struggle being out between noon and two.

Photo by Zeke Du Plessis

We’ve been making rehydration drinks, but the drinks taste like sea water. Yuck!  However, a 1.5 liter hydration drink and a 2 hour nap has been our solution to our dehydration daze.  It’s a harsh environment, at least for us.  I feel like I’d die in the heat of the hot season.  My lips are peeling off.  My skin feels scaly.  I have a headache. My eyes look glazed. I need water. I need sleep.

But, at night the sky is amazing.  The stars–I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many.  They are so bright.  Is that a planet?  Mars has never looked so red. I think I see a satellite–yes, I think I can distinguish the difference between God and man’s creations in this sky.   The air is cool at night.  I have to wear a sweater.  We eat outside on a mat each night after dark.  I finish my food, and I look up.  I can’t stop looking at the sky.  I’m returning to my hut, and  I’m still looking at the sky.  Wow, God–I’ve never enjoyed your cosmic lights like this before.  I look back up–Orion’s belt has moved.  It’s the only constellation I recognize here. I’ve never noticed how it moves before.  I feel alive.

Read someone else’s thoughts on this area.

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Photo by Zeke Du Plessis

We left N’Djamena, the capital of Tchad, after a brief stay to head to the far eastern part of the country near to the Sudanese boarder.  The area we are visiting has several refugee camps for people who have fled from the DarFur region of Sudan.  We’ll be visiting two of those refugee camps on this part of our trip.

So, we flew on UN planes all the way out to where we are.  The flights were free–paid for by USAID (United States Agency for International Development) and several other national governments–and they regularly fly staff from charity organizations (Nongovernmental Organizations–NGOs) and the UN out to these refugee camps.  We landed on a sand airstrip and were met by three vehicles that took by convoy out to where we are staying.

We’re staying at the IRC (International Rescue Committee) compound near to where the SIL team is living.  It’s my first time to sleep in a round house.  This one is quite nice–the thick concrete walls keep it cool during the hot days, and I’ve got a big double bed.  We have electricity most of the day, running water and internet–no complaints!

The SIL team we are visiting is doing a mother-tongue literacy program among the Masalit–a language community of maybe up to 200,000 located both in Chad and Sudan.  About 70,000 are located in Chad, and it is not known exactly how many are located in Sudan. A group of about 50,000 Maasalite from Sudan now live in two refugee camps located close to a Chadian Masalit village.  The UNHRC (UN Human Rights Committee) has been providing services to the people living in the refugee camps including providing security, food, water and coordiating efforts of other NGOs that desire to help the refugees.  These groups (NGOs and UNHCR) are also providing some assistance to the local Masalit community as the influx of refugees has put a strain on locally available resources.

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We went by car from Maroua, Cameroon to N’Djamena, Tchad.  With almost 1 million people this is the capital and largest city in Tchad.  We’re staying on the SIL Tchad compound for a couple of nights until we leave to go further east in Tchad.  Two workshops were in session today–a literacy workshop and a workshop for translators on the New Testament book of Hebrews. I caught up with the translation workshop participants when they were in small group sessions after the main teaching.

Expatriate staff (that is staff working outside of their home countries) often serve in training and consulting roles.  Local staff often do as well.  Together, they train and advise local language communities to develop their languages, translate scriptures, conduct literacy programs for children and adults, help Christians to use translated scriptures, and more.

When a language community is trained to conduct these activities themselves and provided appropriate help through the process, it produces more local ownership of projects which in turn helps the community to develop.  The skills they learn can help them continue projects even if expatriates are not able to provide further assistance.

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