It's HOT in Chad

It’s been six months since my last update. I am at the same job in the same country, though the political climate here is in constant change. Yesterday marks the one-year anniversary of my evacuation from Chad to Cameroon. This is the “hot” time of year that armies can move freely through the desert and across the land; once the rainy season begins in June, temporary rivers known locally as “wadis” begin to form and prevent free movement. But, let’s avoid any political discourse related to central Africa – it’s a hot topic! There are plenty of news stories on the net if you are really interested, like this one from America’s own, CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/04/10/chad.un.reut/

Speaking of HOT, Chad is a hot place to be right now. On the BBC site for climate change(see http://www.bbc.co.uk/climate/), the 10 hottest and coldest places in the world scroll at the top of the screen. On Monday, 7 of the top 10 hottest places were in Chad! That compared to the six inches of snow in Cleveland. My thermometer at home recorded around 118 degrees for several days. All of this changed midweek, however, when the thermometer fell by around 10 degrees. Here is the Yahoo weather forecast for that day:

So, with this kind of weather, I have to be thankful that I spent much of March in Dakar, Senegal – on the western-most point of the continent, and benefiting from the cool ocean breeze. But, in addition, I was blessed with a visit from my sister Jayme and my mom. From the 3 through 13 March, we took a tour through a few towns in Senegal near the capital Dakar, and then spent the remaining five days in Dakar itself. All in all, it was a fun time. I have posted some pictures on flickr.com from the trip!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/56699809@N00/sets/72157594498927173/

After the vacation, I was lucky enough to get to go back again for a WFP workshop. The problem was that Ethiopian airlines stopped flights from N’djamena to West Africa after my first arrival, and now it was necessary for me to take a four hour flight east to Addis Ababa before heading west, which is a 2-stop and 11-hour journey! (See map below, click for a clearer image) But, I did benefit in having some good Ethiopian food in Addis Ababa during my layovers, which amounted to 2 days and 5 nights for my three trips through there! And when the last trip was all done, despite the heat and the political problems in Chad, it was good to be at “home” in my own bed.