July 17, 2011

June 1, 2011

We departed DC about 12 noon and arrived at Addis Ababa 12 hours later at around 8 AM local time.  Flight was long and boring.  No one to talk with and nothing to read.  Had inadvertently left the book  brought along to read at Dulles airport. Couldn’t sleep either, so arrived in Ethiopian tired, irritable, and sleepy.

Passed through the Addis Ababa airport successfully and departed for Chad at approximately 10AM.  Flew over some of the most forbidding country I’ve ever seen.  Everything was brown, no green, desert (maybe dry savannah) everywhere with thatched or tinned roofed huts here and there.  When the sun caught the tin roofs at a certain angle they looked like little diamonds against the sandy brown background.

Arrived at N’Djamena at 12:30 PM and the first thing I noticed was the heat, it was stifling.  Sweat it was that introduced me to Chad, sweat that ran into my eyes, drops of sweat rolling down my sides and the smell of someone too long without a bath (me).  It was an introduction to things to come.   I followed NGO personnel thru customs with no problems.  A young Chadian walked up to me dressed

Minnie Pardillo - Volunteer Psychologist at Bere Adventist Hospital

Minnie Pardillo is a volunteer psychologist from the Phillpines who is spending a year at Bere Adventist Hospital.  She will be providing health education to the hospital patients, as well as, the community of Bere, Chad

Minnie with Chadian Children

Walking in Ndjamena, Chad

I spent a day in Ndjamena, most of it on foot (Aug. 30, 2011).  On a prior visit an attempted pickpocket occurred on two separate occasions.  Be careful in the markets. 

Headed Home - Road between Bere and Kelo, Chad

Below is a short clip of my bus ride from Bere to Kelo on Aug. 29, 2011.  As you can see the road is dirt and can become impassable during the rainy season.  Its condition here is about average for the rainy season.  Sometimes it's better and sometimes it's worse.