Flying for Kosovo

After landing in Chad, I already start to notice that the climate is very similar to the past few countries that I’ve visited: Burkina-Faso, Niger and Mali. Since this country is landlocked, is a far distance from the sea and is mostly a desert climate, Chad is sometimes known as the ‘dead heart of Africa’. Religion seems to be a larger focus here too (50% Muslim and 50% Christian) and they also seem to have a big awareness of ‘foreigners’ with outside money.

Everywhere that I went, they were always asking me the same question “which hotel are you staying”. I would never answer them because they were trying to determine what my finances were. To tell them that I was broke and needed to find a good hotel for a price that I could afford to pay was not what they wanted to hear. They wanted me to tell them that I was here to give them tons of money, but as soon as they hear that you’re broke just like them, they want you out of their country. Since 80% of the people here live well below the poverty line and rely on animal herding and farming, I guess they are used to getting lots of outside help.

I also quickly learned that I was not going to find an affordable hotel that was satisfactory as far as cleanliness and amenities go. Here, they want you to pay the price of a Marriott or Holiday Inn hotel for the quality equivalent of a room at a Motel Six in the USA. In other words, my bed for the night was very expensive and of poor quality.

Additionally, I have also learned here in Africa that (after visiting nearly half of the continent) that comfort foods that won’t make you sick are twice as expensive as what you would pay in the USA. For example, the price of a Coca-Cola is twice as much. In El Paso, TX, I would have had access to a fantastic Chinese buffet, with over 200 selections of food (vegetables, fruits, soups, desserts, etc.) for only $6.99. Here, if you want any kind of food that won’t give you stomach problems, you have to pay at least twice that. Another food that I am daydreaming about lately here is a nice, fresh salad. Many doctors here in Africa have told me to avoid eating those due to the high risk of infections. Salads don’t seem to mix well with a warm climate, especially in the countries that I’ve been visiting that don’t have proper sanitation. Only 2% of the people here in Chad have basic sanitation and only ½ of the homes in the cities have access to potable water. My mind is starting to play tricks on me with all of this daydreaming of good, quality food – it has been quite a while since I’ve had any.

After a less than comfortable night of sleep in my Marriott-priced Motel Six quality motel, I wake up and wash all of my clothes by hand. This is something that I’ve done in bathroom sinks since I’ve left Kosovo. Otherwise, it could be as high as $5USD per shirt to have them cleaned for me. My friends, you can calculate that bill if you have to change your clothes daily! There are many times lately that my shirts have been a different color by the end of the day. With all of the dust and pollution down here, my white shirts either become black by the time I get back to my hotel or red, due to the soil down here in these dry African countries.

After washing my clothes in the morning, I get into a taxi and find that he too is very difficult to bargain with as far as prices go. I guess I will pick my battles and settle for using him though, since I need to have some reliability during our busy work days. He seems nice, as do many of the people that I meet here in Chad, but they are tired of high prices. Many of them complain to me about many things that they see wrong with their country. Since Chad has a history of being one of the most corrupt governments in the world, I am starting to see why. I will say, though, that I do notice that the government has been making some improvements here, as far as infrastructure (roads, bridges, newer hospitals and buildings, etc.).

As far as the media, they all seem very nice. However, like the last country, Central African Republic, Chad’s newspapers are only published once or twice a week and are usually only 4-8 pages long. I am guessing that they must not be able to afford to publish them every day. All of the media staff were all very nice, professional and willing to bring our message of Kosovo’s independence to their people and their government. A few of them even wanted to take my picture with me in my pilots uniform and epaulettes. I am guessing that they like official people over here.

Thanks to Mr. Ngarbe Ferdinand with the newspaper ‘Quotidien Le Progres’; Mr. Edpuard Takadj with the newspaper ‘L’Observateur’; Mr. Yamalbaye Ritidn Gar with the newspaper ‘Le Temps’; Mr. Mahamat Gamougane with the newspaper ‘La-Voix’; and Mr. Touroumbaye Geoffroy, Redacteur En Chef, and Mr. Djimasra Parfait, both with ‘N’Djamena Hebdo’ newspaper.

Thank you to the wonderful teams at the ONR TV, Office de Radio and Television Du Tchad (Ms. Halime Assadya Ali and her journalist Mr. Assane Lame both had great personalities to work with) and Mr. Mahamat Issa Djarat with Radio Ngato FM 89.6 MHZ for his in-depth interview.

Next stop was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They were all very friendly, open, courteous and professional. The Director of the Protocol, Mr. Nouradine Mahamat Alio, took the letter that I delivered from Vlora Citaku and promised that he would pass it on to his boss (the Minister of Foreign Affairs himself). He was very knowledgeable and personable and mentioned that he would do anything that he could and try his best to help our country and our people. He even gave me his personal cell phone and told me not to hesitate to call him.

Finally, I have noticed that I am beginning to enter into a bunch of conflicted territories here in Central Africa. In Eastern Chad, there has been lots of ethnic violence going on. There have been almost 200,000 people displaced here because of that, in addition to the many refugees here from other countries. Sudan is to the east and the UN estimates that in 2008 there were over a quarter of a million refugees that fled here from Darfur. There are also around 55,000 refugees reportedly here from the Central African Republic. Not to forget the child trafficking in this area of Africa. Many children here are forced into labor (such as forced servitude, cattle herding, etc.) and commercial sexual exploitation. Many of them are sent further on toward the coastline in order to work in the fishing industry.

The next country up is Nigeria, but I am really struggling with getting my visas in a timely manner. It looks like I will have to jump back and forth between countries for awhile. Though I was expecting some complications here in Africa, it is very timely and costly to have to jump back and forth. Regardless, I am still committed to the essential goal of our mission, which is to visit all of the countries on this continent. Though progress is slower than I would like, I am glad that we are still moving somewhat forward.

Best wishes to the great people of Chad.

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