Although I have spent time in Africa, I am new to Chad. I see everything through the eyes of a beginner and an outsider. What better time to make observations and maybe paint a small picture for you of what my eyes have seen in the past week? Before long, these things will become normal to me, so I want to share them with you now.
I have noticed a lot more Arabic chanting and teaching to the young boys and girls than I remember in Senegal. Our guest house is right next to a mosque, so we hear the call to prayer 5 times a day. (Praise God with us that Isaac has not been at all scared or upset by the eery sound of the call to prayer. It was something I really worried about, but God has graciously kept him from fear thus far.) We hear the children chanting sometimes in the morning, almost always in the late afternoon/early evening. And it is LOUD. They yell the chants they are memorizing. I walked with Judah one day past where the girls, heads covered, sitting in rows on mats outside, where chanting. A youngish boy (18-20, maybe?) had a whip like what is used on donkeys and I was shocked to see him hit the some of the girls a few times on the head and/or shoulder. Maybe they weren’t keeping up with the chants, or maybe they weren’t sitting properly, or maybe I was distracting them. I am not sure, but I was saddened to see how forcefully they beat the lies of Islam into these young girls, when in contrast, Jesus endured the whip and the cross so that we would be free of legalism and could instead live with much joy and hope.
I might be seeing Chad through the eyes of a mother, whereas I saw Senegal through the eyes of a young, single girl, but I do feel like there is a LOT more trash in the roads here. I hope it is just because we are in the capital! I am constantly telling my boys to not step in the nasty water, stay on the dirt, don’t go that way, be careful! We have a rule now, which is common in Africa anyways, to take our shoes off at the door before we enter our home and then we must wash our hands as soon as we go inside. That, and taking vitamins, using our essential oils, and taking probiotics will I hope keep us from getting too sick (in addition to your prayers and God’s mercy!).
The people are extremely friendly so far. I am thankful we learned French first, but it is not helping me much in being able to communicate with the women since we live in a Muslim part of town. We passed by a salon a few days ago where women were doing henna and they doted on the boys. Isaac didn’t want to leave. None of us could understand a word, but their warmth and kindness made me want to learn to communicate well in Arabic! I keep hoping to find a lady who speaks French, but so far they have only spoken Arabic. It definitely encourages us to want to learn Arabic! We have a book of lessons written in French to start learning Arabic, so we will do that informally here in the capital until we get to Abeche and find language tutors.
So, there are a few random observations of life so far in Chad…stay tuned for more!