Black bags declared illegal in Chad

May 30 (N'Djamena): The ever-present "leida", or black bag, has been
deemed illegal in the entire country of Chad. This is part of the
Chadian government's desire to clean the country up, and is a very needy
step toward a better environment. It was so bad that black plastic bags
trapped in thorn bushes have often been a sign to travelers that one is
approaching a larger city. A fine of 50,000 CFA when a merchant is
found filling a black bag has become the best deterrent.
However, with the disappearance of this necessary eyesore, what is
a poor merchant to do? Newspaper is one alternative used, another is
for the buyer to bring their recipient to be filled in the market. The
Nigerian bags are being divided into four pieces and sewn back together
to make small bags for meat.
It just goes to show that the Chadian people are some of the most
flexible people around, able to adjust to any challenge that comes their
way with a creative solution. Please pray that God would bless this
creativity to prosper the country of Chad once again, and pour out his
blessing on all the peoples who call this nation home.

CHAD: Re-assessing the aid footprint

ABÉCHÉ, 7 December 2009 (IRIN) - When an aid vehicle is stolen in the eastern Chad town of Abéché, some people cheer and say the aid organization got what it deserved, according to the French think-tank Emergency Rehabilitation Development (URD), which is preparing a report on the impact of international aid groups on Abéché residents.

“There is the perception that humanitarian organizations have driven up the cost of living [in the town] - water, electricity, housing,” said the group’s director, François Grünewald. “There is a view that carjackings are a form of justice, like Robin Hood taking from the rich. People do not see what these groups are doing in the field.”

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is losing two all-terrain vehicles a day in the east, senior external relations adviser Måns Nyberg told IRIN. Abéché was the most affected region in 2008 and saw one of the highest rates of crime ever against aid agencies in 2009.

Since the arrival of refugees from Darfur in late 2003, a dozen UN agencies and dozens of NGOs have arrived in Abéché. Prior to 2003 there had been only one UN agency and two non-profit organizations. More than 1,000 members of the UN Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) - sent to boost border security and facilitate refugee and Chadian returns - have also used Abéché as a base since March 2009.

Foreigners “more wasteful”

The town’s water system was ill-prepared for the influx of aid workers and peacekeepers, said URD’s Grünewald. “Locals have a different relationship with water than foreigners who are more wasteful and do not conserve.”

Foreigners have also driven up housing and food costs in Abéché to levels “out of reach of vulnerable residents,” he added.

Prices for rice, flour, meat, millet, sorghum and sugar in Abéché have increased by an average of 51 percent in the last seven years based on a 2009 URD market survey. Chad’s inflation rate in 2008 was just over 3 percent, according to the African Development Bank.

Marcel Nguebaroum, a paediatric ward nurse at Abéché’s regional hospital, said: “I could get a chicken for 600 francs [US$1.38] before 2004… and a room cost me 2,500 francs [$5.75]. Now a chicken costs 3,500 [$8]… and owners can ask for whatever price they want for housing because they think we are somehow able to pay. We are all expected to pay what you [foreigners] are able to pay.”

Nguebaroum said that though foreigners earn many times more than locals, prices are set according to foreign salaries.

There is no doubt humanitarians have put pressure on local resources, for which they have tried to compensate, MINURCAT spokesman Penangnini Touré told IRIN.

"MINURCAT is using its own resources for the most part...MINURCAT has drilled its own wells to provide for its own water needs. Drinking water is purchased from a local provider, and then distributed to staff members on a regular basis. MINURCAT is also providing electricity not only to its staff members, but in some instances to the local population thanks to UN generators that have been set up in every area where the mission is present."

MINURCAT has also rehabilitated air strips, which are turned over to Chadian authorities after MINURCAT's departure; helped to improve local security; and boosted employment by hiring more Chadians than international staff, Touré told IRIN. "The positive impact is, in fact, far greater than the negative."

But URD's Grünewald told IRIN that security remains spotty in the eyes of local residents and that most national employees working for humanitarians come from regions other than Abéché.

Scaling down in Abéché?

Grünewald said it is time to scale back humanitarian operations in Abéché. “The needs have changed since the outbreak of the crisis. The hub has grown but has lost its relevance.”

After government re-zoning, most of the refugees and internally displaced Chadians are in areas that fall under the administration of Sila region, whose capital Goz Beida is 220km south of Abéché. “What is the use of a mid-way presence [in Abéché] that has created an enormous amount of tension?” asked Grünewald. Before Sila was hived off from the Ouaddaï region in 2008, more of the half-million refugees and internally displaced Chadians were handled out of Abéché.

International Rescue Committee's Phillipe Adapoe told IRIN most NGOs are very concerned about the pressure humanitarians have added to local conditions. "This is one of the reasons that IRC has decided to reduce its presence in Abéché. We will be moving some support staff to [the capital] N'djamena early next year."

UNHCR is expected to shut down its Abéché office and transfer about 70 staff to N'djamena or closer to the camps in January 2010 in order to “streamline its operations”, UNHCR’s Nyberg told IRIN.

MINURCAT is in the early discussion stages of moving staff out of Abéché, but nothing has been decided yet, said spokesman Michel Bonnardeaux.

When asked whether moving aid workers would simply shift the price and resource pressures elsewhere, URD’s director told IRIN that if the impact of humanitarian work is visible to locals, then the “aid footprint” is lessened.

“There is little added value in staying in Abéché because it is still far from the field. But in Goz Beida the impact of humanitarian actions is more apparent, which lessens tension between the humanitarian community and residents. There is no way to avoid the aid presence in the east. But it is possible to minimize and diffuse the footprint and avoid a negative impact on local life.”

Struggles

Here are some of the latest struggles facing Chadians:

1. Wood charcoal has been outlawed throughout the country, but this ban can only be enforced in the cities and big towns. This is the fuel used for cooking by the typical Chadian household, as gaz is expensive.
2. Hundreds of homes have been razed in the capital city, supposedly to build more modern ones, but it seems unusual that most of the neighborhoods affected represent ethnic groups that were against him in the attempts of the rebellion to overthrow him.
3. Police were called to round up copies of the Chadian newspaper "Le Temps," ostensibly because its papers were not in order, but the president took great offence to an article written about him, to the point that he deported the Cameroonian reporter who wrote it. Freedom of the press is being lost, a sign of the times
4. Boys, teens and young men are being rounded up in cities and refugee camps, and brought to training camps in the middle of the desert for military training and forced enlistment.
5. Not to mention the long-standing struggles of Chadians: a difficult hot season, one of the worst health systems in the world, insecurity and troubles.
   

More than ever, Chad needs our prayers. Our desire is that President Déby and his government would have a heart for the welfare of all Chadians, so that they would prosper, and his future would be secured. The suffering innocent Chadians are facing is tremendous. We need a miracle.
For more than a decade we have been praying for change; we are looking to God to help Chad by His grace.

In Chad, the concept of property is not the same as we may be used to.
It is very difficult to obtain land titles, to set boundaries, or even to have a reliable place to live ...
Here's what one of our friends wrote a few days ago:

Dear Families and Friends,
There are at least 2,500 families who have had to abandon their homes. This includes about a total of about 12,000 people. During the past two weeks, the residents of the Jardin d'Essai suburb in the town of Farcha near the capital fought so that their homes would not be destroyed. Every day the news was different: one day the news was, "Everything will be destroyed!", and the next day it would be "The suburb will not be destroyed!"
Two days earlier, the neighborhood was in a festive mood, because we thought we had obtained the victory. But yesterday afternoon, the definitive and overwhelming news came: At 6:00 AM, the bulldozers will be here. "
We worked all night to help some of our friends who lived in the neighborhood. Remove the aluminum roofing, get the wood, doors, and window frames... Everyone worked to recover as much as possible of the construction equipment that made up their homes.
Many people had lived in the neighborhood for 30, 40 or 50 years. Thousands of children were born here, and know nothing more than this, their neighborhood. The trauma the families in this neighborhood are feeling is very significant! This morning, the bulldozers arrived and began their work of destruction. Many voices were raised with opinions about the reasons for this decision, but it is possible that we will never know what the reason was! Only God knows and will judge!

Prayer Requests:

• Pray for all these families who have been driven from their homes.
• Pray for those who do not yet have a place to relocate.
• Pray for the authorities, that they may be guided by God in their decisions.
• Pray without tiring, so that the light of the Gospel would bring real change.
• The Jardin d'Essai Church was also demolished. Pray for the Christians and the Church of Chad who have been hit hard to be salt and light.

Here dear friends is a situation that affects not only a section of the population, but also a church and many of its members.
What to do? As you read, we must pray. But we have also taken the decision to help. The mission will assist the Pastor of the Jardin d'Essai Church.
A steering group was set up in Chad, with an initial list of about thirty families arrested and an initial identification of provisional solutions to this emergency.

To find out how you can financially assist families affected by this tragedy, please visit the AMIP website.

Claire and Stephanie have been released!

Thank you for praying! Two weeks after we began to "storm heaven" together for Claire Dubois and Stephanie, Medical workers in DarFur for Aide Medicale Internationale, they were released from captivity!
Our hope is that the One who has heard us on behalf of Claire and Stephanie Jodoin to turn hearts of the leaders, will also intervene in Chad in this turbulent time.
Read the full article with pictures of Claire and Stephanie, and let us rejoice together!