Prayer Letter

Another two months have flown by! One word sums up the last two months….HOT! By all accounts, this year's hot season has been the hottest, longest hot season that many can remember. Trying to function in the heat is challenging and now that most people are fairly sleep-deprived, after two months of not sleeping well because of the heat, it's starting to take its toll. Many say that there are people dying due to the heat. We have had one rain so far (last week) which gave 24 hours of relief but now it's back to being hot again!

Since my last newsletter, my new BMS colleague Lucia went back to Brazil to see her family for the first time in 2 years and so I was tasked with trying to keep an eye on the new finance procedures. Finance is really not my thing, so I did my best and things seemed to go ok! Initiating any change is complicated in many respects and cross-cultural work adds another dimension to it all. The team is doing well with it all and we're seeing some positive progress.

The work on the emergency room (ER) is progressing but has now come to a standstill as we wait for the next tranche of money from the donor (this is standard procedure for them). We're praying the money comes through soon so that the work can be finished and we can have an ER again. Having an ER working out of one of the wards really is only a temporary measure given the location of the wards. The photo shows how far the ER extension has gotten so far.

The road to the hospital still hasn't been tarred, which is a real disappointment. Not sure how it's going to fare during the rains which are due very soon, it's likely going to be in a worse state than it was before any work was started on it!

At the end of April I was able to have a 10-day holiday outside of Chad with friends. It meant a break from the intense heat which I really appreciated! It was a good rest and I came back refreshed.

The presidential elections took place on 6 May as planned. They passed largely peacefully and surprisingly the internet was not cut on election day. The provisional results came out earlier than expected on 9 May and were confirmed a week later. The man who's been the transitional president for the last 3 years (the previous president's son) was declared the winner, with 61% of the vote. There have been accusations that it was not a totally transparent process. However, he was invested on 23 May and the country continues on pretty much as it has for the last few years. We're grateful that the whole process passed off relatively peacefully. On 22 May, the day before the president was invested, the UK foreign office made a statement about the election. You can read it (and between the lines) at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chad-elections-uk-statement

Cleopas and Valerie continue to work well together in managing the pharmacy, which frees me up to do some of my other, mainly managerial, tasks. On the management team front, it's a joy to now have one of the Chadian doctors and the Chadian head nurse on the management team. It means our meetings are always done in French now (previously they were held in English), which is fine, but it gives me a bit more to think about when I'm writing up the notes of the weekly meetings, in French! There are now more Africans on the management team than there are Europeans/Americans, which is great and the direction we want things to go in.

G2 continues to be well used by local people. It's a privilege to serve alongside my international colleagues and the 120 Chadian staff to keep the hospital running as well as we can.

Praise and prayer points

Praise points:

A good break out of Chad in April

The elections passing without major incident and political stability

Cleopas and Valerie managing the pharmacy well

More locals on the management team

Progress made on the ER extension and refurbishment

Prayer points:

Energy and a positive mindset in the extreme heat

Continued wisdom for the team implementing the new finance procedures

That the next tranche of money would soon be received from the donor so we can continue with the work on the ER

That there would be some progress with the tarring of the road to the hospital before the rains really start

Continued peace in Chad despite some discontent with the election result among locals

Thank you for your ongoing prayers for both me and for the work at the hospital, it really is appreciated!

God bless

Claire