Prayer Letter

I say this most prayer letters, but I don't really know where the time goes! The last two months have gone by in a blur. I'm extremely thankful that hot season is over for another year. Rainy season has now most definitely arrived, bringing with it lower temperatures (early 30C's) but really high humidity which makes it feel hotter than 30C! It also brings with it a lot of mud and bugs, including mosquitoes. I was chatting with the head lab technician today and he commented that the number of positive malaria tests is now starting to increase, which is normal for this time of year and means that in the pharmacy, we need to be well stocked with medication to treat it. Thankfully, despite some issues with the 'rolling drugs fund' (it's a long story and the situation is being resolved), we have managed to secure and pay for a good supply of high-quality malaria medication at a good price. The government has also supplied us with some free medication to give to people although unfortunately, unlike last year, they have not supplied us with free mosquito nets to give away to pregnant women and children.

Unfortunately, due to banking procedural issues, we are still waiting for the second tranche of the funding for the emergency room (ER) refurbishment. We're hopeful that it is now on its way to Chad though and work can recommence so that it can be finished and be used.

I feel like many of my prayer letter readers are now very invested in how the road tarring is coming along! There's a mixture of news really. The road from Guinebor 2 out to the main tarred road still isn't tarred, but it's holding up a bit better with the rains than I first thought it would, given that the drainage channels on each side are in place, giving the water somewhere to go. However, there is a perpendicular road halfway along the road out from Guinebor 2 to the main road, that has been more-or-less all tarred! This road was started a year before the Guinebor 2 road. Once it's totally finished, it will give us a different route into town, reducing the amount of dirt track we have to navigate by half. So that's a blessing. We're just hoping that they'll soon finish it all so we can take this road! The photo shows the tarred road, which is an exciting development for the people of Guinebor 1 (the village next to Guinebor 2).

Due to the rains and the worsening state of the road, patient numbers have taken their usual dip as they struggle to physically get to G2. Another reason that less patients come to the hospital during rainy season is that they're out in their fields (often far out of the city) planting crops to feed their families and create income.

I have to admit, I am tired! Living and working in a culture that isn't your own, plus the climate of Chad, is energy-zapping. I am grateful that I will have a few days break at another mission's guest house in N'Djamena next week.

Something else that's energy-zapping is the unexpected nature of life here sometimes! You may or may not be aware that one night in June there was an explosion at an ammunition depot not far from the hospital (see BBC report here: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crggre2xj4mo). The biggest blessing for me personally was that I wasn't at my home at the hospital that night, a night that was very traumatising. Every now and then (maybe twice a year!) I do something in the evening in N'Djamena and stay at a friend's house. I can't travel back home alone to the hospital once it's dark for security reasons. The night of the explosion in June happened to be one of those nights. From all accounts of those at the hospital it was extremely scary. At first no-one knew why there were bullets and other ammunition flying over the hospital compound. The government soon got information out that it was a fire at an ammunition depot but then the noise carried on for hours. Gratefully there was no major damage done at the hospital and no-one was hurt. However, Kalbassou's house (next to mine) had a bullet traverse the roof space which was scary for his family. In the typical Chadian sense of resilience, life carried on as normal the next day as if nothing much had happened.

On another personal note, my visa allowing me to be in Chad is due for its annual renewal at the end of August, so prayers that the process goes smoothly are appreciated!

Cleopas has just had a couple of weeks annual leave, so Valerie has been holding the fort in the pharmacy with me as support. She has done well! She and I were asked to monitor the stock room of the lab as a new task, and she learned it all really quickly and well. It is a joy to work with her! Cleopas returns to work tomorrow and then there will be a quick handover before I have three days off next week. Due to other staff in the pharmacy now having annual leave, Valerie will not be able to deputise for Cleopas until January 2025, as she's required to cover the annual leave of the other pharmacy staff members. Life and work ebbs and flows!

Something else I've recently been involved with is working with my colleague Debbie to secure supplies from the USA. She is currently in the USA and due to come to Chad in August. There are certain things that just aren't available in Chad and so Debbie will bring them to us. One thing we've been working on for her to bring is a replacement mobile xray unit (the part that takes the picture). Our current one has some technical problems rendering it difficult for our xray technician to get a good picture. The unit that takes the picture is not very big or heavy and so Debbie will bring it in a suitcase from the USA. This has involved a lot of communication with the kind supplier in the USA (who supports many mission hospitals around the world), the finance and admin team (to ensure we've enough money to pay for the unit) and Debbie (to ensure she's able to physically bring it).

Praise and prayer points

Praise points:

Hot season has finished

Access to good quality affordable malaria medicines for the upcoming season

Progress on the roads

Protection of the hospital during the explosion at the ammunition depot

Valerie managing the pharmacy well in Cleopas's absence

Prayer points:

People would be able to get to the hospital when they're ill despite the roads, especially those with malaria, that they would come early for treatment

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

Good few days break next week (renewed energy)

That my annual visa renewal would go smoothly at the end of August

That the supplies Debbie brings from the USA would arrive safely with no issues

My next newsletter is likely to be written from the UK as I return for home assignment during September. It will be great to see many of you, thank you to those who've invited me to speak at their church/group. I'm sorry that I was not able to fulfil all the requests for me to speak, it just wasn't possible practically. Below are the places I am speaking at while in the UK, feel free to come along and hear about what God is doing here at G2 Hospital!

Thank you for your ongoing support, it means so much!

Blessings

Claire

UK home assignment visits 2024

Sunday 6 October – lunch/early afternoon event – Upton Vale Baptist Church, Torquay

Tuesday 8 October – 7.30pm – South Molton Baptist Church

Wednesday 9 October – 7.45pm – Kirkwall Baptist Church, Orkney (online)

Sunday 13 October – 10.30am – Sutton Baptist Church

Sunday 13 October – evening meeting – Folkestone Baptist Church

Monday 14 October – evening meeting – Brighton Road Baptist Church, Horsham

Tuesday 15 October – 2.30pm – Church Crookham Baptist Church, Fleet

Wednesday 16 October – 9am – South London group of Northumbria Community (online)

Saturday 19 October – 10am – Eastwood Baptist Church, Nottingham

Sunday 20 October – 10.30am – Stoneygate Baptist Church, Leicester

Sunday 20 October – 4pm – Desford Free Church

Thursday 24 October – 7pm – Moriah Baptist Church, Risca

Friday 25 October – 6.30pm – Lydbrook Baptist Church

Sunday 27 October – 10.30am – Carey Baptist Church, Preston

Friday 1 November – evening meeting – Wellington Baptist Church

Sunday 3 November – 10.45am – Higham Way Baptist Church

Sunday 3 November – 4pm – LBC Earl Shilton