Numo dinaa du, Ndjamena wunigi (of all the cities in the world N’Djamena is the hottest)

You may remember that heavy rains led to exceptionally severe flooding of Bardai and the destruction of the mud-brick built church that was high on a rocky outcrop in the wadi. The tin roof that somehow survived the flood, was temporarily propped up and the congregation has continued to meet at the same site. Pastor Isaaka and the eldership drew up a plan and estimates for rebuilding with cement and breeze blocks. BMS gave a grant of £5000 that should cover a third of the cost, another mission contributed and the congregation also raised some funds. The BMS funds were quickly used in January and February to purchase cement, metal and wood from the local market. It also was used to hire trucks to transport suitable sand and gravel from outside the town. Lots of thought was given to the rebuilding site and as it wasn't possible to get title deeds for land marginally higher up on the same rock, it was decided to rebuild in the same place.

The congregation has a number of members who are masons and builders. They have come to Bardai to help with the building boom as local Teda families that have profited from the gold to replace their traditional homes using more modern techniques. The masons have been engaged to rebuild the church and are making excellent progress. The new build has impressive foundations which are sat on the rock, which now has a deep coating of dried mud. These will raise the church floor about 1.5m above the previous level and just before Easter it was time to fill the void with rocks and earth before starting on the walls. Unfortunately, the caterpillar earth movers that had initially helped clear the site were no longer 'available' and it seemed that the rapid progress would be blocked, but the men, women and children of the church responded amazingly. Using barrows and buckets they spent Easter Monday and Tuesday doing the job manually. I heard yesterday that they are now making rapid progress on the walls.

Meanwhile, at the hospital, Dr Abdelkerim has some good news. The emergency department currently is in two small rooms between the wards each big enough for one bed or dressing table. Two years ago, we finalised the plans for a new emergency department at the Ministry of Health with a skilled technician. The same man, Lipelba, was delegated by the Secretary General to get the renewal of our Invitation to work at Bardai signed by the Minister. The letter duly arrived, but the project to build the emergency department looked like it had been kicked in to long grass or, more accurately, the sand trap. To our astonishment, last week a team arrived and they have started building. We haven't yet got a picture. This will be a major and much needed improvement.

Dr Abdelkerim is still the only doctor in Bardai, which will keep him busy as he is also the hospital director. Last Friday he was organising a polio vaccination campaign when he had a flying visit from the Minister of health and his staff. The Minister found that they had only 5 doses of Scorpion venom anti serum, a quick phone call and a thousand doses were released from the National Pharmacy and we were able to send them to Bardai on a MAF flight on Monday. Unfortunately the same was not true for Leishmaniasis drugs as the National stock has been exhausted. They only have about 2 months supply left in Bardai.

Meanwhile in N'Djamena, having missed the visit of the Minister to Bardai, we have contacted Lipelba this week at the Ministry of Health and he is helping us with the renewal of our invitation letter.

And finally, a news story from an agency. Since 2018 there has been a standoff between the Chadian government and the area around the gold rich area around the village of Miski. Initially the crisis began when the government sent the army to take control of the area but the local people fought back with a local Auto-defence Force and there was a subsequent army withdrawal from the mountainous area with a blockade of access to the area from the South. After prolonged negotiations a peace and reconciliation agreement was signed at the Governor's office in Bardai on the 20th April. Hopefully this can generally improve security and make the gold mines safer for those who work in them.

We thank God for:

-the good news of the new Emergency department under construction

-the newly signed peace treaty

-the enthusiasm of the church for the rebuilding

Please pray for:

-Dr Abdelkerim that he may have the energy for his multiple jobs and that a doctor may arrive to help him

-that Lipelba can get the invitation letter for the next 2 years signed easily by the Minister

-that we may soon be invited to the UK for the procedure on Mark's heart

With love Mark and Andrea