“Do not try to cook the goat’s young in the goat’s milk.” — Chadian proverb.
Kind of disturbing, I know, but there aren’t an excess of Chadian proverbs.
Village in Chad
Sawyer did a report on Chad in the first grade. This is what he remembers: “They live in straw and manure huts. And there’s not very much people.”
Grammar aside, he was way into it. That was three years ago, before Africa really caught my eye. I don’t remember much about it, either, so here goes.
Interesting facts about Chad:
1. Because Chad is so far away from any sea and has a desert climate, the country is often called the “Dead heart of Africa.”
2. Chad gained its independence from France in 1960.
3. Chad has about 10.3 million residents and is the fifth largest country in Africa (about three times the size of California).
Sudanese refugees outside the Obama School in Chad. The sign on the school says "Obama."
4. There’s a school for Sudanese refugees in Djabal, Chad, that renamed itself the Obama School. They hope President Obama will help end the genocide in their country so they can go home. So do I.
5. Chad has the 16th highest birth rate in the world — and the 15th highest death rate. Infant mortality rate is 11th highest in the world, with almost 99 deaths per 1,000 births.
6. Millet is a staple food in Chad. They even make beer out of it.
7. Football (soccer here in the States) is the country’s favorite sport.
8. 25 percent of the population is literate (40.8 percent of males, 12.8 percent of females).
9. More than a quarter of a million Sudanese refugees, fleeing genocide in their own country, have fled to Chad.
10. The New York Times calls Chad “one of Africa’s most unstable regions.” In Africa, that’s saying a lot.
11. Almost 47 percent of everyone living in Chad is age 15 or younger.
A former street child being helped by Caring for Kaela.
How to help:
• A $32 montly donation to the Christian-based Caring for Kaela helps the organization take a child off the streets and give him or her education, health-care, and social skills.
• A donation to Caritas helps one of the 235 women in the Al-Nadjah Centre, in the city of Adré, about 5 kilometers from the border of Sudan’s Darfur region. Women in Chad generally stop going to school about the time of puberty. The Centre teaches these women to knit and produce food so they can support themselves and their families.
I’ve been reading your blog since reading about it in the Dallas newspaper. I love what you are doing, and thank you for sharing it with others.
I just wanted to let you know of an organization that is actively taking care of orphans in several African countries. It is called the Rafiki Foundation.
Website: http://www.rafiki-foundation.org/
Thanks so much for reading and for the link. I hadn’t heard of it and look forward to checking out the link. I’ll have to mention it on my blog in the future.
Off to cook dinner!
Dawn