UNHCR Compound, Abeche

The UN compound in Abeche is something of an oasis. I’m currently sitting on a wooden table underneath a straw roof providing shade from the hot afternoon sun. The 14-seater WFP (World Food Program) flight across from Ndjamena takes just 90 minutes, and we disembark into the now searing heat rebounding off the tarmac runway. Our friends from UNHCR greet us warmly and we go through the process of dutifully presenting our credentials and permits to travel to the jovial police commissar at the airport station. And then we are off into Abeche.

It's fair to say that the town is not blessed with a picturesque location, or a range of historical buildings, but it has quite an atmosphere. Low level, sandy-coloured buildings, surrounded by high ochre-coloured walls. Unmade streets passable only by black nosed donkeys, goats or 4x4’s. A thriving, colourful market selling everything from melons to motorbikes, and offering haircuts alongside 10 foot stacks of mattresses. The UNHCR compound is down a side street and is something like an airport departure lounge – British, French, Dutch, Chadian, Cameroonian and American aid workers jostle, congregate, meet, share news, swap information, come and go all day. A meeting with the head of the UNHCR programme here follows a meeting with the local head of the Government Livestock service. It's clear that, as we learned in May, there is a real enthusiasm and need for SPANA’s involvement in drawing up a strategy for livestock in the region. A strategy is needed, so that the crucial resource of livestock for the people is safeguarded and strengthened. As the sun sinks lower in the sky, we talk about the challenge ahead, and the big area we have to cover in order to meet the challenge that has been set for us. Tomorrow will see us meet with representatives of charities working on the ground. The lights come on and the sky burns orange.
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Evening – When we travel to places like this, we always have to accept (and are grateful for) the accommodation that’s provided. That said, we always hope for a comfy bed and a shower. In El Fasher in Darfur, we gritted our teeth at the terrifying toilets (more insects that London Zoo), and in Mandera in Kenya, our guest house was a converted prison, and the cells our bedrooms.

Here in Abeche, we are staying in a guest house run by the German aid agency, GTZ. It's at least a four star on the SPANA approval rating. Even the fact that the light in the shower wasn’t working was a plus, since it disguised the fact that there was a spider the size of an octopus lurking by the plug hole. On a quick stroll round the compound before turning in I disturb a toad, of which there are a large number seemingly brought out because of the recent heavy rains. This one decides to leap acrobatically six feet into the bottom of a vehicle inspection pit, from which he glares accusingly up at me. I can’t leave him there to an oily fate, so after negotiating greasy engine blocks and buckets of black sump oil I liberate Mr (or Mrs…) Toad and turn in.