Boule

Boule with meat sauce

What is Boule?

That white stuff on the left of this photo is boule (pronounced bool), Chad's staple food.  It is made of any of several types of ground grain, mixed with water to make a sort of pasty substance somewhat like thick mashed potatoes. Many other African countries eat this sort of thing too, though it has different names depending on the regional language.  The word boule is French, meaning ball, referring to the way it is shaped into a rounded form before serving.

In some parts of Africa, boule is nearly always made from manioc, but in Chad, it can be made from any of various grains, such as rice, maize, and various kinds of millet, as well as manioc.  This is good for the Chadians, as manioc isn't all that nutritious, so this means they get a better variety in their diet.

Whatever grain it is made from, boule is pretty bland by itself, but it is always served with an accompanying sauce.  This is where things start to get more interesting!  There are many types of sauces in Chad.  Okra (known in Chad as gumbo) is one of the most common, and produces a green sauce which tastes okay, though I was a bit nervous eating it at first!  Some sauces are very good; my favorites are meat-based (usually beef or goat), and fresh fish sauce, though you usually have to pick around lots of bones.  Others are not so much to my taste, such as those based on dried fish, and - my personal least favorite - long sauce, a grey, slimy, stringy sauce that is served cold and looks ... well, let's just say ... inedible.

Eating Boule

Eating boule out of a communal dish.

So, how do you eat it?  Well, it's a pretty straightforward process. You just break off a chunk of boule with your right hand, roll it into a ball, dip it in the sauce, and put it in your mouth. It's kind of like eating mashed potatoes and gravy, except that you dip the food into the gravy instead of pouring the gravy over it.

To some folks, what might seem not as easy to adjust to is the fact that traditionally in Chad, most meals are eaten with the fingers, out of a communal dish. Notice the five boys in this photo; there is a single chunk of boule and bowl of sauce, which they are all eating from, with their fingers.

Does that sound like a risky practice?  Well, yes, I suppose it is.  Yet all the same, is it really so different from eating practices at your home?  How often have you shared a bowl of potato chips or a tray of veggies-and-dip with other people?  Maybe with dozens of people, at church potlucks or birthday parties.  Are you sure that everyone's hands were clean before they started eating?  Don't get me wrong; I'm not trying to gross anyone out or convince them not to share finger food.  I'm just saying that sometimes, our own habits aren't as different from the Chadians' customs as we think they are.

Handwashing

Washing hands in a basin.

Now, here's one of the interesting differences about living in Chad.  If I'm grabbing chips out of a bowl at that church potluck, I can't really be sure whether the 15 people ahead of me who had their fingers in that bowl washed their hands.  But when sharing a dish of boule in Chad, I can usually be absolutely confident that everyone there has washed their hands, because I saw them do it.

In Chad, running water isn't always available or convenient, but handwashing is important, and Chadians know that as well as you do.  So it is normal custom for the host to bring a teapot-like container full of water, a basin, and a bar of soap.  The host will pour the water over your hands while you soap up, scrub and rinse.  Even if there are a lot of people, everyone lines up to wash their hands before touching any food.  In many cases, the water is even heated.  We couldn't do better than that, even if we had taps with hot-and-cold running water!

Don't eat with your left hand

Always shake hands with your right hand.

This is a piece of Chadian etiquette that may seem strange at first.  But it is an important rule to remember, in Chad and in many other places in the world: eat boule with your right hand.  Shake hands only with the right hand; if that hand is dirty or holding something, don't offer your left hand; instead, offer your right wrist or elbow (the only exception to this would be if your right hand or arm was injured in some way).

Why all this concern about the right hand?  Actually, it makes perfect sense when you understand the reason for it.  As I said earlier, running water isn't always available, even after doing certain dirty tasks.  A common hygiene practice in areas where this is a problem is to reserve the left hand for doing dirty things.  So the right hand is the "clean" hand, used for eating and greeting people, to avoid spreading all those germs on the "dirty" left hand.  If you imagine seeing someone pick their nose and then reach into the chip bowl, you will get the idea how rude it would be in Chad to eat or shake hands with the left hand.

 "I couldn't eat Chadian food; I'm a picky eater."

Hygiene and etiquette aside, by now you may have gotten the idea that Chadian food sounds so strange that you could never bring yourself to eat it.  Perhaps you are a picky eater, avoiding spinach and broccoli and brussels sprouts like the plague, or choking down cooked carrots or peas only with a valiant effort.  If you were faced with a dish of sticky white boule and slimy green gumbo sauce, you're sure it would really do you in.

Believe me, I understand.  I always had a lengthy list of foods I didn't like: spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, zucchini ... it went on and on.  So how have I managed to eat strange-looking dishes in foreign countries?  Well, I'll admit it, it isn't always easy.  But it helps to remember that eating Chadian food is one of the easiest ways to demonstrate to Chadians that you accept their culture, and that you like them and want to continue a relationship with them.  They will feel honored, loved, and appreciated.  So if I will bring myself to eat this food, it is, in a sense, a ministry to the people I am with. (Besides, you never know; it just might be pretty tasty!)

However, the question still remains, why in the world did God call such a picky eater as Anna Beth Wivell to a place like Chad, where the food is so different from what I was used to, yet I must learn to eat it anyway?  All I can say is ... God has a sense of humor.
;-) 

Domestic Animals of Chad

Cattle are a common road hazard

Sometimes I am asked about what sorts of animals I see in Chad.  I'm not likely to see any large wild animals outside of national parks (and maybe not so much even inside a park, since they suffer from a lot of illegal poaching).  But domestic animals are everywhere in southern Chad, and most of them are allowed to roam freely around the villages and across the roads (except in the rainy season, when they are kept contained a bit better so as to keep them out of people's fields and gardens).  But in spite of the traffic hazard they pose, animals are important in Chad.  Here, animals are not really pets; they provide the people with food, transportation, a source of income, or a means of protection from thieves or vermin.

Chadian cattle are huge, but usually placid

Cattle

Usage: Meat, draft animal
Attitude toward approaching vehicles: "This is my road. I have the right of way."

Chadian cattle are huge creatures with humped shoulders and formidable, lyre-shaped horns.  But thankfully, they are usually placid animals.  Usually, cattle are kept in herds, tended by boys as young as 6 or 7 years old.

Young boys tend herds of cattle

One of the main uses of cattle is for their meat.  The other is as draft animals: cattle are used to pull plows (in the planting season) and carts with heavy loads.

Herds of cattle, driven by their cattle boys, are common sights on the roads in rural Chad, crossing the road or walking along it.  You wouldn't want to hit one - they are so big that I'm not sure who would be the winner of that contest!  And they know it too; they aren't the least worried by approaching vehicles, and if the herd boy doesn't make them move out of the way, they might just not bother.

Camels

You aren't likely to see any camels around Sarh, but I have often seen them on the outskirts of the capital, N'Djamena.  As you get further north, into the Sahara Desert, no doubt you'd see many more.  They are typically kept by Muslims.

Horses

Carts are a common sight throughout Chad

Usage: riding and draft animal
Attitude toward approaching vehicles: "I'm just following my rider's instructions."

Horses are usually kept by Muslims, both for riding and for pulling carts.  In Sarh, you won't see camels but you will see a fair number of horses.  They are more expensive to keep than donkeys and less hardy, but they can pull heavier loads.  They usually aren't allowed to roam freely, so aren't too much of a traffic hazard as long as the rider or cart driver is doing his job right.

Mules

I've never actually seen mules in Chad, as they are not usually kept around Sarh.  I wouldn't have even known they existed in Chad, if it hadn't been for the need to translate the word for "mule" several times last year in the course of my Bible translation work.  One language had used the word for "donkey", but after a bit of discussion, we were able to find a word for "mule".  However, it isn't something the translators normally see in the area where they live.  Some months later, one translator traveled to the town of Goundi, a good distance north of Sarh, and saw mules for the first time.  In our next workshop, he excitedly told me how interesting it had been to see them for himself, after we had discussed them in our workshop earlier that year.

Donkeys

Usage: riding and draft animal
Attitude toward approaching traffic: "I'll do what I like, thank you."

Donkeys are used for pulling carts and sometimes for riding.  They are hardy but not so strong as oxen or horses, so they seem to get the worst of it for draft animals in Chad - I've so often seen them being made to pull loads that look way too much for them, but they just keep plodding away faithfully. 

Donkeys usually are kept close to home when not pulling carts, but not always; sometimes they do roam about freely, and when they do, it is wise for nearby vehicles to watch out.  Donkeys tend to be unpredictable on the road, and may decide to run into the middle of the road just in front of an approaching vehicle.

Chadian sheep are hairy, not wooly

Sheep

Usage: meat
Attitude toward oncoming traffic: "What am I supposed to do?"

We call them "sheep" but they are really something between sheep and goats.  They are distinct from goats in appearance and behavior, but they are hairy, not wooly.  So they are used for meat and not for making clothing.

Chadian "sheep" are rather goatish creatures

Sheep roam freely all over the place, and they can be real hazards on the roads.  They do see a vehicle coming and want to get out of the way, but just don't seem to know how to do it.  So much for the intelligence of sheep!

Goats

Usage: meat
Attitude toward oncoming traffic: "Time to move, folks!"

Chadian goats can be a nuisance

Goats are usually a little shorter-legged than sheep and have short horns.  But like sheep, they roam freely most of the time, and they like to make nuisances of themselves sneaking into my backyard to eat leaves and things from my trees. They are more skittish and quick-witted than sheep, and they do the best of any animal in avoiding traffic.  Even if they are inattentive and don't notice the vehicle right away, a quick honk of the horn is enough to remind them to get out of the way.

Dogs

My coworker's dog was part-Chadian

Usage: Burglar alarm
Attitude toward oncoming traffic: "Hey, interesting smell .... Whoops, there's a truck!"

Dogs are kept in Chad as a sort of guard dog, but mainly to make noise; they will normally not attack people.  Unlike dogs in Europe, America, and Australia, they don't really come in different breeds, but are all of a rather similar breed: medium-sized and short-haired, with long legs and slender bodies, usually some shade of yellow or yellow-and-white or black-and-white.

My coworker's dog, Normandy, was part-Chadian dog and part-Labrador and was almost all black, which is an unusual color for dogs in Chad.  She was also a bit shorter and stockier than most Chadian dogs, so her somewhat unusual appearance made people look twice at her.

Dogs usually keep out of the way of traffic pretty well - when they are paying attention.  They have a tendency to get distracted by interesting smells or tasty scraps on the road.  On the side roads or rural villages that see less frequent vehicle traffic, it's not unusual for dogs to take a nice nap on the road.  I don't know why the road is such a good place for that!

Pigs

Usage: meat
Attitude toward approaching traffic: "Okay, I'll move!"

Some Chadians keep pigs, but I and my coworkers don't eat them because pig's meat has a risk of disease unless it is specially processed.  We have plenty of other kinds of meat around here without risking that.

Pigs do alright at avoiding traffic, but they don't always move very fast so one has to be careful.  You wouldn't want to run over a pig.  Cattle and donkeys would just mess up the front of your truck, but the low-slung, plump body of a pig could flip it over, and that would not be cool.

Ducks

Usage: Eggs, meat
Attitude toward approaching traffic: "What truck?"

Ducks are kept for their eggs and I believe for their meat as well.  When it comes to vehicles, they just don't get it.  They'll just keep on waddling along right under the wheels of the truck, without even changing their pace.  So it's up to the vehicle's driver to watch out for them.

Chickens and guinea fowl

Usage: Meat, eggs
Attitude toward oncoming traffic: "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!"

Many Chadians raise chickens for extra income

Chickens are everywhere in Chad.  Even in town, some people keep them to provide a bit of extra income.  But if you crave a fried chicken dinner in Chad, be forewarned: there are a few more steps involved here.  You see, in Chad, you'll usually buy your chicken live, fully feathered and clucking or crowing.  It's up to you to kill, pluck, clean, gut, and cook it!

Don't feel bad.  I couldn't do that either.  Besides, I haven't got the time!  This is a good example of one reason why missionaries and other expats in Chad hire cooks: kitchen work is just a lot more complicated and time-consuming there.

Chickens are almost as good as goats at avoiding traffic, as they are panicky critters who run like mad when a vehicle gets near.  It wouldn't be easy to hit one, though it does happen.

Guinea fowl look like ugly chickens, with bald heads and grey bodies with white spots.  Their meat is darker and sort of greasier than chicken (guinea fowl is not my top favorite meat).  Their eggs are smaller than most chicken eggs, more rounded on the big end and more pointy on the small end, with a rich golden-yellow yolk.  The eggs are really delicious, so I guess guinea fowl are good for something! ;-)

Cats

Usage: Killing vermin
Attitude toward oncoming traffic: "Yikes! Get me outta here!"

Cats are kept to control vermin

Chadians don't think of cats as cuddly pets, but they do like to have them around their property to keep down the vermin population.  They are also effective at producing kittens: there isn't any good way to neuter cats in southern Chad.  My coworkers' cat, Moose, has about two litters a year.  But as there is always a high demand for vermin-killers, there is never any difficulty in distributing them.

Life is rough for Chadian cats, as it is for all animals in Chad, and usually you'd be doing well to keep a cat for a year before it disappears, having fallen victim to one of the many dangers to cats in Africa.  However, there are exceptions: Moose must be a good 6 years old by now, and one Chadian friend told me his cat lived for 15 years before finally dying of old age. 

Cats tend to stick around the house looking for vermin, and not wander about the roads too much, but when they do come onto the road and see a vehicle approaching, they aren't usually inclined to stick around for long.


So there are the domestic animals of Chad!  Nuisances, wandering over the roads and getting in the way of vehicles; yet useful, allowing many Africans to have income and transportation.  And after even a short time in Chad, it is always strange to return to a developed country and drive down the road for mile after mile without seeing a single cow, camel, horse, donkey, sheep, goat, dog, pig, duck, chicken, guinea fowl, or cat!

A little about Chadian roads

Chad isn't known for its impressive road system.  Actually, it has historically been better known for having terrible roads.  Not many years ago, hardly any roads were paved, and many - paved or not - were in disrepair.  That is still true of much of the road system in Chad, but they are improving, at least in some ways.

This was the road from the village of Balimba to the town of Sarh in January 2011.  Back then, it was unpaved, though a pretty good road anyway. But since then, it has not only been paved, but there are streetlights (powered by solar panels) all along the way.

Here's a paved street on the outskirts of Sarh in February 2013.

 This is a street in downtown Sarh. The dust is normal and unavoidable in the dry season. They do sweep it occasionally, but it never stays dust-free for long.

Not all streets are paved, even many major streets.  And residential areas are almost all unpaved.  This is usually one of the busier streets in Sarh, as that is the market on the left, but it was taken early in the morning before the market was open so it was still quiet. Anyhow, this road has an uncomfortably uneven surface, but at least this street is wide and usually pretty clean so there is plenty of room for traffic.  I hear there are plans to pave it eventually.

This is a quite recently paved section of the road to N'Djamena.  It isn't this smooth the whole way, but it is good for quite a large portion of the way, which sure makes travel time faster.  As it is, the trip takes at least 12 hours.  I don't like to imagine how long and uncomfortable this trip must have been when that whole road was unpaved.

The road is paved from N'Djamena all the way to Sarh, and there are plans to continue paving it to Kyabe, a town 150 km or so east of Sarh. That part of the road has to cross the river in several places.  Not long ago, there was no bridge here; you had to cross on a ferry, just to the right of the bridge where the line of trees starts.  The ferry is still there, but now there is a nice bridge, and travel on the road to Kyabe is much easier.

Roads in Africa are often an interesting adventure, and Chad is no exception.  Even on freshly paved roads, there is always the problem of traffic, which includes animals and people as well as vehicles.  And not all of them will be traveling on the proper side of the road, or watching where they're going, or looking both ways before crossing!  But that is a subject for another post!

April Prayer Letter

April 2014

G’day from Australia!  It’s not very often that I have the opportunity to write to you from this corner of the world – in fact, it has been six years since I last visited Australia!  My time here is going by quickly, but I have greatly appreciated the break.  I’m looking forward to heading back to Chad in a few weeks much refreshed, to continue the work that the Lord has given me to do there.
 

February Workshop

In late February, I spent a week with the Sara Madjingaye translation team, checking the books of Jonah, Micah, Nahum, and Habakkuk.  I was a bit nervous coming into this workshop, since I am still quite inexperienced, and I knew that one of the translators can be a complicated person to work with.  I also expected that some of the passages we were working with would be challenging to translate.  The 100°F / 38°C heat was another challenge we had to deal with as we tried to work.  However, in spite of the challenges, the workshop went quite well, and we finished our work well ahead of schedule.
 

Mini-furlough in Australia

It has been a tremendous blessing to spend these weeks with my parents and friends here in Australia.  I am thankful to have the opportunity to rest and enjoy a bit of sightseeing, as well as reporting to the churches and individuals here that have been supporting me and praying for me.  Being in a developed country also allows me to get some needed medical and dental checkups, and I’m very thankful for good reports from each one.  I’ve also been able to stock up on antimalarial medication, fresh contact lenses, and supplies of various other things that are difficult to get in southern Chad.  Praise the Lord with me for all His blessings on this trip so far, and thank you for your continued prayers for the rest of my stay in Australia.  I am scheduled to fly back to Chad on May 14.
 

Future Workshops

I will busy again as soon as I return to Chad, as my next workshop is scheduled for the last two weeks of May.  Lord willing, I will be working with the Sara Kaba Dem translators to check the book of 2 Kings, and if we have time, we may start on the book of 1 Chronicles.  The translator, Job Hondo, has been through many trials with the failing health of his wife.  She was in and out of hospitals for a long time, but the Lord finally took her home to be with Him in late January.  Pray for Job and his family as they adjust to life without their mother and spouse, and for Job as he continues the translation work.

In Christ's Service,
Anna Beth Wivell