Wifi antenna issues

The rainy season in N'Djamena takes it toll on everything.  I am one of the lucky ones in the city that have a solid house and a roof that doesn't leak.  I can't complain much because most of my neighbors have dirt floors and many of their compounds have been under a foot or more of water for the past month.  

I haven't been able to blog much because my wifi antenna was destroyed by the rain.  It was supposed to be all-weather and had a warranty (in the USA)  but it wasn't Africa-Proof.  The first time it died (in July) I assumed water dripped onto the powersupply that was indoors and shorted it out.  Fortunately I had a second powersupply that I was able to use and this time I had it covered and off the ground to prevent another short-out.  

It worked fine for a couple weeks but then quit working again in a torrential rain storm.  When I went to check it out the next morning I found the powersupply box again was full of water.  The only thing that made sense (since the box was elevated 3 feet off the ground and the CAT-V cable to the box made an upward sweep from the ground to the box is that somehow the cable was penetrated at the top and the cable had been acting like a straw.

To test my theory I disconnected the cable (after getting a shock because it was still plugged into the wall outlet) and water started pouring out.  I nicked the cable at the low point and more water streamed out.  

Since I had already used my backup powersupply (i thought i was planning ahead with one spare) it took me a while to find another one of the same voltage, but I vented the wire and the low point & so far its been working!

Food Travel Tips

When traveling abroad westerners have to be careful about what they eat as their delicate constitutions are used to a sterilized diet of well cooked/prepared foods.  There are abundant food safety regulations in America and in other western countries that are actually enforced so Americans are used to being able to trust their food.  That is not always the case overseas.

If someone gets sick its usually from the salad or vegetables.  Salads would usually be the safe commendable healthy choice in the US, but abroad they are often a cause of intestinal distress because they may not be cleaned well or may have been washed in dirty water.  I know a local neighborhood where a lot of salad and vegetables are produced near the banks of the river but they get their water for the plants from the same muddy water that the neighborhood kids use as a toilet.  

Health experts (and experienced expats) recommend soaking your vegetables in a strong bleach solution for at least 30 minutes.  Unless you are going to high end restaurants where they can take the time to soak the vegetables its not worth eating your veggies.

Be careful of fast food or convenience food items.  A good friend of mine tells the story of when she was flying from Addis to Dakar and during a layover she was hungry and wanted a quick snack.  So she grabbed a warm yogurt container from a cooler that had its lights off.  At the time she thought the lights were off in the cooler because the light bulb had burned out, not because the cooler was not powered.  She said the yogurt tasted ok but a little off, but since she was hungry she ate the whole thing.  The next part of her flight was terrible and she could not stray far from the toilet for days.

In reviewing her warm airport yogurt decision she realized she made a couple mistakes. You can’t always trust dairy products as the milk may not have been pasteurized and the yogurt she bought had a label that was mostly written in a language she could not understand.  Many of these convenience items may have been prepared well in advance and been sitting around in the heat or open for hours or days. She also said she should have been alarmed when she felt that the container was warm and the flavor was off.  However, temperature may not always be an indicator as the item may have spent the day in the heat and only recently been cooled.  Of course, the broken cooler was another indicator that she should have made a difference choice.

Its generally a good idea to avoid street food if you are not accustomed to the particular items.  For me, its an acceptable risk if you have an idea of what you are eating, its fresh, and the item is cooked completely through in front of you.  For example, I love deep fried meat pastries straight from the boiling oil.  Pieces of meat on a stick straight off the fire and cooked completely have a good chance of not making you sick.  Also look at how the food is handled as fresh hot cooked food dropped in the dirt or handled directly with filthy hands can get you sick too.

One day when a good friend and I were traveling through the grassy hills above Lake Malawi a bunch of kids ran up to our vehicle and tried to sell us some food that they had just caught and cooked.  What they were selling could be described as “mouse ka-bobs” as they had eight to ten mice stuck between slender twisted branches that they smoked over small fires by the side of the road.  The mice looked plump but they smelled like they hadn’t been completely cooked through so we decided to find something else to eat.

Anybody that has traveled in Africa, South America, or Asia can share similar stories.  Its kinda funny to hear the new guy complain that he shouldn’t have eaten the street-side camel on his first day in N’Djamena (was also his first day in Africa).  Some take longer to learn than others, like my friend that got E. Coli his first week in N’Djamena from partially cooked meat, massive gastric distress the following week from eating shrimp in a local restaurant (never eat seafood far from the sea), then a couple weeks later got giardia and amoebic dysentery from poorly packaged locally produced cheese and dried meats.

Male & Female Genital Mutilation

I am feeling conflicted about female genital mutilation (FGM) today after reading that male circumcision is considered the same and also has detrimental effects.  People die from botched operations for both male and female but male circumcision is being promoted in Africa and other places as a way to slow the spread of HIV/AIDS.  But also both genital modifications are critical to their cultures.  

For males and females its a way of identifying who belongs to what groups or in some cases demonstrates their religious beliefs.  In most cases the modification takes place before the person is able to consent or object so its not like they have a lot of choice in the matter.  In American culture many parents make the decision to circumcise their sons, but daughters are spared.  In some African cultures, among others around the world, the daughters are circumcised as well.  In South Africa circumcision rituals recently made headlines when 30 young men passing through a circumcision and coming of age ritual died due to botched procedures.

Its interesting to think about how many cry out against FGM but circumcise their sons or are circumcised themselves.  To be clear, I have never been for FGM and still don’t support it.  However, thinking about it in the same light as male circumcision I feel more compassionate and understanding.  Should we just let cultures do their own thing and not judge?  Should parents just leave their kids alone until they are old enough to make their own choice?  I feel that many would opt-out if they were given the chance.

Community

I have lived outside of the United States for more than a 1/3d of my life, in Europe, South America, Asia, and now Africa and never really thought much about a specific community before this week.  When I was in Brazil I tried to become a Brazilian.  In Senegal I had great Senegalese friends who invited me out to the village I still consider some to be good friends.  Europe was easy to make friends and there was tons to do.  However, here in Chad there isn't as much to do and there doesn't seem to be as close of relations between Westerners and locals.  The Chadians I work with a great, but are clear to keep professional and personal lives separate.  

So it seems I am forced to turn inwards to the international community of NGO workers and this is an odd bunch.  Perhaps I didn’t notice it as much in other places because there was more to do and a greater variety of people with which I could interact.  Or maybe the people that come to Chad are just a little off.  I am grateful for the friends I have made and the ones that provide a service and do stuff besides just complaining that there is nothing to do.  One friend hosts a yoga class at his house a couple times a week.  Another group of expats teach tennis on the clay courts at Cite Lamy.

I should find something that I can offer to the community to make this a better place.  I already spend most of my days working on humanitarian assistance projects (developing ideas, shaping them to meet the donors requirements, legal reviews, project management, public relations, training, etc...) and that helps the local community, but I wonder what I can do to help this other community of western NGO workers...  I’ll have to keep thinking.

Grant Money

Since I visited my friend’s schools outside of N'Djamena I have been looking for ways to help out.  The first school we visited only had short-walled buildings with a tin roof that blew off in a recent wind storm and was in great need of repair.  The second school had a couple nice buildings, including a smaller two-room building that was built by a contractor for $10,000 USD and a larger three-room building constructed for the same budget but built by the local community.  I found a couple grant options for building schools but also discovered that the process isn’t so easy.  For example, my grant sources could give me small pots of money (less than $15,000) quite easily but there were all kinds of stipulations.  For example, I couldn’t buy materials and have the community build a school, but I had to hire a contractor to provide the materials and labor.  The bigger problem was that the grant source required for all the construction to be done to US or International standards, which greatly increased the price of the project.  So now the school that would have cost $15,000 built with local labor to Chadian standards would now cost $250,000.  The benefit of the higher cost is that the building should last longer but problems included the length of construction process, more extensive application process, and the applications for my grant source are only accepted once a year and then if selected the funds would only become available 18 months later.  So the process of building a school now is a two to three year process and the cost is 16-times more expensive.

Constructing schools are still worthy projects and I will try to have a couple proposals ready for when my grant source starts accepting applications again.  Unfortunately I won’t be around to see the fruits of the grants and construction process, but in the end the Chadian kids and communities will ultimately benefit.  The smaller $15,000 grants are available for other small projects but always with the caveat that the projects have to be done to US/International standards.  We can dig a well for that dollar amount, but before funds will be released we need to have a hydrological study for the area and there is no funding for the hydrological study.  Maybe I can see if a local orphanage needs beds or supplies as I can spend the $15,000 funds on small projects like this.

The main requirements for these grant funds are that they don’t single out or benefit only one special group, be done to international standards, and fall into at least one of the following four categories. (1) Disaster risk reduction, mitigation, or preparedness, (2) health related projects and activities, (3) education support, and (4) basic infrastructure.  Any ideas?

Tonic shortage

My last tonic

Over the past couple years as I have traveled in Africa I have developed a love of tonic water.  Most Americans don’t know what it is besides something to add to gin, but this amazing drink that allowed european travelers so survive in the malaria infested regions of Africa has become a staple in my house.  The quinine in the tonic allowed the european travelers to survive malaria, but I like it for the flavor.

I was happy to see when I moved here in March that the local brewery sold tonic in the bottle along with Coke, Fanta, and the usual variety of sodas.  However, over the past couple months its been getting harder and harder to find tonic.  About a month ago the local restaurants ran out of tonic in the local bottle and began serving it in a can for three to four times the regular price.  Normally a bottle of tonic would cost 500 CFA (approx $1 USD) but this last Thursday a can of tonic cost 2000 CFA ($4 USD).  However, the price of Coke and Fanta has remained unchanged.

In order to find an answer to the tonic scarcity I joined a tour of the local brewery in N’Djamena to see what was going on at the plant and ask questions of the brewmasters.  The tour was interesting and they showed us the storeroom for the raw materials, processing vats, and bottling plant.  At the time the brewmasters were brewing Gala beer made from rice and malt and bottling Castle in smaller bottles.  The brewery could produce 300,000 bottles of beer and 250,000 bottles of soda per day and operated around the clock.  The production and bottling operations were automated and moved along smoothly and the warehouse was full of beer and soda.    

Unloading room where rice and hops begin processing.  At this point we were told to turn off our cameras to protect their trade secrets.

At the end of the tour they brought out a variety of their locally brewed beverages for us to sample but no tonic.  When questioned about the tonic the Chadian brewmaster replied that Africans don’t like tonic so it doesn’t sell so they don’t make a lot of it.  He continued that they will make a batch of tonic every six-months or so and it will sit in the warehouse or their distributors for a long time so it wasn’t worth making tonic anymore.  The brewmaster suggested instead that I try the Fanta Fruit Punch, which was pretty good.  

So in the end, the tonic shortage will continue in N’Djamena until the brewery decides its time to brew tonic again (and the brewmaster did not know when that would be).  I will have to search the distributor black market to find tonic that might be hidden in a back corner or perhaps I can get some delivered from Cameroon or Nigeria.  When they do produce tonic again, I will have to stock several cases and ration them for the long dry season.  

Expanding Car Dealerships in Africa

Bringing a new car brand into a country isn’t easy and there are many different factors to consider.  The primary factors involved are mechanics, spare parts, and market competition.  Other factors to be considered are the suitability of the vehicles to the environment, import taxes and other fees that raise the end price of the vehicle, and political incentives such as the ability to assemble the vehicle in the country.

Mechanics need to be trained on the nuances of different brands of vehicles as a Toyota mechanic may not be able to work on a Jeep or a Porsche.  Each brand is engineered a little differently and may use parts or technologies that aren’t used in other brands.  When cars were simpler it was easier for a mechanic to figure out the vehicle systems but in the new era of microchips and computer diagnostics a mechanic may need specialized software to communicate with the vehicle.  For example, a company recently acquired some new Mercedes trucks that came with a computer that is connected to the trucks during weekly maintenance.  The computer talks to the car, runs diagnostic tests, tells the mechanics to order parts, and can walk the mechanics through simple repairs.  However, for more sophisticated problems they will have to call Mercedes and wait for a team to fly in and bring parts with them.  A further problem is that the computer only came with german software and the mechanics don’t have a Chadian Arabic to German dictionary.

Establishing a spare parts chain of supply is critical because all vehicles will eventually break down and parts will wear out and need to be replaced.  A supply chain is more than being able to DHL parts into the country but to have a stock on-hand of commonly replaced items, like oil filters, but also headlights, fuses, and fan belts.  Its very expensive to DHL large, heavy items like engine blocks or transmissions so the in country dealer will need to arrange for shipping and customs arrangements.  The in country representative will need to be able to order the parts and receive them quickly and reliably as the longer a car sits waiting to be repaired the more attractive the competition appears.

The level of competition among car brands varies from country to country in sub-saharan Africa as does the variety of models offered.  Which brands are available may be a political decision, as in Senegal where the SenIran was a common brand of taxi.  The SenIran was a joint venture between Senegal and Iran and the vehicles were locally assembled outside of Dakar.  The variety of brands available may also be a result of the personal preferences of the individuals that control the car markets.  Monopoly of dealerships is not unique to Africa as in the US there are towns where there may be Peterson Toyota dealer next to a Peterson Ford dealer owned by the same guy.  It may be easier to control a dealership monopoly in a small country as once one has arranged import and customs procedures it may be possible to keep others out of the market.  At a minimum it will be easier to bring in other brands under the same organization once the system has been established and connections made with important officials.

In Chad there isn’t a wide variety of car dealership to chose from.  There is the Toyota dealer that also sells Renaults but you may be out of luck trying to arrange maintenance services for an imported Ford Explorer or Porsche Cayenne Turbo (both are singular examples seen on the streets of N’Djamena).  Most of the small taxi fleet are old Fiat 504s and they are repaired in crowded dirt lots scattered around town where self-taught mechanics and taxi drivers congregate.  A few places have tin shacks where they do the more delicate work out of the wind and sand, operations like grinding down an engine block or replacing pistons.  I have noticed a couple Nissan Patrols on the streets of N'Djamena but I have not found a Nissan dealer in the city.  Most likely they were driven across the border from Cameroon or Nigeria.

Nissan has made a goal to double sales in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2016 but that will be a challenge, especially in places where many people can barely afford to buy a bicycle or motorcycle.  The Nissan plan is to sell more small cars like the Micra, Almera, and Sentra but those cars require smooth paved roads.  Often good paved roads are hard to find or only go a short distance between the port and the refinery or the mines and the railhead.  I’ve only ridden a couple times in Nissans, usually in a Nissan Patrol and they were not  comfortable experiences.  For example, we drove from Monrovia to Buchanan, Liberia in a new, rugged looking Nissan Patrol and the jarring experience made me appreciate the basic Toyota Landcruiser.  We made the five-hour trip (each direction) during the rainy season on dirt roads and the vehicle barely survived.  A Nissan Micra would not have survived the potholed roads of Monrovia, let alone the mud covered rubber tree bridges in the forest.  

The Nissan goal doesn’t focus on sales in South Africa, where many Nissan vehicles are assembled, but targets increased sales in Ghana, Nigeria, Angola and eastern Africa.  Perhaps Nissan will have success in these regions, they are banking on it.  Roads aren’t that bad in Ghana and in the big cities in eastern Africa (although all have potholes, washouts, and sections with dirt roads).  I don’t know if Nigerian cities like Lagos can handle additional traffic.  Hopefully the maintenance and parts networks will be established to support this expansion of car sales.  Otherwise, as in many places along the sides of the roads in Africa, these new cars will become stripped rusting hulks of scrap metal.