In 2024, Central African Republic was considered the world’s third poorest country and several sources place its neighbour Chad within or nearing the top ten poorest countries globally. Global Finance names Chad as the13th poorest nation, and the UNDP Human Development Report puts Chad at number 189 out of 193 in ranking countries’ positions of economic prosperity globally. Whatever ranking it has, it is clear that Chad faces significant challenges,intensified with the arrival of refugees due to ongoing conflicts, most recently the 2023 Sudan crisis. Chad is, of course, much more than its international poverty ranking – it is also the world’s 20th largest country, has three different geographical zones and is home to over 200 ethnic groups. The Sahara Desert pretty much covers Northern Chad, and Chad is the largest landlocked country in Africa. Its name comes from Lake Chad (that is named after the Kanuri word for ‘lake’). But first, as always, food.

Food: Five countries in one afternoon

When life gets incredibly busy and weeks are filled with final exams and end of year events, time slips through our fingers and there is less space for everything. We decide to organise a BIG Sunday afternoon for a few upcoming stops and celebrate Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of Congo and the DRC all on one afternoon. This is not to say that these are similar countries or the same, it is just an opportunity to get people together for one big night and proceed on our Virtual Nomad path. Therefore this introduction will be the same for the five countries but each time the specific entry will focus on the country that the stop is about.

The African Afternoon gathers 30 people around the table, a mix of seasoned Virtual Nomads and delightful newbies. Besides myself and my partner JK, we have my children A (11) and L (17), L’s boyfriend NA (18) and their lovely friend CC (17). Then on their 12th stop are AK, DK and their adult child AK (their other child MK usually comes along but today she is unfortunately sick). Other seasoned Nomads are dear friends JD, KD and their son KD (15), on their 7^th stop. A 4^th stop for L* and her daughter S*, our first friends in Australia. A 2^nd stop for our resident Canadian CL (see the stop for Canada) and his beautiful wife JJ and children EL (10) and SL (12). A Wonderful fellow European CB comes to her 2^nd stop with her delightful daughters JB (11) and EB (8), bringing her husband CBB along (his first stop). And then we are lucky to have six great newbies – a joyous family of four KFFJ (including children aged 11 and 13) and a lovely couple ER that lives next door. And then of course my stepchild FK (15) and CH, Special Adviser to Virtual Nomad – she has been to over 140 countries and counting, and always joins in between her travels. A wonderful group of amazing people, and everyone brings a dish. 

In this entry, I will only talk about the Chad food of our happy, hilarious, joyful, warm and inviting African Afternoon. 

Delightful newbies KFFJ bring Daraba, a typical peanut vegetable stew of Chad. They have diligently prepared for their first Virtual Nomad and looked at around ten different recipes of how to prepare an authentic Daraba, and even consulted friends with knowledge of the area. Very appreciated dedication! ☺ 

In Chad, many people grow their own food which includes a range of fruit, vegetables and grains. Daraba usually has a mixture of vegetables (and sometimes meat, our version was vegetarian) – the ingredients depend on the regions and availability of the food sources. The dish that KFFJ bring is rich and delicious, and well welcomed by the African Afternoon crowd. 

JK prepares Bangaou, a traditional dish that includes vegetables and sometimes meat or fish. The recipe that he followed included sweet potatoes, peas and chicken with spices. It is not originally a strong-flavoured dish and can come across a bit bland so JK included salt and a variety of spices to make it sturdier. We learn that in Chad, Bangaou is typically eaten with hands and very typical to rural communities. As we are mixing several dishes, we have decided not to use hands this time, already for the reason that our dish is clearly more of a stew than a porridgy meal. Like many other dishes from Chad, the ingredients vary from what is available and a vegetarian version is consumed when meat is not available. 

JK also prepared Jus de Fruit, similar to a fruit smoothie or a milkshake. Dairy is not common in Southern Chad, however more typical in the North. In Jus de Fruit, milk is added to create a creamy form. The fruit used depends on the seasonal availability – anything from mango and pineapple to guava, papaya and even oranges. JK prepares the drink with ripe mangoes and the result is wonderful. It is a very easy drink to prepare and feels quite refreshing in the southern summer. 

I prepared a Chadian salad – Salade du Tchad. It carries an unusual combination of bananas, brown rice, cucumbers, almonds and raisins with spices such as coriander, cumin and cayenne. While the mix is not ordinary, the taste is wonderful. It is one of the two salads of our African Afternoon (the other being the Kachumbari, eaten in both the DRC and the Republic of Congo) and adds an exotic flavour to our great selection of African dishes. Very easy to make, and while there are a few variations, I followed a recipe that not only felt authentic but also I thought would suit the taste buds of the 30 people. (Proofreading note: I (L) readily ate more than one bowl, which is quite a feat as a salad– highly recommended!)

The circle of violence 

Chad is another country in the region with political instability that hinders its development along with the wellbeing of the people in the country. Chad has historically been a place of trade routes where empires have risen and fallen, including the Kanem-Bornu Empire, approximately in years 700 – 1380 CE and the Muslim State of the Sultanete of Bagirmi (1522 – 1897 CE) that laid its richness on slave trade. The French then, already active in Africa, claimed Chad to France in 1920.

Chad became independent in 1960 but by then, the country was already divided in ethnic, religious and economic terms. Comme d’habitude, greed and hunger for power prevailed. The first president was of course an awful dictator, François Tombalbaye, who did a poor job and was assassinated in 1975. The Islamic North was unhappy with his presidency and started a Civil War in 1965 that lasted until 1979 when the Islamic forces put an end to the rule of the Christian south. Hissen Habré was another president and dictator (in power 1982 – 1990), supported at first by France and the United States, and very notorious for human rights abuses. He resulted victorious in the Chadian-Libyan War (1978 – 1987). Hissen was overthrown in another coup by his own general Idriss Déby in 1990. Dictator Hissen escaped to Senegal where he was sentenced to life in prison in 2016 on different grounds – including rapes, killings, sexual slavery, torture and ordering the killing of 40,000 people. He died in 2021 of Covid. In the meanwhile, president Ibriss then was president from 1990 until 2021 (his death) and successfully eliminated term limitations and miraculously was re-elected five times until he was killed by a rebel organisation FACT in 2021. During his regime, Idriss was authoritarian, the governance was poor, corruption rampant and his favourites were given state money and positions – which is also demonstrated in the fact that his son Mahamat Déby is now the president. 

In a nutshell, life in Chad has not been easy for normal citizens for decades and political instability continues with frequent violent conflicts. Like its neighbour, Central African Republic, Chad has many resources but the benefits do not reach the general population, with  30% living in extreme poverty with very limited access to education and healthcare, and with severe insecurity. The official languages are Arabic and French but more than one hundred other languages are used such as Maba, Masalit, Bagirmi, Sara, Kanem-Bornu and Tama. The religious divide is primarily between the Islamic north ( aprox. 54% of the population) and Christian south (aprox. 42%). Chad’s capital and biggest city is N’Djamena, and climate change poses a threat to the country’s arid and dry climate.

Only one book from Chad

Reading Chad proves to be more of a challenge than any of the other stops so far. The only easily available book is Told by Starlight in Chad (1962) by Joseph Braim Seid that several reviewers have completely panned – which prompts me not to waste my time for something that is not going to be good. After some struggling, I am able to access one book of Koulsy Lamko, a Chad-born playwright and novelist who left the country in 1979 at the age of 20 to escape the civil war. He lived a few years in Burkina Faso and was involved in the community theatre movement. He also lived in Rwanda where he finished his PhD on African theatre. He currently lives in Mexico. 

Koulsy’s book Les racines de yucca (2011) is an autofiction about a writer’s block. An African writer lives in Mexico and is allergic to paper. He is encouraged to travel and then goes to Yucatan where he takes interest in the writings of a Guatemalan refugee Teresa. The author reflects on writing, books, writing again and refers a bit to his African background but does not really talk much about Chad. There are glimpses of Latin/Central America and then about writing again. I read the book in French and I am quite sure there is no translation – but it also is not a book that I loved. I found it boring, the endless yapping which I am sure could be interesting for someone. But that someone is not me. 

Another author is Nimrod, a Chadian poet, essayist and novelist who has lived in France since 1991. He has a broad production of poetry, novels and essays that seem not to be available to order outside the French speaking world, so unfortunately I have no access to his work.

Movies: Chadian film festival of Mahamat-Saleh Haroun 

Even if I have not had much luck with Chadian literature, the movie stop is a delight. Someone said that Mahamat-Saleh Haroun is the best African contemporary film director. His movies are set and made in Chad even though he himself has lived in France since 1982 when he left Chad due to the civil wars of the 1980s.  He directed the first feature film from Chad, the 1999 film Bye bye Africa. He was Minister of Culture of Chad for a year (2017-2018), and signed a letter with 50 other filmmakers in 2023 to demand a ceasefire in Gaza. 

His 2002 film Abouna occupies the top spot of several ‘the best African movies’ lists – but many of his other movies also come strong on different ‘top10’ lists. Based on stellar reviews of several of his movies, I feel that the Chadian film stop will feature quite a few of his movies so I set myself to watch Abouna (2002), Daratt – Dry Season (2006), a Screaming Man (2010), A Season in France (2017), Lingui (2021), and the debut film, Bye bye Africa (1999). I will start with the most famous one. 

Among the many films by Mahamat-Saleh, Abouna (2002) is probably the most famous, featuring on numerous lists of best African films. Only the third feature film from Chad (and Mahamat-Saleh’s second feature film), it is gorgeously shot, which I learn later is common for Mahamat-Salen’s films. The film is filled with warm colours, outstanding arid landscapes and tender, caressing close ups. It tells a melancholic but tender story of two brothers abandoned by their father, and the series of life events that follow that change the course of their life. It is a movie that is unrushed but does not feel slow, it is sad but does not feel melodramatic, it is hopeful but does not feel sugary. It is a calm, absolutely beautifully filmed movie about love and loss, innocence and isolation. It is also about the individual’s choice – the lack of it or the making of it. What Mahamat-Saleh has explained in an interview is that the disappearance of a father is common in Chad, and the women left behind (the boys’ mother) are forced to carry the burden of what is left – some more successfully than others. I would not call it the best movie from the African continent but it is worthwhile to see and the aftertaste is a melancholic one of what could have been but then was not, and of how those left behind must collect the remaining pieces of life stories as well as they can. 

Close behind Abouna in movie rankings from Africa is Mahamat-Saleh’s other multi awarded movie Daratt, also called the Dry Season (2006). It is –again – a gorgeously filmed story about revenge with long pauses and little dialogue. The story is very simple: a 40-year civil war has come to an end and the government decides to pardon all war criminals. An old blind man Gumar Abatcha is outraged and orders his grandson Atim (his name meaning ‘orphan’) to go and find a man called Nassara – the killer of his son and Atim’s father. But revenge is not easy and life is more complicated than that. 

It is an interesting movie with outstanding scenography – it is just so beautiful to watch that sometimes the story is lost in the beauty of the images (nearly illustrations). In essence, it is quite a dry movie which does not evoke a strong emotional reaction albeit the beauty of its photographs. Nevertheless, it is hugely admirable of Mahamat-Saleh to once more tackle a difficult subject with boldness. While filming the movie in N’Djamena, a rebel attack in the city nearly caused the filming to be abandoned which brings a certain hidden edge to the film. 

A Screaming Man (2010) is Mahamat-Saleh’s fifth feature film and it returns him to the themes of Daratt (his third film). After a movie about the experience of Chadian immigrants in France (Sex, Okra and Salted Butter, 2008), Mahamat-Saleh is back in Chad, this time not post- armed conflict but during it. It is a story about fathers and sons, about loyalty and betrayal, and about the reaping change of times. It is a mature, stunning movie that masterfully blends economic and political reality with personal trials. The main actor Youssouf Djaoro does an outstanding job and as in all of Mahamat-Saleh’s movies, the filmography is phenomenal. It is a movie that communicates a lot without saying too much. It is slow paced, true, but also multilayered and moving. There is not much screaming, at least out loud..

A season in France (2017) is Mahamat-Saleh’s seventh feature film and this time most of the action happens in France. It is an incredibly poignant movie for the current times – a story about refugees / immigrants and the unbearable unfairness of birth origin. The central character Abbas (a very good Eriq Ebouaney) has escaped a civil war and fled to France with his two children and his university professor brother. His wife died during the flight, and while he is in a new loving relationship with a woman of Polish origin, he is haunted by the past and scared about the insecure future. All he ever wants is to build a good life for his children and his new partner but being an immigrant is tough, both for the loss of dignity and the humiliation that it brings along, but also for his manly pride. The movie is masterful in also bringing in the point of view of Abbas’ partner (played by a superb Sandrine Bonnaire) who is giving and ready for what it takes to keep her new family when it requires much more than just love. A very compassionate, moving and subtle film. 

Lingui, The Sacred Bonds (2022) by, again, Mahamat-Saleh, is a superb film at so many levels. The cinematography is again outstanding, filled with warm light and the yellowish ground colour of the city streets. The story itself is about the silently rebellious women in a deeply patriarchal society – a very strong statement about a woman’s right to her body, be that a rejection of genital mutilation or unwanted pregnancy, and the role that society, patriarchy and religion play in deciding those freedoms and stances. It is also about the strength of motherhood, the bond between a mother and a child, and the sacrifices a mother is ready to make for the sake of her child. The lead actress Achouackh Abakar Souleymane, playing the mother, is wonderful and the camera loves her face and expressive eyes. It is slow paced, true, but contains so much symbolic power and deeper meanings in its nuances. It is a bold and fierce movie with heart and conviction. The word Lingui, in Chad, means sacred bonds – and that can have so many meanings in a movie that basically tells about the submissive role women are forced to have in a society where men dictate the societal norms and decide on women’s bodily autonomy. 

And finally, I watch Mahamat-Saleh’s first , and in fact Chad’s first feature film, Bye Bye Africa (1999), a semi-documentary about a Chadian director (played by Mahamat-Saleh) who returns to his home country. Encounters with the past do not go exactly as expected and many trials and disappointments follow – but some hope and happy moments play through as well. It is intriguing but feels like an early work, in which the poetic landscapes that are so typical of Mahamat-Saleh’s work are still developing. It is an interesting study of identity, belonging and storytelling. 

The music fusion of H’Sao 

H’Sao is a band formed by three brothers and their best friend who moved from Chad to Canada in the early 2000s. Their music is melodic, often using generously different voices and mixing influences from traditional Chadian music to more modern genres. All the members are superb singers, and the three brothers learned their craft from their pastor father. The name of the group comes from a mix of the French word for ‘swallow’ (H = hirondelle) and ‘Sao’ after the first peoples that inhabited the lands around Lake Chad. They have gained international fame since the first album H’Sao (2003) followed by Vil 235 (2009), Oria (2013) and Saar (2015). Their songs often have a strong social justice message or focus on identity, roots and heritage. 

Next stop: Chile

thank you L for your proof reading