3/18/06

I'm walking across the road to the Szobody's house to charge my cell-phone- we haven't had electricity in five months- when Claudia, one of Pastor Hibé's daughters races out and intercepts me.

"Ça ç'est pour vous," she says. This is for you.

"Merci," I reply. It's a red-and-blue edged Air Mail envelope, addressed to "M. Nathaniel, Corps de la Paix, G/Gaya." I look at the return address. Deufabe H. Désiré. It's from Hibé's son, who left about two months ago for Bangui, (the capital of the Central African Republic, Chad's southern neighbor) to go to medical school. He earned his Bac last year, and applied to the University of N'Djamena- just like with Janvier and the teacher's college in Bongor he was rejected, because he didn't pay the bribe. That's where the story differs though- unlike Janvier, Désiré has a father who gives a damn about his son, and managed to hook him up with contacts from his seminary days in Bangui.

"Hi Nathaniel!" It reads, in French.

"I just arrived the other day, and I was able to register at the Department of Sciences (Chemistry, Biology, Geology). So, how are classes going? Is the strike continuing, or has it been resolved? I'm always hoping for a change, that some day education can work in the right way there.

"I'm at the cyber café often with one of my old friends, and we do a lot of research on the Internet about obtaining scholarships, or at least learning how to use the Internet better. So, let me remind you of my email address, or if you have the chance write me via post, here's my address. OK, thanks my dear friend, and talk to you next time."

The letter doesn't say all that much, but I'm delighted when I put it down. Med school, an email address, hope for a better future- this is one of the few Chadians I've met who's actually going somewhere. Unfortunately, if he wants to get to that somewhere, it has to be somewhere else. Things are so screwed-up and corrupt in Chad that about the only way to be successful (short of leading a triumphant coup d'état) here is to go abroad. Not that med school in Bangui, Central African Republic is Harvard Med, or anything, but at least Désiré got in on his merits, not a bribe.

I know that Désiré is an intelligent guy, with real potential, and I hope to God that he manages to make something of himself, not only for him, but if a place like Chad is to have any chance. When he was in Terminale last year we frequently talked about the wider world, politics (both Chadian and American) and the possibility of any real change happening here anytime soon. I remember being impressed not only at his intellect, but more so his willingness to put the responsibility for so many of Chad's problems where they belong- on Chadians. I've gone on at length about people's tendency here to always pin the blame on someone else- the French, the Americans, the West in general, Muslims, or others- Désiré is one of the few people I've met here willing to not play the victim. Thinking about him, I wonder just how much more capable and intelligent he'd be had he been educated in a functional system, where teachers aren't on strike for 30-50% of every school year, and the ability to think and problem-solve is encouraged, not punished. While he seems to have made it out more or less OK, there are so many others who don't, who are robbed by the system of any potential and hope.

So, assuming Désiré does graduate from med school in a few years, and becomes a doctor, what then? If he returns to Chad he'll be lucky to find a job, and even if he does, he'll earn maybe $200 a month, and be dependent on the same government that 'pays' the teachers, meaning he might not see a salary for three, six, eight months at a time. Considering that, and aside from family, what possible incentive would he have to come back to Chad? I don't know the statistics, but percentage-wise, the brain drain of Chadians to other, more developed places must be enormous. Virtually any Chadian who wants to do more than farm peanuts and cotton, or run a boutique out of a mud-walled, tin-roofed shack gets away while they can- Cameroon, the C.A.R. or Nigeria for most, Europe and the US for the elite. Because of this, Chad is left in the hands of the greedy, the corrupt, and the hopeless, and it's no surprise things are the way they are.

As bad as I feel about doing it, I often find myself encouraging the few students I have with potential to go to Cameroon or Nigeria if possible, to escape while they have the chance, before they're married with eight children, and sucked under by the tribe and a lack of any real opportunity. I don't feel right about doing it, but I feel like I'm being honest- if life is a dice game, than my good students have all rolled snake eyes, and they need to get to a place with a brighter future. To be perfectly honest, there's nothing here for them in Gounou-Gaya, and almost nothing in Chad as a whole- if they don't get out while they're young, they never will. It's very noble to say, "Who are you, whitey? You shouldn't be telling them to leave," but if it were you, would you want to see all your potential and talent wasted because your country doesn't have it together enough to pave a road, string a power line, or run a university that accepts people on academic qualifications rather than bribery?

As depressing as this may be, I'd like to think that there's some hope. If Désiré and people like him were to return en masse, things might begin to look up for the people of Chad. The intelligent, motivated Chadians who have potential (and even those who don't) deserve better than this, and if there's any justice in the world, they'll get it. As the cliché goes though, "life isn't fair," and I worry that Chad still has a long way to go backward before things begin to change.

Back to Peace Corps Writings