Andrew begins his flying training!

Over the past few days Andrew has begun his flying training here in Chad. Yippee.

It has been challenging due to weather restraints -  one day it was too hot here to start the plane until 5pm (he began work at 7am!) so it was a day of theory learning and watching the thermometer. Today, as I write this, after getting up at 5am to hopefully fly before it gets too hot, the dust seems to be a problem and visibility poor so I do not know if he is up in the sky or not.

Please pray that over the next week he will complete the training necessary as Patrick, the person training him, works for MAF in Madagascar and has to return next tuesday.

We have also brought a car....... Very exciting and if you remember my little old red corsa we used to have, this is very different. A toyota 4runner, automatic, 3.4L and 4 wheel drive -  needed here if we leave the city roads.  Car shopping was an experience. Here you find a car you like in the garage in your price range and that is it generally. There is no real choice of specifications  -  if the car is OK then whatever the specifications are, they are either a bonus or not. It was a testing time car shopping in the 42C heat, with a toddler and in French! Praise God that we were able to go with a local MAF employee to help us out. Another difference was the need to go to the bank and withdrawi the money to buy the car in cash.......

We continue to feel blessed here and pray that our shipping, which should arrive on Wednesday to the airport, comes to us successfully with minimum custom fees....  We are all very excited about the thought of opening the boxes to see exactly what we packed up over 7 months ago! Zack just has one request -  that he gets his track back!

7 weeks in Chad already!

We have been here now for 7 weeks, time is going really fast and we have all settled in well. The kids are loving playing on the compound, especially in the small swimming pool. We are getting used to the hot weather, although apparently in April, the hottest month of the year, we are told it is like living in fire!

Andrew has brought his own motorbike for getting to and from work. The soft sand on some of the roads make his trips interesting but then he does like a challenge. He has been in the office most days but has been able to accompany Bryan, a relief pilot here, on a couple of trips, including one to Cameroon, so he was able to claim a new country! He is looking forward to beginning his flight training in just under 2 weeks time.

I have conquered driving on my own! I cant say I like it but I have to do it. Especially as Zack has started at a kindergarten in town so I need to drive him there and pick him up. He is enjoying it and even is picking up the African accent sometimes!

We have brought a washing machine although not able to use it yet as here we need to run electical equipment through a voltage box and although we have a voltage box we need to attach a plug! Nothing is straight forward here! We also seem to find that fridges here are not the most reliable and are currently had 4 different ones.

The mosquitoes continue to bite but I have found a very good mosquito squatter in the last few days -  a wet flannel!

Now as I write this, the children on the compound, 10 of them, are off to play together under a water sprinkler in one of the gardens........

First Flight with MAF in Chad

I had the opportunity to join Kalvin, the MAF's current pilot here in Chad for a flight to Ati, a town just over 200 miles to the east of N'Djamena.

 

A good thing about flying are the views....

 

Approaching Ati



About to land at Ati

A drawback of flying is there is often not much time on the ground at the destination before we have to turn round and go back.  We spent 30 minutes on the ground at Ati unloading and reloading passengers and baggage and avoiding standing out in the sun for too long.  Thankfully this is not the hottest time of year so current daytime temperatures only reach around 40 C (104 F).

 

MAF Chad's Cessna Caravan Aircraft at Ati

Departing Ati

 

 

Arriving back at N'Djamena (the Chari River here forms the border between Chad and neighbouring Cameroon; Cameroon is in the foreground, with Chad beyond the river)

 

A proud Zack next to some Duplo construction he had designed and put together

 

 

 

Arrived in Chad

We arrived safely in Chad on Thursday afternoon after our flights from London via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  Everything fine so far; the other expatriate staff here have shown us around the city and shops.  I (Andrew) have also had the opportunity to spend a morning at the MAF hangar and have met some of the Chadian MAF staff and see the two aircraft that MAF operate here in Chad.  One is a new 4-seat Cessna 182; the other is a much larger Cessna 208 Caravan.

The other expatriate staff here are Kalvin and Albert together with their families.  Kalvin is a pilot and has been here for many years and is acting as programme manager until that post has been filled.  Albert is an engineer and moved here with his family last year from Mongolia.  We have a comfortable flat on the MAF compound two miles to the east of central N'djamena.

At the moment we are finding our bearings and getting used to a lot of things being different.  Zack and Esther are enjoying making new friends and being able to play outside in the warm weather.

One week to go.......

The countdown continues - in a weeks time, almost exactly, we should be on the plane heading to Ethiopia and then Chad! WOW. Still very excited and the nerves haven't set in yet. However, we just need some good weather for Andrew to complete  a flying renewal assessment over the next couple of days....  I, Hannah, feel so peaceful about the move ( except the usual goodbyes) and know that God has, and is, blessing us with His peace as He walks before us.

Just over 2 weeks to go......

I can't believe that we have just over 2 weeks to go until we move to Chad. I can't wait. We are really enjoying seeing family and friends and feel very loved by all, but after so much preparation, and there is still a lot to do, including Andrew having to do a  bit of flying and renew his class one medical in South England, all 4 of us Mumfords are getting excited about our new lives ahead of us in Chad!

6 days left in France

With only 6 more days left in France, time is going so fast.  As we prepare for our final tests this coming week, to clean the flat we are currently living in, repack our suitcases and say goodbye to some wonderful friends that we have made over the past 4 months,  I am feeling truely blessed and excited that a month tomorrow we fly to Chad! ( we even have our visas now too!) The last few weeks have been difficult for me spreading my time between some difficult French studies and my family -  including a very strong willed 2 year old daughter! God has certainly been testing me and pushing me to my limits.

On Friday evening we went to a Christmas event at Zacks school and it was wonderful to see him playing with his friends and he was so proud to introduce them to Andrew and I and 'show' Esther his school -  even though she goes there most days with Andrew or myself to collect him at the end of his school day. Then, for him, and us, the realisation struck, that he only has 4 more days at school left with his friends before he says goodbye! That is when it is tough moving and seeing the effects, in the short term, it has on  Zack and Esther. Again, I hold on to the graciousness of Gods love and how prviledged we are to be called to serve Him in Chad and how He uses every opportunity. Praise the Lord that God has given Zack the excitement of moving to Africa too.