Chad A massive landlocked country wedged in the heart of sub-Saharan Africa, the Republic of Chad is home to some 200 ethnic groups.
The country stretches from the Sahara desert in the north to woodlands and grasslands in the tropical south. Most people who live in the northern two-thirds of the country are Muslim, while those in the south are mostly Christian. Arabic and French are the two official languages, but people also speak numerous African languages.
Years of drought, famine and war in Chad have led to an isolated economy, poor education and healthcare, and a dependence on foreign aid.
World Vision is working to help communities acquire skills and resources to build a better future for themselves and their children. |
| A Better Education For Children
There are few teachers in Chad, and even fewer have any training in education. Crowded classrooms are made with local materials not strong enough to last through the rainy season. In rural communities, where most people live, only one quarter of children attend school. School attendance is particularly low for girls, at only 16% World Vision is helping children and adults to learn by: • working with communities to build schools.
• training more than 1500 community teachers, parents associations and adult literacy teachers.
• providing school textbooks and other materials.
• working with families in many villages to encourage girls to start – and stay – in school.
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Heavily dependent on foreign aid Despite a ceasefire in 1990 after three decades of civil war, there is ongoing instability as different armed groups fight for power.
Only one-third of the land is suitable for agriculture. With an economy based primarily on subsistence farming and raising livestock, and with a continued vulnerability to drought, internal conflicts and famine, Chad is heavily dependent on foreign aid.
Poor governance has meant that recent production of oil in the south has had no significant impact on Chad’s 10 million people. World Vision in Chad World Vision began working in Chad in response to the devastating famine in 1984-85, providing food and medical assistance, as well as seeds and tools for farmers to plant for the next season. By 1994, World Vision had established longer-term community-based projects, through child sponsorship, and is now helping 500,000 people. Today, World Vision is:
• working with nearly 300 communities in southern and central Chad in 17 long-term development programmes, through the sponsorship of 37,000 children.
• improving education for children, particularly girls, as well as helping adults learn to read and write.
• helping communities have access to clean water, equipping hundreds of water sources with pumps, as well as training local committees to manage and maintain their water sources.
• working with local associations in the fight against HIV/AIDS, supporting people to take HIV tests, and helping those living with HIV/AIDS with income-generating activities. World Vision is also training trainers – more than a thousand children and two hundred church leaders have been trained to teach their peers about HIV/AIDS.
• promoting children’s rights. So far, World Vision has helped 20,000 sponsored children have a birth certificate – and be recognised as a citizen of Chad where only 9% of births are registered.
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