Agbodé and N'Djamena / Dec 2018

"when it rains, it rains too much..... But when it doesn't rain, it is drought" (Maazou Alhassane, Red Cross Project Manager). Thus, in one case, they are: floods, floods, destruction of houses, multiplication of epidemics, cholera, mosquitoes and malaria... And in the other case: lack of water, for men but also for livestock, scarcity of crops and poor yields, lack of food, meningitis epidemics (the climatic conditions of the dry season indeed contribute to the spread of the epidemic)...
The direct and obvious consequences of climate change are that droughts and floods tend to increase in number and intensity. The rains are never there when you expect them, they are "without summons". But the following season, the drought is relentless.
These hazards - drought, floods and their many negative consequences - have an even greater impact on Chad's populations because they are highly vulnerable (poverty, lack of facilities and infrastructure, absent or failing health care system, etc.) and unprepared. In other words, even a "small" disaster can have a significant impact on the inhabitants of the affected areas.
In this context, the projects carried out by the French Red Cross in the Hadjer Lamis region and in N'Djamena are being implemented with and for communities: whether in the areas of water, sanitation and hygiene or disaster risk reduction, the objective is to contribute to building the population's capacity, improving its preparedness and resilience in the event of disasters. Thus, while these projects have a limited duration, the French Red Cross and Chad Red Cross actors rely on the communities to ensure that they are able to take over. In Agbodé - where a local Red Cross unit has recently been created - and in N'Djamena, the inhabitants are at the heart of the action.