N’Djamena means ‘we rested’. Long ago, pilgrims from West Africa would stop by the bank of the (Chari) river that feeds Lake Chad on their way to Mecca, and rest. N’Djamena still lacks ‘the rat race’ that must spoil most other capitals in the world. It feels more like a sprawling gathering of villages: a microcosm of all the rich ethnic and cultural diversity of Chad, gathered in one place, waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting by the river until they were rested and ready to resume their pilgrimage.

1960: Waiting for the day when they would be free from French colonial rule;

1970s: Waiting for the right local political leader to unite the country;

1980s: Waiting for an end to the devastation of civil war;

1990s: Waiting for the redevelopment of the country;

2000s: Waiting for the benefits of discovered Oil……..

Still waiting….

N’Djamena is about people, not a place. A people, maybe 1,000,000 strong, flocked to a low-lying bend in the river to wait… Waiting for peace, waiting for work, waiting for land, waiting for a home, waiting for health, waiting for sanitation, waiting for education, waiting for salvation, waiting for God.

They are waiting for you. Waiting for the hope you have. Waiting for a salvation they have found in nothing else.