Hanana
To give you a perspective of what life is like for the women of Chad, we present several personal testimonies of Chadian women from the Guéra, taken from the book "Là où habitent les femmes" (Where the Women Live), edited by Renée Johns and Rachel Bokoro of the Mennonite Central Committee, published in 1993.
Hanana was not at home
when we arrived. She lived in Monjino, a village of lepers just
outside of Mongo. Her friends told us that she was in the
fields; so we took a truck to go get her. When she saw us, she
had a yoke on her shoulders with a heavy load of dried herbs.
She burst out laughing when she saw us. Despite her hands and
feet mutilated by leprosy, she appeared to be incredibly strong and
capable.
While we were chatting and drinking
tea, she spoke to us freely and warmly, often making us laugh.
Her eyes shone brightly, she is famous for her singing and even for
her dancing.
I was born here in the Guéra, and I lived
here until I was 25 years old. Then I left for Gedarif in Sudan
for thirteen years. We grew groundnuts and sesame seeds
there. I was there with my brother. My parents stayed here
in the Guéra. The children of my brother were born in
Sudan. They went to Mecca when the wife of my brother was giving
birth. They stayed there. We were happy in Sudan.. We grew
groundnuts and sesame seeds and I was well pay for my work. The
people were very nice. I learned to sing in Sudan. Here,
people did not sing much.
It was during our time in Sudan that I caught
leprosy. First of all, I had red spots on my skin. Over
there, people are afraid of lepers. They do not want to allow
them to ride in the train or in a car with them. I covered
myself with a laffaye (veil) to cover my red spots; thus I took a
train, then trucks to return to Chad. My husband returned with
me. But it was not right that I be married to a healthy
man. This is why I sent him away. He returned to his
family in Am-Timan. I have never heard from him since. He
could have stayed but I was unable to be his wife since I could not
prepare food for him to eat. I would like to re-marry, but to a
leper like myself because I am too mutilated to take care of a big
house.
I returned directly to Mongo because I
learned that there were shots that could heal me. First I was at
the hospital, but then they had me go live in a village. I lost
a lot of strength in that place. There were no shots to take but
I took pills. My feet are now my biggest problem. There
are people in the village who wrap my feet up. I would not like
living in Mongo, I will stay in Monjino. The people here are not
afraid of us lepers in the Mongo market. They are very
nice. But I prefer to stay here in the village.
My brother is still in Sudan with his eight
children. I never returned to Sudan. I do not have any
children. The young lady who lives with me here is the daughter
of my brother. She came from Sudan with me to help me by taking
care of me. She prepares my meals because my hands are too
mutilated to prepare boule. She has two children. She also
works in the fields with me. We grow sesame seeds and
millet. We are Muslims. I do not go to the mosque here
because women are not authorised to do so. While in Sudan, I
went to the mosque for the religious festivals. They read the
Koran, something I really enjoy.
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