Chad: “I Came to Help My Sisters”: As Chad Grapples with Record Floods and A Refugee crisis, Midwives Are Bridging the Divide

Dec 17, 2024 | UNFPA
View Original

“The water ruined everything – the rice, the money... Everything is under water.” In October 2024, Gloria Nadjitessem, 31, lost her home in Chad’s capital N'Djamena to devastating floods that submerged towns across the country.

Along with her four children, Ms. Nadjitessem is among more than 4,000 people now sheltering in the Chari-Baguirmi displacement camp in N'Djamena’s Toukra district. “This is where I live now,”  she told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. “There is no other way, but we make it work.”

Since July 2024, some of the worst flooding to ever hit Chad has wiped out lives, homes and livelihoods and affected nearly 2 million people. More than 13,000 have been displaced, most of them seeking refuge in overcrowded, makeshift camps.